Women’s Talent Development Program

Our client, a major Australian financial services organisation, wanted to strengthen its pipeline of high-potential women leaders. 

The opportunity extended beyond developing the women themselves. The organisation also wanted the leaders around them to play a more active role in career progression. This included stronger coaching, sponsorship, advocacy, visibility and access to meaningful stretch opportunities.

SMG designed a six-month program that developed two cohorts at the same time: future leaders, and the leaders responsible for helping them progress.

The program included:

• Bespoke digital learning for approximately 15 high-potential women
• Facilitated Coaching Circles focused on live leadership and career challenges
• Bespoke digital learning for each participant’s People Leader
• Practical development for People Leaders to strengthen coaching, sponsorship and career conversations
• Applied learning designed to continue through day-to-day leadership conversations and relationships

Engagement remained consistently high across the six-month program, with all four rounds of Coaching Circles receiving a 100% “Highly Engaged” facilitator rating among those attending.

More importantly, participants brought real leadership and career challenges into the Coaching Circles. They then applied their learning back at work.

Facilitators observed increasingly open and practical conversations about leadership behaviour, pressure, resilience and boundaries. They also saw a stronger focus on sustainable performance, supported by peer connection and practical problem-solving.

As the program progressed, participants increasingly used one another as a source of challenge, perspective and support. This strengthened relationships and created a peer network that could continue beyond the formal learning sessions.

The program also strengthened shared accountability for progression. Participants developed their own leadership capability and career agency, while their People Leaders developed stronger coaching skills and greater awareness of their role in sponsoring, advocating for and creating meaningful opportunities for talent.

By the final Coaching Circles, facilitators observed a clear shift in thinking. Development was increasingly seen as a shared responsibility, supported by the right leadership and organisational conditions.