INEOS Automotive partnered with Impel Talent to strengthen first-line leadership capability during a critical period of growth and the development of the Grenadier 4×4.

Across a 12-month programme spanning the UK, Germany, Portugal and France, Impel Talent delivered EMERGE to 16 emerging leaders across two cohorts, combining Emotional Intelligence, personalised coaching, strengths-based development and collaborative learning.

The programme helped leaders strengthen self-awareness, improve communication and coaching behaviours, build relationships across international sites and develop the human skills required to lead teams through sustained growth, change and pressure.

Client Overview

INEOS Automotive was established to design, engineer and manufacture the Grenadier 4×4, bringing together teams across the UK, Germany, Portugal and France.

As a young and rapidly scaling automotive organisation preparing to launch its first vehicle, the business was growing quickly across multiple sites while simultaneously navigating the disruption and pressures created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this environment, leadership capability became increasingly important.

Many technically accomplished employees were progressing into first-line leadership roles for the first time. While they brought strong functional expertise, they also needed the human skills required to inspire people, build trust, navigate change and create a consistent leadership culture across an international organisation.

Working closely with INEOS Automotive’s HR leadership, Impel Talent designed the EMERGE Leadership Development Programme to prepare these emerging leaders for the challenges ahead.

Participants were nominated by their line managers and supported by a board member, ensuring the programme was connected to wider organisational priorities from the beginning.

The Challenge

INEOS Automotive identified three central priorities for leadership development:

• Support rapid organisational growth across four international sites
• Strengthen a cohesive company culture built around shared values and purpose
• Develop leadership capability across the organisation

Many of the nominated participants had progressed because of their technical and functional expertise but were relatively new to managing and developing people.

At the same time, the organisation was working towards a demanding vehicle-launch timeline, with teams operating across four countries and under sustained pressure.

INEOS needed leaders capable of:

• Understanding their strengths, values and purpose
• Developing greater self-awareness and learning to lead themselves first
• Role-modelling a servant-leadership culture
• Communicating effectively across teams and locations
• Building trust across different cultures and working styles
• Coaching and developing people rather than simply solving problems for them
• Giving and receiving constructive feedback
• Managing conflict more effectively
• Supporting employee wellbeing
• Recognising and managing the risk of burnout
• Taking ownership of their own career development
• Helping retain talent throughout a period of rapid organisational change

The challenge extended beyond teaching leadership theory.

INEOS needed to develop leaders who could apply new behaviours immediately while simultaneously supporting the organisation through the pressures of bringing the Grenadier to market.

Our Approach

Impel Talent designed EMERGE as a holistic leadership development journey involving delegates, line managers and senior stakeholders.

Delivered 100% virtually across two cohorts between May 2021 and May 2022, the programme combined structured learning, individual coaching, strengths-based development and collaborative group sessions.

At its foundation were the four core skills of Emotional Intelligence:

• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness
• Relationship Management

The programme consisted of ten modules, including two bespoke modules specifically developed for INEOS Automotive around Workplace Wellness and SHE Management & Compliance.

Rather than treating development as a sequence of isolated workshops, EMERGE created a broader support ecosystem around each participant.

Coaching-Style Workbooks & Strengths Development

Each participant received customised coaching-style workbooks designed to encourage reflection before and between sessions.

Delegates also completed a Gallup StrengthsFinder assessment, helping them identify their individual strengths and understand how these could be applied more intentionally within their leadership roles.

This created a more personalised development experience and gave each leader a clear starting point for growth.

One-to-One Coaching

Every delegate received ten 60-minute individual coaching sessions.

These sessions created space for participants to reflect on real leadership challenges, explore their behaviour and turn learning into practical action.

Coaching also helped leaders develop greater accountability for applying what they had learned within their day-to-day roles.

Collaborative Group Learning

Participants attended ten 90-minute facilitated group sessions.

These sessions gave leaders opportunities to share experiences, discuss challenges and learn from colleagues across the organisation.

By bringing together participants from the UK, Germany, Portugal and France, the programme also helped establish stronger relationships and develop an international leadership network across the business.

Buddy System

Delegates were paired with a programme buddy, creating another layer of peer support and accountability.

The buddy system encouraged leaders to continue conversations outside formal learning sessions and helped strengthen connections between people working across different teams and locations.

Manager Involvement & Accountability

Line managers were actively involved throughout the programme.

Kick-off sessions involving managers and delegates established the purpose of EMERGE and clarified expectations from the beginning.

A mid-programme review allowed managers to assess progress, while the programme concluded with a lessons-learned session and graduation designed to capture development priorities and future actions.

This wider involvement helped ensure that leadership development was supported within the working environment rather than existing separately from it.

The Impact

Across two cohorts of first-line leaders, EMERGE produced reported development across all four core areas of Emotional Intelligence.

Participants described becoming more self-aware, more deliberate in how they communicated and more confident in their leadership identity.

Many leaders also shifted from immediately solving problems for their teams towards listening, coaching and helping employees develop their own solutions.

Delegates reported improvements in:

• Self-awareness
• Leadership confidence
• Communication
• Coaching behaviours
• Relationship building
• Constructive feedback
• Conflict resolution
• Personal organisation
• Work-life balance
• Team trust

The programme also encouraged leaders to think differently about performance and wellbeing.

Several participants described learning to “go slow to go fast”, creating greater space for reflection, planning and more intentional decision-making.

Others began protecting time for personal wellbeing and recognising the relationship between sustainable performance and effective leadership.

Strengthening Culture Across Four Sites

EMERGE helped establish a cross-site leadership network connecting participants across the UK, Germany, Portugal and France.

Delegates developed a shared language around servant leadership and began role-modelling behaviours designed to strengthen trust, accountability and connection across the organisation.

Key themes emerging from the programme included:

• Attitude
• Accountability
• Authenticity

These insights were fed back to the INEOS Board, providing the organisation with broader information that could support future leadership and cultural development.

Supporting Talent Retention

One of the clearest examples of programme impact came from an individual retention decision.

One participant received an external employment offer with higher compensation but chose to remain with INEOS Automotive.

The programme had helped the individual better understand their development opportunities and the value of continuing to grow within the organisation.

While representing one individual example rather than a wider retention metric, it demonstrated the role meaningful development can play in strengthening employees’ connection to an organisation.

In Delegates’ Own Words

“Tips and tricks I use on a daily basis. I not only lead the team but build relationships. I became a positive person.”

“I have learnt to go slow to go fast. My self-awareness has improved and I now know my strengths.”

“Most importantly, I learnt about myself: servant leader, tools to manage and lead our team, and time in my diary for reflection.”

Project Highlights

• 🚙 EMERGE delivered during the development and launch journey of the INEOS Grenadier 4×4
• 🌍 First-line leaders developed across the UK, Germany, Portugal and France
• 👥 16 emerging leaders supported across two cohorts
• 🧠 Programme built around the four core capabilities of Emotional Intelligence
• 📚 Ten leadership modules delivered virtually over approximately 12 months
• 🩺 Two bespoke modules created around Workplace Wellness and SHE Management & Compliance
• 🎯 Ten one-to-one coaching sessions provided to each delegate
• 🤝 Ten facilitated group sessions supporting collaborative development
• 💪 Gallup StrengthsFinder assessments and coaching-style workbooks incorporated into the programme
• 🌐 Cross-site leadership network and buddy system established
• 🔄 Servant leadership introduced as a shared leadership philosophy
• 💡 Individual retention success, with one delegate choosing to remain with INEOS despite receiving a higher-paying external offer
• 📊 Themes of Attitude, Accountability and Authenticity shared with the INEOS Board

Client Testimonial

“I am so happy that I brought Impel Talent into INEOS Automotive after working with them in Airbus One Web Satellites. They partnered with me to create a bespoke program that met the needs of the team as well as created an environment that helped build relationships across a new and growing team.”

— Kai Schmidt, Director of HR, INEOS Automotive

Our Expertise in Action

This partnership demonstrates Impel Talent’s ability to develop first-line and emerging leaders within young, rapidly scaling organisations where leadership capability and organisational culture need to mature alongside the business.

Our strengths include:

• Bespoke Leadership Development: Designing programmes around an organisation’s specific context, culture, workforce and stage of growth rather than relying on standardised training.
• First-Line Leader Development: Equipping technically strong professionals with the human skills required to transition successfully into people leadership.
• Emotional Intelligence Development: Strengthening self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management as practical leadership capabilities.
• Coaching & Strengths-Based Development: Combining individual coaching, reflective workbooks and strengths assessments to convert insight into sustainable behavioural change.
• Servant Leadership: Helping leaders move from solving every problem themselves towards coaching, supporting and developing the capability of their teams.
• Cross-Cultural Collaboration: Connecting leaders across international locations and helping create stronger relationships and shared leadership behaviours.
• Leadership Through Growth & Change: Supporting leaders operating within fast-scaling organisations, demanding timelines and periods of significant transformation.
• Wellbeing & Sustainable Performance: Helping leaders recognise the relationship between wellbeing, resilience and long-term leadership effectiveness.

Through EMERGE, INEOS Automotive strengthened first-line leadership capability across four international sites while creating stronger connections between emerging leaders throughout the organisation.

By combining Emotional Intelligence, personalised coaching, strengths-based development, collaborative learning and active manager involvement, Impel Talent helped participants become more self-aware, confident and intentional leaders.

The programme supported INEOS Automotive during one of the most demanding periods in its development, equipping emerging leaders with the human skills required to lead their people through the growth, pressure and organisational change associated with bringing the Grenadier to life.