Abellio
Making the right connections
The latest audience interaction technology helped European public transport operator Abellio to engage its leadership team in developing and deploying its new way of working.
In a conference co-created and facilitated by Axiom, more than 80 Abellio managers from across Europe gathered for two days to discuss strategy and performance, share best practices and explore how to implement the company’s ‘Abellio Way’ pan-European operating framework.
A key feature of the conference was the use of iPad tablets and interactive keypads for delegates to register their views, ideas and questions. This feedback provided the basis for real-time discussion of key strategic issues. It also enabled clear conclusions to be reached and action plans to be drawn up live at the conference and captured for future use.
The engagement technology provided by Crystal Interactive, combined with Axiom’s infectiously energetic approach to facilitating the conference, generated a large volume of high-quality contributions from participants, including from those who would not normally be vocal at large-scale meetings.
Through a combination of small group discussion and inputting ideas via their iPads, delegates were encouraged to envision success for their operating company – and to develop firm action plans for bringing this about. Another use of the technology was to get delegates to asses how well they as a leadership team live up to the company’s recently announced values – and to share examples of good and poor practice. There was also a quiz, using the tech, to determine how well participants could recall key messages.
In addition, the conference included traditional breakout sessions on initiatives going on in different parts of the organisation. We also ran a session on storytelling to help delegates in onward communication of the conference messages. They experimented with this approach during the event by creating and telling stories that they could then adapt and use with their teams.
Abellio operates public transport contracts in Europe, delivering rail and bus services to more than a million passengers a day. It has a strong position through its Merseyrail, Northern Rail and Greater Anglia rail businesses and is active in the London bus market. On mainland Europe, Abellio operates bus and rail contracts in Germany as well as bus contracts in the Czech Republic.
Conference outcomes
- Ownership of ‘The Abellio Way’ by the leadership team
- Fostering of behaviours that underpin the Abellio values
- Stimulation of cross-functional working and best-practice sharing
- Proven retention of the key messages
- Improved engagement skills among leaders
- A clear commitment to take the spirit and key messages from the conference and share them with colleagues throughout Europe
What our client says
"The conference was several orders of magnitude better than anything we’ve done before. It was thought-provoking as well as being great fun. We’ve had nothing but positive feedback, even weeks after the event. Importantly, it generated clear and tangible actions that we began implementing right away. Overall, it’s made a big contribution to the level of buy-in across the company to ‘The Abellio Way’ and to promoting the behaviours that underpin our values."
George Barron, group HR and change director, Abellio Group
© Copyright . Axiom Communications (UK) Ltd. All rights reserved.