At a glance

• Client: Arriva
• Programme: Drive25
• What we delivered: A four-month leadership learning journey (workshops + practical tools)
• Who took part: 3 cohorts of ~20 leaders (≈60 leaders total)
• Format: 3 in-person sessions over 4 months
• Outcome: Leaders moved from “survey engagement” to everyday engagement leadership, reading insight, running better conversations, and taking clearer action

The challenge

Arriva wanted to strengthen manager capability as part of Drive25. Specifically:

• Build leaders’ confidence and clarity in what “engagement” means day-to-day
• Help managers translate engagement data into practical leadership behaviours
• Shift engagement from a once-a-year event into an ongoing leadership mindset
• Create a stronger partnership between managers and the People team on engagement ownership

What we heard early on

• Leaders weren’t short of intent, they needed shared language, confidence, and practical ways to act on what feedback was telling them
• Engagement data could feel abstract without a clear route to: “What do I do differently on Monday?”

Our Approach

The programme began with listening sessions to understand how leaders interpreted engagement and where clarity or confidence was lacking. Inpulse then met with the internal People and Talent team to align the content to Arriva’s culture, business priorities, and language. Drawing on this insight, Inpulse designed sessions that leaned into real challenges, helping managers connect engagement data to daily leadership behaviours and decision making.

1) Listen first, then design for reality

Listening sessions uncover:

• How leaders interpreted engagement (and where misunderstandings were common)
• Where confidence dropped (e.g., hard conversations, competing priorities, feedback fatigue)
• What “good” looked like inside Arriva’s culture and operating context

Design principles:

• Use Arriva language: We aligned content with internal terminology and priorities so it felt owned, not imported
• Make it practical: Every concept had a direct “how to apply this” path
• Work with real challenges: Sessions were built around what leaders actually face, not idealised scenarios
• Build capability, not dependency: Tools and techniques leaders could use without needing HR to drive everything

2) Align with people & talent so it sticks

We worked closely with Arriva’s internal People and Talent team to:

• Anchor content in business priorities
• Ensure workshops supported existing Drive25 goals
• Reinforce engagement as a shared responsibility, not “owned by HR”

Delivery

Three cohorts of 20 leaders took part in a four-month learning journey designed to move engagement from a survey activity into an everyday leadership mindset. Delivered across four months, each session focussed on practical application and peer learning. The sessions blended evidence-based insight with open discussion, reflection, and real-world scenarios. Many commented on how the sessions helped them lead conversations with greater confidence and purpose. 

Programme structure (4 months, 3 in-person sessions)

Each session combined:

• Evidence-based insight (what drives engagement in practice)
• Peer discussion and reflection (leaders learning from leaders)
• Real-world scenarios (turning feedback into action, not theory)
• Practical tools and techniques (usable immediately with teams)

What delegates valued most:

• Relevance: Content spoke directly to their role and pressures
• Pace: High energy, focused sessions with clear takeaways
• Authenticity: Honest facilitation that made space for real conversation
• Confidence boost: Leaders felt more equipped to lead meaningful engagement conversations

Outcomes and impact

Leaders left with a stronger ability to read and act on engagement data, turning insight into target actions with their teams. They reported higher self-awareness, greater confidence in leading through feedback, and a clearer understanding of how their everyday behaviours shape culture. The programme also strengthened collaboration between managers and the People team, embedding engagement as a shared responsibility.  

What changed for leaders

Leaders left with:

• Stronger capability to interpret engagement data (what it’s really telling you)
• Clearer next steps to turn insight into targeted actions with their teams
• Higher self-awareness of how their behaviours shape culture
• More confidence leading through feedback, including difficult or sensitive topics
• A more consistent approach to engagement conversations across cohorts

What changed for the organisation

• Engagement became more embedded as a leadership habit, not a survey cycle task
• Stronger collaboration between managers and the People team
• A clearer, shared understanding that engagement is built through everyday decisions, not annual measurement

“Working with Inpulse has helped us make an important shift in our managers’ understanding of colleague engagement.  They helped us build the mindset that engagement isn’t just something measured once a year in a people survey, it’s something that matters every day.  Inpulse were highly professional and true experts in their field, bringing insight and practical tools that made a real difference.  They were also incredibly flexible, adapting to changes in our business with ease and ensuring the program stayed relevant and impactful”

Liz Liddle, Head of Talent, Arriva

Arriva’s Drive25 workshops helped leaders make a practical shift: from treating engagement as a survey outcome to leading it as a daily responsibility. By grounding the programme in Arriva’s reality, language and challenges, managers built the confidence and capability to interpret feedback, lead stronger conversations, and take targeted action with their teams.

The result was a clearer, more consistent approach to engagement across cohorts, and a stronger partnership between leaders and the People team to embed engagement into how work gets done.

We start by listening, then build a practical learning journey that equips leaders to act on engagement insight with confidence. Get in touch to explore what a cohort-based workshop series could look like for your organisation. Book a demo now