“We Thought We Needed Line Management Training – But That Wasn’t the Problem.”

15 May

How one creative agency unlocked £2m+ in value by solving the right issue, not the obvious one.

When this £18m creative agency reached out, the request was clear: “Our managers aren’t managing. Can you run some line management training?”

It’s the kind of brief we hear often. Logical on the surface. But within five minutes of talking to the founder, it was clear this wasn’t just about skills.

What was really happening, and what we uncovered over the months that followed, was a misalignment that ran through the heart of the organisation.

The truth behind the training request

The management layer felt stuck. They weren’t having the right conversations. They weren’t holding boundaries. And they weren’t managing performance. But not because they didn’t know how.

They didn’t feel allowed to.

This wasn’t a capability issue. It was about trust, clarity, and cultural permission.

We ran 5 Voices workshops across the business and found a striking pattern:

The management team were largely Nurturers: steady, thoughtful, and relationship-focused.
The senior leadership team were all Pioneers and Connectors: fast-paced, visionary, and energised by the big picture.

What seemed obvious to the SLT hadn’t landed with the people expected to deliver it. There hadn’t been a pause to align on expectations or approach.

One senior leader said, “We were so focused on the destination that we never noticed people didn’t feel equipped to make the journey.”

The human cost of misalignment

This disconnect showed up everywhere:

High turnover from poor-fit hires
Managers avoiding difficult conversations
A senior team overwhelmed with decisions and delivery they shouldn’t have been doing
A CEO firefighting on all fronts, reluctant to hand anything over

One manager told us, “Honestly, I thought I was the problem. I kept wondering why I couldn’t get people to do what needed doing. It’s a relief to know it wasn’t just me. We just weren’t set up right.”

This kind of dysfunction isn’t dramatic. But it is costly. Quiet, constant, and wearing.

What we actually did

Over the course of 12 months, we supported the team with:

5 Voices workshops to give everyone a shared language for working together
Lunch-and-learn sessions where managers practised the conversations they’d been avoiding
Executive coaching for the CEO and leadership team
Hiring support to shift recruitment from “can they do the job?” to “will they thrive here?”

The work was practical and human. People saw themselves and each other more clearly. And that clarity created momentum.

What changed

Within six weeks, there were signs of transformation:

Some of the poor-fit hires left
Managers began making decisions without waiting for sign-off
Conversations became more honest and productive
New hires fitted better and settled faster

The biggest shift, though, came from the CEO.

He handed over day-to-day management of their largest client, which previously made up 65% of turnover. That freed him up to focus on growth.

“I was terrified of letting go,” he admitted. “But once I did, they didn’t just hold it. They improved it. And I finally had the headspace to go out and win new work again.”

They didn’t lose the client. But they did reduce their dependency. That one client now represents just 35% of their turnover. Not because the relationship shrank, but because the business grew around it.

The results

Staff turnover dropped. After an initial period of adjustment, recruitment slowed, and retention improved.
Managers started managing. They became clearer, bolder, and more effective.
Communication improved. Across layers and roles, conversations were clearer and more constructive.
The CEO returned to his zone of genius. He brought in over £2m in new business.
The company became more scalable. Lower key-person risk, better structure, and stronger team culture.

The return on investment

This client invested £55,000 in a year-long programme of workshops, coaching, and leadership support. While the original goal was to improve line management, the real gains came from addressing the underlying dynamics.

Here’s what that investment unlocked:

Reduced staff turnover: Even a modest drop in attrition saved the business an estimated £200k to £400k in recruitment and onboarding costs.
Better hiring decisions: New hires ramped up faster and contributed more effectively, delivering an estimated uplift of £400k or more.
Improved operational performance: Smoother delivery, fewer bottlenecks, and clearer accountability led to better margins, conservatively valued at £500k to £1m.
Freed-up CEO capacity: By stepping back from day-to-day operations, the CEO generated over £2m in new business.
Valuation uplift: With stronger leadership at every level, reduced founder reliance, and improved team health, the business likely gained £5m or more in future saleability.

One of the team put it best: “This wasn’t training. This was transformation. We thought we needed a toolkit. What we got was clarity, confidence, and a culture we can scale.”

Final thought

Most companies don’t come to us asking for a cultural reset. They ask for training. A workshop. Something tactical.

But when performance is stuck, or people aren’t stepping up, it’s often not a skills gap. It’s a structural one. A relational one. Something about the way trust, communication, and expectations are or aren’t working.

That’s what we help uncover. And resolve.

If you're growing a people-led business and something feels off but you can’t quite name it, our 90-minute diagnostic is designed to help you find the real issue.

Want the 90-minute diagnostic?

Kate Davis