The challenge
For over a century, Selfridges have cultivated their brand as one of the most high-end department stores in the world. Alongside this, it has developed a strong track record of investing in talent and creating exceptional development opportunities across the organisation.
Recognising the increasing competition for top talent, Selfridges wanted to refresh its emerging talent offering.
Organisation
Selfridges
Industry
Retail
Organisation size
9,000
Solution
Emerging talent development
The ambition was to create something truly best in class – a development experience that would attract, retain and accelerate its future leaders.
This was about more than capability building. Selfridges wanted a programme that would be genuinely transformational, helping high-potential talent develop the leadership skills, confidence and self-awareness needed to step into bigger roles, whilst creating a community of future leaders committed to driving the business forward.
The brief
We needed to deliver a learning experience that felt exclusive, aspirational, challenging and rewarding.
Selfridges wanted to offer its high-potential talent access to what they described as “the best development in the world” – an experience that felt prestigious, highly sought-after and reflective of the standards associated with the Selfridges brand.
Places on the programme would be limited and highly competitive, with participants required to complete a rigorous application process to secure a place. Selection would signal that they had been identified as future leadership talent within the organisation.
The business was looking for a partner with deep expertise in behavioural change and talent development, alongside the credibility and experience to engage a highly ambitious audience.
They were also keen for participants to learn alongside exceptional talent from other organisations, sectors and backgrounds, gaining fresh perspectives and building networks beyond Selfridges.
Above all, the programme needed to align with Selfridge’s values: embracing individuality, creating the extraordinary and leading with purpose.
The solution
Given the ambition of the brief, Ivy House’s award-winning Master Programme was a natural fit.
Selfridges selected a cohort of high-potential emerging leaders to participate in the programme, giving them the opportunity to learn alongside some of the brightest talent from organisations across a wide range of sectors. This external cohort experience exposed participants to new perspectives, challenged their thinking and expanded their professional networks beyond the business.
A key component of the programme was the combination of immersive in-person and virtual leadership development and 1:1 executive coaching. This ensured the learning moved beyond theory, creating space for participants to explore their individual challenges, build self-awareness and drive real change. The coaching element played a critical role in helping delegates translate learning into action and maximise their impact within the organisation.
Selfridges further reinforced its commitment to participants by investing in profiling and coaching before they had even started the programme. This created a strong foundation for development and demonstrated the significance of the investment being made in their future.
To ensure the learning was embedded back into the organisation, the programme was supported by a series of internal initiatives, including a launch event featuring both Ivy House and the Selfridges CEO. The event celebrated those selected, highlighted the significance of their achievement and reinforced the organisation’s commitment to nurturing its future leaders.
The impact
- Programme NPS: +92
- 30% promotion rate within 6 months
The programme quickly became recognised as a key part of Selfridges’ talent strategy, leading to further cohorts and continued investment in the development of emerging leaders. As the partnership evolved, Ivy House delivered a range of additional interventions, including keynote sessions, exclusive “up close and personal” conversations with senior leaders and alumni, and targeted masterclasses exploring critical leadership topics in greater depth. Together, these initiatives helped reinforce the learning, strengthen the alumni community and further embed leadership development across the organisation.
“The Ivy House team deliver an exceptional service. They are knowledgeable, enthusiastic and the feedback from our participants has been glowing, with colleagues raving about the connections they’ve been able to make with people from other companies, how the programme has helped them to learn more about themselves on a deeper level and identify the path to maximise their personal growth.
A significant number of our colleagues who have been on previous cohorts have gone on to bigger roles and the feedback from their managers was that they were able to see such a marked improvement in their leadership qualities. We look forward to continuing to partner with Ivy House in the future to develop our early talent.”
Group Senior People Manager, Selfridges
By investing in leadership development, Selfridges is not just shaping great leaders – they’re embedding a high-performance culture that ensures they stay ahead in a competitive market.
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