Ageas & CCL: Creating a Common Vision and Culture Across 16 Countries

After the 2008 financial crisis, Ageas — like all financial services firms — faced new challenges. In the wake of the crisis, the Belgium-based company with a history that goes back nearly 2 centuries needed to adjust to its new configuration.

The leadership of the company wanted to ensure its revenues and profits were grounded in the core financial strength of its insurance products. They also needed to adapt quickly to a shifting regulatory environment and new retail and business customer demands.

Perhaps most importantly, Ageas needed to cultivate a common vision and culture across its 16 country-level operating companies, which have considerable autonomy. 

That’s when Ageas decided to partner with CCL to design a development  program tailored to meet the needs of their high-potential managers.

Leadership Learning Fused with Business Application

The result was an experience that blended traditional feedback with practical leadership and coaching skills, and incorporated opportunities to tackle real business challenges. The participants were also given the chance to visit the company’s headquarters in Brussels and develop a network of colleagues that they otherwise might never have met.  

The Ageas Leadership Program (ALP) has 5 key objectives for participants:

• Enhance their readiness to deal with the different expectations they’ll encounter as they transition to more senior leadership roles.
• Strengthen their ability to think and act strategically across functions and regions.
• Leverage diverse experiences and perspectives, and benefit from a network of peers from across the organization.
• Broaden their cultural awareness and increase their confidence level when working in unfamiliar environments.
• Build relationships with the Ageas Management Committee members and senior managers through leadership and business discussions.

The ALP has evolved as CCL and Ageas refined the process and worked to strengthen the overall experience and improve outcomes.

Learn more about how Ageas cultivated a common culture and vision, and the impact the ALP has had in the article below.