Succession planning and developing management talent to sustain and grow the business is the challenge facing nuclear decommissioning and waste management specialist NSG Environmental Ltd, and it has benefited from support provided by Acorn Coaching and Development.

Over more than 25 years, NSG Environmental has gained a unique understanding of radioactive waste management and decommissioning through its involvement in many challenging contracts for civil and defence authorities.

NSG Environmental employs more than 120 people and is part of the NIS Group of companies. The business is based in Chorley in Lancashire but has teams operating in nuclear locations across the UK including Sellafield and Aldermaston.

NSG has been involved in supporting the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) both in safe transport of radioactive materials in the UK and following the incident at Fukushima Power Plant in Japan.

NSG has also recently established a Consultancy Service to support the civil and defence nuclear decommissioning and waste management industry.

The company has built a skilled team of experienced scientists, engineers and decommissioning technicians, and has forged a reputation for solutions that embrace existing technologies while pushing the boundaries of innovation and invention.

NSG has built its business on delivering practical solutions that reduce costs and improve delivery.

Managing Director John Morris, one of three executive directors within the business explains: “We have a hugely talented team within NSG including managers, scientists and engineers and they demonstrate outstanding competence in developing and delivering solutions for our client companies and partners. However, we need to grow the leaders of the future to ensure our success continues in increasingly competitive markets.”

Acorn was engaged to develop the leadership capability within the company and improve the effectiveness of the senior management team.

Acorn initially provided team coaching to assist the three senior directors to align their thinking in what was required both from themselves and the company’s prospective future leaders.

Further team coaching sessions assisted in the identification of the leadership behaviours and competencies required to meet the short to medium term needs of the business.

Acorn then ran a development centre designed to identify talented individuals capable of taking the business forward and demonstrating strategic thinking. This gave the directors a clearer objective perception of the future talent within the business.

Acorn worked with the directors to assist them in looking strategically at the business and create a coaching capability to continue development of that future leadership talent providing further coaching skills input and assisting strategic development

John Morris adds: “Acorn has experience in the nuclear sector so we had confidence in commissioning them to assist us in this vital area of our business. It is important to identify those talented middle managers who may make our future leaders; individuals capable of not just delivering our business today but also able to make that leap in strategic thinking to take the business forward.”

Acorn Director Keith Longney says; “Succession planning and focusing attention on strategic development while maintaining day to day performance of the business are two of the biggest challenges facing SMEs, and NSG Environmental recognised the need for a more structured approach to sustain its success.”

“Businesses that challenge themselves to ensure they are geared up for the future opportunities are looking at investing in their staff, not as a nice-to-have but to ensure that they are capable of meeting the business needs of the future.”

“Focused pragmatic input which gears the business up for the future challenges has been recognised by NSG as an appropriate investment which will pay a dividend.”