Building a high performance organization: how Pamplona helps Bull and its employees achieve their goals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to outline a management development program, called Pamplona, designed to take Bull staff with leadership potential and transform them into senior managers, as part of its aim of creating a high performance team for the future. Design/methodology/approach – The program takes 23 high potential employees or managers in the UK and Ireland and runs 12 business focused modules for them over a 13‐month period. Successful participants graduate and obtain certification at the end of the process. Findings – The personal and business development of employees is helping strengthen and drive Bull's commercial growth and ultimately its transformation into a high performance business. Originality/value – Pamplona is strategic throughout – from the way delegates are selected through to the course content and follow through to the working environment. It is a good example of how to create a leadership succession plan that is closely aligned to organizational priorities.