Case example - individuals
Developing leaders of change
The client context: Make a Difference
The client, Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK), is the sector skills council responsible for developing the workforce across the further education system (which includes sixth-form colleges, further education colleges, adult and community learning providers and work-based learning providers). Recent government reviews have reinforced how critical the further education sector is for the competitiveness of the UK economy. They have also highlighted how the further education sector needs to improve substantially to meet the country’s needs. The government has sponsored LLUK to recruit and develop a group of 200 outstanding managers to help transform the further education system.
LLUK chose The Cognitas Group from a pool of 80 contenders to run the Make a Difference leadership programme for the 200 managers. We are partnering with the Learning and Skills Network, who bring sector-specific expertise.
How The Cognitas Group is helping LLUK
We have put together a comprehensive one-year programme to accelerate the development of participants as outstanding leaders of change. We are working with participants to develop their abilities in: leading others; leading teams; leading organisations; and leading change. We are helping them become extraordinary leaders with the flexibility and courage to bring change to their organisations.
With the Learning and Skills Network, we are providing a programme that mixes four face-to-face residential training sessions with other activities to help participants really apply and learn skills in their daily work. The other activities include coaching, action learning groups, business projects and a web-based community and learning portal.
We have drawn from far and wide to put together the best possible programme for these leaders of the future. Our programme has a foundation in adult development research, which helps us focus on what it really takes to become a strong and flexible change leader.
Results
The programme is now fully designed and tested with the further education community. The initial feedback on the programme has been very positive. We will be beginning to work with the first cohort of participants soon.
Our targeted outcome is that our participants are ready to move from middle management to senior management level within three to five years of joining the programme.
Because this programme is so innovative and ground-breaking, we are currently organising a university collaboration to conduct research on our work to track its effectiveness and learn from our approach.
Please do contact us if you would like further information or to discuss how we could support your organisation.
If you are an individual interested in taking part in the programme, please visit www.changeyourfuture.org. If you are a provider interested in employing a Make a Difference participant please visit www.catalystprogramme.org.