The Brandon Hall Award for “Best Use of a Blended Learning Programme” celebrates creative learning approaches that mix digital and in-person training to make a real impact.
Aston Martin Lagonda, in partnership with Cegos recently won a silver award in this category.
Mag summary
- The Challenge : Strengthening Leadership in a Transforming Industry
- A Blended Leadership Development Solution
- Designing a High-Impact Leadership Journey
- A Blended Leadership Delivery Approach
- Driving Adoption Through Continuous Improvement
- Measurable Impact on Performance and Culture
- Strategic Insights for Future Programmes
The Challenge : Strengthening Leadership in a Transforming Industry
As a luxury automotive brand, Aston Martin faces significant challenges: keeping up with rapid changes in technology, the shift to electric vehicles, and pressure to maintain exceptional quality in low-volume production.
Internal research showed that leadership capability needed strengthening at the first-line level, particularly among managers and supervisors who connect strategy to day-to-day operations.
These first-line leaders had not previously had a consistent development pathway. Now, armed with a focused set of corporate values – Unity, Openness, Trust, Ownership, and Courage – the organisation wanted to set clear expectations for leadership behaviour and strengthen capability at this level.
A Blended Leadership Development Solution
Together, Cegos and Aston Martin created the Ignite Programme. This was designed as a 9-month blended learning journey to bring the five company values to life, build consistent leadership skills, and help leaders balance performance with people management.
The initiative was co-designed with Aston Martin to make sure it was relevant and appealed directly to participants’ needs. It also had to be aligned to organisational goals and be accessible across functions and locations.
Designing a High-Impact Leadership Journey
The programme was made up of seven modules, each linked to the company’s leadership values. Modules focused on self-awareness and authenticity, adapting leadership styles, building high-performance teams, coaching and feedback, delegation and motivation, strategic and financial thinking, and leading through change.
Each was highly practical, combining diagnostics, simulations, role-plays, and real-world problem-solving with digital reinforcement and one-to-one coaching.
The programme culminated in a ‘Springboard for the Future’ event where participants reflect, demonstrate progress, and commit to sustained growth. This ensured the learning translated into measurable behavioural change across the business.
A Blended Leadership Delivery Approach
The programme was delivered with a combination of different learning methods:
- Workshops: Face-to-face and virtual sessions on key leadership skills.
- Digital self-paced learning: e-learning, videos, workbooks, and tools; available through the Cegos Learning Hub.
- Coaching: One-to-one online coaching to support personal application.
- On-the-job learning: Implementation journals to track how skills were used in practice.
- Social learning: Peer groups and action learning sets to encourage collaboration.
- Leadership GPS: A custom digital tool giving real-time feedback on leadership behaviours.
Modules were spaced out by 3 to 4 weeks so participants could try out new skills before regrouping.
The Leadership GPS tool proved particularly effective, as it provided weekly behaviour-based feedback from line managers, peers, and team members.
Communication was structured to keep participants and their managers engaged. This aspect is very important to get buy-in from participants, so they will fully benefit from the training and complete all the modules.
As such, reminders, instructions, and updates were shared consistently with participants throughout the program.
Driving Adoption Through Continuous Improvement
Once the programme was launched, weekly check-ins between Cegos and Aston Martin helped the team adjust content quickly, whenever challenges came up.
Examples include:
- Boosting digital tool use: When GPS feedback rates were low, SMS and email reminders improved participation.
- Improving journals: Simplifying the format increased completion rates.
- Virtual session access: Factory-based participants had dedicated rooms booked to ensure they could join online sessions.
Every cohort finished with a review meeting so lessons learned could feed into the next round.
Measurable Impact on Performance and Culture
Assessing the impact of training is essential to ensure participants are learning and that the programme has a direct positive impact on performance. A system of measurement was built in from the start and showed strong results:
- Leadership behaviour change: GPS data showed an average improvement of nearly 20 points across all values-linked behaviours.
- Digital engagement: 90% of self-guided digital activities were completed.
- Cultural impact: Action learning sets improved cross-functional collaboration, empathy, and engagement.
- Performance management: Participants were 14% more likely to set objectives and 9% more likely to hold regular check-ins with teams.
- Advocacy: The programme achieved an NPS of 70, showing strong satisfaction and perceived value.
The Ignite Programme is now seen internally as a flagship leadership initiative, with demand outstripping places. Previous participants have formed peer networks to sustain learning. A female-only cohort’s success has inspired diversity-focused expansions, and a similar program – called ‘Ignite Plus’ – is planned for middle managers.
Strategic Insights for Future Programmes
Throughout the process of design and delivery, three key lessons stood out around the factors that contributed to success:
- Tie learning to strategy: Mapping objectives to company goals made the programme relevant.
- Mix delivery methods: Blending formats supported different learning styles and job contexts.
- Measure continuously: Tools like Leadership GPS showed clear impact and helped refine delivery.
By embedding values into learning design and delivery, the programme has built a strong, scalable model for leadership development. It prepares Aston Martin well for industry change while strengthening its culture for the future.
The silver award won in the "Best Use of a Blended Learning Programme" category was delivered by the Brandon Hall Group. They provide through their award programme a benchmark of innovation and impact in the learning industry. Winning such an award demonstrates the power of partnership, co-design, and learner-centric approaches – values at the heart of Cegos’ work with its clients worldwide.
