exemplas - realising potential

Durkan a group of companies offering construction, development and regeneration solutions across South East England and Ireland, had worked closely with Exemplas on gaining Investors in People (IiP) status. Managing Director Robert Clark felt that Adaptex*, previously known as the Adaptability Index Tool (AIT), would continue the focus on staff development started by IiP.

Adaptex gauges the potential of an organisation to adapt in changing environments and business conditions.  Adaptability is the primary focus, with staff attitudes and behaviour providing the evidence of an organisation’s readiness to adapt. Undertaking the Adaptex process is a good way for a company to check if its employees understand its vision, strategy and direction and the way these goals may have inspired the change within the organisation.

The AIT (Adaptex) was originally developed and piloted through a European Union project with Exemplas leading the partnership in England. It has since been highly successful in helping the security sector, higher education, the service sector, the construction sector, technology and professional practice to enhance their successes and identify areas of weakness.  

“We felt Adaptex* would help us gauge how different these perceptions were,” said Robert. “We wanted to seek to understand the differences and make adjustments accordingly. Adaptex* supplemented our IiP ambitions, by supporting our emphasis on staff development and building support structures that created a positive working culture.”

* Adaptex is also known as the Adaptability Index Tool (AIT) in other markets

In February 2007, The Adaptex questionnaire was delivered to 24 people, representing a cross-section of managers within the organisation. “We wanted an analysis of management attitudes across all departments,” explained Robert. “This involved directors, senior managers and managers. It was an important focus for Adaptex*, just to check whether the leadership was all pulling in the right direction.”

The respondents were asked to select from a scale, the most appropriate answer to a series of probing statements, designed to produce wide ranging information relating to staff attitudes and behaviour. Each person undertaking the Adaptex questionnaire is asked to answer the same 100 questions which are grouped into four sections: sensors and drivers, leadership, enablers and results management. In this way, Adaptex provides a snapshot of organisational thinking and can be used to compare organisations, or the same organisation over periods of time.

Not all the team at Durkan were initially convinced of the necessity of Adaptex but Robert saw that as positive. “We’re all for a healthy cynicism of an application such as this. It’s important to question and challenge; it served to stimulate interest and involvement in Adaptex* and the idea that were doing something to take the company forward.”

* Adaptex is also known as the Adaptability Index Tool (AIT) in other markets

The Adaptex questionnaire responses were collated and put together to provide a holistic view of Durkan’s organisational attitudes and behaviour. Adaptex then showed the mean ‘score’ of each response as well as the spread of views, ‘translating’ opinions into usable numerical measurements. An Exemplas Adaptex consultant paid Robert a visit to help explain the findings.

Robert said: “We already knew there were issues that needed our attention, and we knew there were other areas of the business we were comfortable with. All of this was somewhat underlined by Adaptex*, which, in a sense, was reassuring.”

Results from Adaptex often help the participating organisation to establish its priorities and refocus training and communication to align employee and organisational objectives. Robert confirmed that Adaptex did flag up certain procedures and processes within Durkan that needed to be addressed. “There were areas where we lacked congruence in perception and attitude,” admitted Robert. “Communication was one of the areas that came up as needing extra consideration.”

Following the consultant’s feedback, Robert and the management team immediately began the process of instigating change and supporting improved communication. “One thing we did straight away was to involve more members of the team in strategy groups,” said Robert. “This was to make sure all of the management team was involved in the strategic direction of the company. It has resulted in an increased overall understanding of where we’re going.”

 * Adaptex is also known as the Adaptability Index Tool (AIT) in other markets

“I was very impressed with the way the consultant introduced and delivered Adaptex*” Robert said. “It’s particularly useful to get a quick ‘snapshot’ of where the organisation is at and Adaptex* provides an excellent means of doing so. We look forward to continuing our working relationship with Exemplas in the future and will certainly consider using Adaptex* again – it was a very positive experience.”

* Adaptex is also known as the Adaptability Index Tool (AIT) in other markets