We want to be known as an organisation that develops exceptional leaders, so in 2007, we developed a leadership feedback tool which we will extend across the group in 2008 and 2009. The tool, which was successfully piloted in 2007 in Australia and India, is intended to increase line managers’ ability to:

• manage their impact on other people
• maximise the performance of every employee
• increase their own skills
• bring to life six outcomes that will create a great place to work, including respect, praise and clarity.

During the course of 2007, we also redesigned the programmes offered through the Aviva Leadership Academy, which provides an opportunity for Aviva managers to gain deeper self-insight and awareness of the impact of their leadership. It strongly supports the ‘One Aviva’ concept by encouraging an international network of colleagues to learn from each other.

Twenty-two employees in Hibernian are currently participating in ‘Horizon’, a personal development programme to identify and support high-potential employees, while Romania and France piloted the Leadership Target Plus programme, and Aviva Lithuania established the Academy of Managers, which offered sessions on situational management and coaching techniques during the year.

The ‘Development for Tomorrow’ programme in Sri Lanka identified 24 future sales leaders to undertake secondments with senior regional mentors for more ‘hands-on’ development, and our Leading into the Future and Building the Future programmes in Canada, attended by more than 370 people managers, were awarded the Silver Award of Excellence from the Canadian Society for Training and Development.

Case study

Learning and development

Aviva is committed to fostering a culture of lifelong learning and provides many training opportunities, with the main focus on leadership, professional development and qualifications, and core skills training. Aviva-COFCO, our joint venture in China, was given the ‘Best Channel Strategy’ award by China Insurance Marketing magazine for its training centre for brokers, while in the coming year, Aviva USA will invest $2 million in learning and development, including the development of ‘Aviva USA University’.