Turning Strengths into Strategic Impact

With BeTalent by Zircon, AtkinsRéalis leaders unlocked their potential to lead smarter, adapt faster, and perform at their best.

“Our collaboration with BeTalent by Zircon has not only enhanced our understanding of our individual and collective strengths but also equipped us with practical strategies. This holistic approach to personal and professional development has strengthened our team dynamic and resilience in the face of challenges.”

— Jilly Calder, Senior Vice President Human Resources UK & Europe, AtkinsRéalis

Global infrastructure, engineering, and project management solutions provider

  • 37,000+ employees and $8.6 billion revenue

  • Sector: infrastructure and industry

  • Focus: Coaching, Strengths, Resilience and Decision Styles

Enhancing Leadership Performance at AtkinsRéalis

Challenge

Despite a track record of delivering successful projects, the executive team at AtkinsRéalis faced the need to evolve. The challenge was to harness individual leadership strengths more effectively, enhance team cohesion, and ensure strategic decisions were fully aligned with rapidly shifting industry trends.

Our Approach

BeTalent by Zircon coaches worked with members of the executive team to enhance both individual and collective performance, creating a nuanced understanding of each team member’s unique abilities. Working with BeTalent tools, the team sought to leverage their strengths and enhance their resilience and decision-making capabilities across a three-faceted approach.

Strengths: Team members gained insights into their individual and collective strengths, enabling them to apply these insights to strategic thinking and innovation.

Decision Styles: The team explored their decision-making styles, optimising processes by assigning decision-making responsibilities based on strategic importance, consensus, or delegation.

Resilience: The leadership team’s focus on resilience included introspection and team building exercises, contributing to a more supportive environment, and enhancing awareness of individual triggers and stressors.

Deployment and Impact

BeTalent by Zircon designed a robust executive coaching programme tailored for the leadership team’s unique circumstances. Using BeTalent Strengths, Decision Styles, and Resilience diagnostics, AtkinsRéalis enhanced strategic thinking and innovation, improved decision making, and built team resilience.

Enhanced Strategic Thinking & Innovation

Recognising individual strengths and blind spots improved the team's strategic thinking, providing the president with actionable insights for better managing expectations and accountability, thereby enhancing leadership effectiveness.

Improved Decision-Making Processes

Exploring decision styles enabled the team to leverage individual strengths, streamline workflow, and promote accountability, leading to quicker and more effective decision-making.

Increased Team Resilience and Wellbeing

Resilience training and team-building exercises clarified roles and fostered support. Recognising the impact of external pressures led to wellbeing check-ins, ensuring accountability and ongoing support.

Why it Worked

  • Deep, data-driven insights: BeTalent diagnostics uncovered the unique strengths and decision-making styles of each leader, enabling targeted development.

  • Strengths-led strategy: Leaders learned how to harness their individual and collective strengths to drive innovation and strategic thinking.

  • Optimised decision-making: BeTalent tools aligned decision-making responsibilities with strengths, improving speed, clarity, and accountability.

  • Resilient, high-performing culture: Coaching and resilience training built a supportive environment that enhanced wellbeing and sustained leadership effectiveness.