• Results:
  • Internal promotion success
  • Improved team leadership
  • Enhanced productivity
  • Increased revenue
• Impact:
  • Strong, cohesive Records team

Mewburn Ellis LLP is an attorney firm supporting clients with their intellectual property. Their team works with organisations building the brands and technologies that will define tomorrow.

The firm helps its clients to navigate their business journey, using intellectual property to help them imagine, plan, nurture and protect innovations and deliver them to market.

The firm works across all stages of the IP lifecycle and advises clients on patents, trade marks and registered designs, as well as any IP-related disputes and legal and commercial requirements.

Across four offices in the UK and one in Munich, Mewburn Ellis has over 350 people including 49 partners and 110 qualified attorneys.

The firm prides itself on a personal approach to business with a focus on providing strategic advice to maximise the potential of IP as an asset to increase the value of businesses.

THE PROBLEM/CHALLENGE

With the impending retirement of a key team leader from the Records Department, it became evident that focus needed to be placed on developing the leadership skills of existing internal talent in the Records team. The department is vitally important and as such, strong skills in the incoming leader were essential to enable a seamless change over and continued smooth operations.

As the ‘engine room’ of the business, the 26-strong team already worked well together, but Mewburn Ellis wanted to provide opportunities for development to bolster the in-house skillset, improve employee prospects and ensure that the leadership skills gap was comprehensively filled.

Fired Up Leaders previous experience of leadership training with paralegals, developing communication, increasing trust and creating an open and honest culture, put them in the perfect position to support Mewburn Ellis with their ambitions.

THE SOLUTION

Fired Up Leaders developed a well-structured 12-month programme to create the necessary conditions for leadership skills development across the team. The process began with an initial three-way conversation between Fired Up Leaders, the employee and Mewburn Ellis to set the tone for the development programme and understandany barriers to success. This created the conditions for a collaborative and open journey, throughout which all parties were clear about the objectives of the training.

Leadership training as a team and one-to-one coaching sessions followed, with opportunities for all parties to ‘check-in’ along the way to ensure the programme was delivering its key aims across topics including leadership development, improving communication in the workplace, managing people, delegation skills and how to develop a high performing team.

The regular leadership training sessions were a key part of the programme, providing consistency in messaging and learning throughout the duration of the programme. Feedback from individuals highlighted Nicola’s excellent communication throughout the process, her insight and availability to discuss and address any challenges
along the way.

THE RESULT

Following the programme and with a need to replace the retiring Records Leader, Mewburn Ellis was able to promote internally. The individual, as a result of their training, met the objectives and proved to be a natural
successor to the role.

The leadership skills across the whole team were also significantly improved, having a positive impact on productivity and performance and helping to increase revenue.

Overall, Fired Up Leaders training and coaching helped to evolve the Records department from a group of excellent individuals into a strong high performing team, working cohesively under clear leadership.

THE FUTURE

As a trusted partner, Fired Up Leaders will help the firm to achieve its future ambitions by ensuring its most valuable resource, its people, have ample opportunity for development.