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Veranova case study

Building frontline management capability across Veranova’s U.S. sites

Veranova partnered with Elite on a bespoke management-development program for supervisors and managers at sites in Massachusetts and New Jersey. Following upfront discovery with the client, an Elite trainer delivered four days of practical, onsite development to approximately 60 participants, with consistently strong participant feedback.

Approximately 60 participants · four days of training per participant

ClientVeranova
ClientVeranova
EngagementBespoke U.S. management-development rollout
DeliveryOnsite in Massachusetts and New Jersey

Veranova operates in a technically demanding pharmaceutical environment where supervisors and managers need to lead people effectively alongside significant operational responsibilities.

The requirement was not for a standard management course. Veranova wanted a program shaped around its own audience and learning objectives, covering the practical management skills that frontline supervisors and developing managers needed in their day-to-day roles.

Elite therefore began with discovery before delivery. The trainer worked with Veranova to understand the participant population, the workplace context and the capabilities the program needed to strengthen, before delivering the resulting development program onsite at Veranova locations in Massachusetts and New Jersey.

Capability areas delivered
Frontline Management Communication & Feedback Difficult Conversations Influencing
The challenge

The business challenge

The participant group was deliberately mixed. Some were relatively new to Veranova, while others were established middle managers. A useful program therefore had to work across different levels of management experience without becoming either too elementary or too abstract.

The focus was frontline supervision: the conversations, influencing skills and management judgment required when managers are responsible for both people and operational outcomes.

The program also needed to be practical. Participants had to be able to connect the training with situations they were already encountering at work rather than simply leave with management theory.

Our approach

Capability built around the organization

Discovery before design

The trainer met with Veranova before delivery to understand the audience, management context and required learning objectives. That discovery informed the emphasis and structure of the program rather than treating customization as a simple change of examples.

Four days of connected development

Each participant received four days of training, creating room to build management capability across a connected program rather than compressing multiple supervisor skills into a short introductory session.

Practical management situations

The learning focused on skills managers could use in real supervisory situations. Participant feedback specifically highlighted influencing and approaches to difficult conversations as valuable parts of the program.

Onsite facilitation

An Elite trainer delivered the program in person at Veranova premises in Massachusetts and New Jersey, allowing discussion, practice and facilitation to take place directly with the participating groups.

Outcomes

What the partnership supported

Approximately 60 people developed

The U.S. rollout reached roughly 60 Veranova employees across a participant population that included both newer staff and established middle managers.

Four days per participant

Every participant completed four days of management development, providing meaningful time for practice, discussion and application rather than a single short intervention.

93.7% rated the trainer very good or excellent

Participant evaluation was consistently strong: 93.7% of participants rated the trainer either very good or excellent.

Practical learning resonated

Participant comments highlighted subject expertise, engagement, influencing skills and useful approaches to difficult conversations.

Participant feedback

What participants said

Diane knew her subject matter and kept the class engaged.

T Boberick Production Supervisor Veranova

Diane’s fantastic! So knowledgeable and able to explain things well to a variety of people.

A LaRiviere Human Resources Generalist Veranova

The course did a lot to deliver on my wants and needs.

J Stippick Production Coordinator Veranova

Influencing was a key component of the final day of the training and was extremely helpful.

M Guillorn Senior Process Engineer Veranova

Looking ahead

Continuing capability development

The Veranova engagement illustrates what bespoke management development should mean in practice: first understand the people, roles and desired outcomes; then build an experience around the management situations participants actually face. The rollout combined substantial development time, onsite facilitation and consistently strong participant feedback across multiple U.S. sites.

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