Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust

Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is a wetland restoration charity with “ambitions to unlock the power of wetlands and help nature burst back to life.”

Project Context

Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust engaged 9FT to develop a comprehensive Competency Framework following their new 7-year strategic plan. The organisation recognised development areas in performance management, employee development, and behavioural consistency across their team.

The primary challenge was creating a unified approach to understanding organisational expectations, addressing performance nuances, and establishing a common language for professional excellence. WWT needed a framework that could support talent attraction, performance conversations, and align with their emerging brand strategy.

Project Delivery

9FT implemented a methodical approach to framework development, beginning with extensive organisational research and stakeholder interviews. The project involved detailed behavioural analysis and used an iterative approach to the framework development before conducting pilot testing across different organisational levels.

Core activities included a comprehensive organisational assessment, leadership consultations, collaborative behaviour definition workshops, and systematic framework refinement. The team carefully managed design integrations, ensuring alignment with WWT’s broader strategic objectives and brand identity.

Deliverables encompassed a complete framework development plan, design principles, minimum viable product, readiness strategy, training approach, and communication plan.

Project Outcomes

The project successfully delivered a robust Competency Framework that transformed WWT’s performance management approach. Tangible outcomes included a comprehensive framework launched across all organisational sites, while intangible benefits included establishing a shared organisational language and significantly enhanced stakeholder confidence.

The framework provided WWT with a structured mechanism to assess performance, challenge undesirable behaviours, and create more meaningful development opportunities for their entire workforce.

9FT have gone over and above to support us with the launch. Generally 9FT exceeded our expectations through out!  They are very adaptable and I wouldn’t hesitate to work with them again on a different project.

Project Lead, WWT