Spectacular, modern training for the makers of modern spectacles
Founded in 2012 by Tom Broughton, Cubitts is a burgeoning business based in Kings Cross, London, and on a mission to revive Britain's lost optical legacy. With a team size of around 200; Cubitts now has 15 stores and counting across the UK, from Brighton to Edinburgh and with its sights set on international shores. Services include full eye examinations, and spectacle making workshops for craft loving customers.
For the Cubitts team; a perfectly fitting pair of spectacles should be a right, not a privilege — and we've partnered since 2020 to provide purposeful and focussed development opportunities to enable everyone in the business towards their mission.
Partnership focal points
Individual, unlimited and self-directed learning that gets everyone at Cubitts discovering, trying and applying new skills daily. And with tailored pathways to meet the discreet needs and time challenges of different teams and departments.
We supported the Cubitts leadership team in defining and embedding three kinds of performance conversation, aligned to values and helped all all Cubitts managers to build the confidence and capability to have them through collaborative and bitesize development programmes.
Curated pathways of bitesize, brain-and-mobile-friendly development are designed and seductively marketed to Cubitts team members working in their stores — giving them a chance to discover and experiment with timely resources in the flow of work.
Tailored pathways, promoted at the Cubitts partner portal at our platform complement self-directed learning; surfacing and signposting key workshops, resources and micro-learning on point to key skills. From foundational mindsets for new starters, to team-wide DEI talking points, these pathways create common focus and hit the development sweet spot between push and pull.
Energising kick off sessions and regular, targeted communication ensure the ongoing discovery and experimentation throughout the team — providing punchy and practical ways to test new approaches within the flow of work. Live engagement data helps the leadership team to prioritise what's pushed, and with managers encouraged to make development part of every 1-1 conversation.
Pioneers, Proud and For All — three key values central to the Cubitts culture, and principles we've aligned all aspects of our partnership to. From periodic pathways that link practical behaviours to each, to training managers to provide feedback in relation to them; we've enabled these values to feel more than just words on a wall and support ongoing conversation about what they really mean.
Illustration by Yann Le Bec
Partnership impact
• Over 75% of team members engaging with platform content more than 3 times a month.
• Supported a successful shift from annual performance reviews to monthly 1-1s, bi-annual career conversations and ongoing coaching conversations with managers.
• Pulse surveys in 2022 showing 100% of managers answering ’Yes, Definitely’ to ’Do you feel confident having conversations that connect Cubitts values to behaviours with your teams?’
• Pulse surveys post manager development programmes showing 100% of participating managers answering 'Yes, Definitely' to Have you learned relevant new skills you can now apply within your teams?'
“A perfect partnership that inclusively drives performance all the way through our team.”
Cohorts of Cubitts managers have been taken through collaborative workshop programmes, led by YCN coach-facilitators like Katy Kent pictured, purposefully developing coaching approaches to enable reflection, development and action among their teams. Key to the programme is building the confidence and capability to provide coaching-led feedback around Cubitts values in the flow of work.