Case Study

As part of a strategic initiative to modernise the culture in a large European business 62 staff in 10 countries were selected to train as AAR Conductors. A few of the Leadership team had first-hand experience of the After Action Review approach and understood that it was a perfect driver of the “speak up” culture  and continuous improvement mindset they wanted to foster. So, the engagement and interest in the roll out of the AAR approach was strong at the most senior level, and responsibility for communications and management of the project was assigned to the European Head of HR.

Most of the participants selected were at business manager level plus a few country business managers and HR partners and were chosen as they were respected by their colleagues and well placed in their careers to be champions of the approach.

Prior to start the five, 2 hour online workshops, all participants were invited to complete a “baseline” survey to assess the degree of psychological safety they experience at work and the type of learning behaviours they practiced.  Two later post-training surveys created the opportunity to assess what impact the training had made on the participants, at 6 weeks after the training and then again 3 months later. As well as assessing changes in the psychological safety and learning behaviours, using Prof Amy Edmondson’s research questions, the surveys also sought to evaluate the training itself using Kirkpatrick’s framework.

Whilst the intent of the workshops was to provide the participants with the knowledge and skills to be AAR Conductors, it has also led to beneficial changes in other areas. The conducting of AARs is an educational experience and this in turn is supporting the confidence to speak out as the survey results demonstrate changes have continued to strengthen beyond the initial post training period.