Would you like to find out more about the Aspiring Talent Programme? Just give Craig a shout as he loves a chat on the success of our partnership work with Malvern Hills and Wychavon District Councils
Malvern Hills and Wychavon District Councils are progressive and future-focused in their thinking. They found that identifying and developing aspiring talent was an opportunity to explore. Both Councils wanted to create brilliant leaders who would adopt a leadership mindset and behaviours, whatever their role (i.e. leading without the badge) and could also be part of succession planning for future Senior Leadership roles. They wanted to work with Rambutan because of our behaviouralist expertise in developing leadership talent, our bespoke and innovative approach, and the partnership we’ve built up together.
We designed and delivered a bespoke, modular, blended leadership development programme for them. It was built around the Councils’ leadership behaviours, their values and an external report, ‘The 21st Century Public Servant’. Participants needed to apply for the programme, which included elements such as workshops, mentoring, action learning sets and projects. The aim was to find and release untapped talent to produce accomplished individuals who role model leadership behaviours, whatever their role and potentially develop into Senior Leaders within the Councils.
Qualitative feedback was captured in participant evaluation forms, with benefits noting increases in confidence, improved ability to work with colleagues in other departments, and improvements in their overall management style.
58% of participants either had their grade increased in their existing post, were promoted, or moved into a different role internally. The Councils also noted increases in staff survey scoring which related to the way staff are led and managed:
We co-designed the programme to develop self-aware, emotionally intelligent leaders, who were well placed to bring the Council’s values and leadership behaviours to life, by behaving as leadership role models. We factored in different learning styles, approaches and needs within the cohort, to be fully inclusive and reflective of the team’s diversity.
Prospective participants applied to take part in the programme, with the mindset, vision and intention to become the best version of themselves, and potentially a future Senior Leader of the Councils.
The programme was designed to be agile, enabling it to evolve and change based on participant feedback. For example, we built on early feedback to introduce mini-modules for the second cohort, which complemented the main workshops. These allowed participants to delve into additional topics of interest, for example, deeper learning on the political environment and a financial masterclass.
Self-directed learning and development (e.g. via a Teams site with links to TED Talks, articles and interactive tools) was complemented by opportunities to work as a group (e.g. via workshops and action learning sets) to share experiences and further embed learning. The workshops featured:
Throughout the programme, participants completed a learning journal to chart their progress and help plan their continuing professional development.
This hybrid approach encouraged individuals to apply their learning, extend their comfort zones and live more in their stretch zones, and build a network with other future leaders.
Some favourite highlights of the programme included:
“Craig helped us develop a bespoke internal leadership development programme – The Aspiring Talent Programme. This modular programme is creative, varied and highly engaging for participants. Supported by mentoring and peer support, it has enabled us to develop our internal talent and has set a pathway for implementing further mini modules. The facilitation of the programme is fantastic and the content more than meets our expectations. Rambutan will continue to work with us in implementing a new performance management system and we know they will bring the same energy, commitment and passion that they always do and help us drive continuous business improvement.”
Allison Neal, Head of HR and Organisational Development