Bespoke programmes for organisations
How Staff College Faculty can help
Staff College Faculty work in collaboration with organisations and systems to co-design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes. This enables programmes to be aligned with local and system ambitions and tailored to their specific development needs.
Faculty design and deliver a variety of leadership development programmes open to aspiring and experienced leaders at different stages of their career.
We take the time to build strong relationships with senior leaders within the organisations we work as a critical friend. This enables us to understand the current context and challenges faced by leaders.
A large part of our portfolio has been working with system and network leaders who are engaged in working at the interface between different organisations and where the need to use their influence and develop relationships across boundaries is fundamental to their ability to integrate services for the future.
Who Staff College has worked with
Staff College has worked with a wide variety of health and social care organisations both here in the UK, and internationally. Faculty have delivered programmes for:
- Healthcare and social care providers: including NHS Trusts, Primary Care Networks, GP Practices, Community Care and Social Care.
- Commissioners: including NHS England, Integrated Care Boards and Local Authorities.
- UK Government Departments
- International healthcare providers in Europe, Africa and India.
- Higher Education Institutes
The purpose of bespoke programmes
The purpose of a bespoke programme will be unique to the organisation and leaders it is designed for. The below are some common reasons organisations have approached us to design and deliver a programme for them:
- A desire to develop a pipeline of leaders with the confidence and aptitude to step up into more senior positions.
- A change in the context for the organisation with an anticipated increase in the level of challenge or complexity faced by leaders.
- A desire to strengthen the leadership skills and behaviours of current leaders within the organisation.
- A desire to improve the ways specific services, teams or professional groups are led.
- A need to develop leaders capable of leading transformation and improvement.
Examples of bespoke programmes
Staff College has designed a wide range of programmes for leaders working at different stages of their career. From its flagship Senior Leadership Development Programme for multi-professional leaders in healthcare to bespoke programmes for specific specialties. The below provides some recent examples:
- Clinical Leads Development Programme: a nine month programme for Clinical Leads working at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. With three x three-day modules: 1. Leading Self, 2. Leading Teams, 3. Leading in Systems.
- NHS England Imaging Network Leader Development Programme: a six month programme for clinical and operational leaders working in Imaging Networks. With four x two-day modules: 1. Self awareness and emotional intelligence, 2. Leading in complexity, 3. Leading in networks, 4. Leading change in your network.
- Senior Leadership Development Programme: a six month programme for Healthcare Scientists at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. With three x two-day modules: 1. Leading Self, 2. Leading Teams, 3. Developing Influence and Agency.
- Maternity Services Leadership Development Programme: for Clinical Midwife Managers and Specialist Midwives at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. A two day programme developing the individual confidence of leaders, relationships across the service and collective agency.
- Systems Leadership Development Programme: a nine month induction and development programme for cross-system Stewardship Teams working within Mid and South Essex. Delivered in partnership with Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board and NHS Arden and GEM Commissioning Support Unit.
- Future Leaders Development Programme: a three month programme for future Pathology Network Leaders at South 4 Pathology Partnership. With two x two-day modules: 1. Developing awareness, 2. Leading others.
The impact of bespoke programmes
The practical and experiential approach developed by Staff College, enables leaders to develop:
- Greater awareness of their leadership strengths and impact, in order to more effectively influence others.
- Greater resilience and ability to manage their behaviour under pressure and in different situations.
- Deeper ability to review and reflect, in order to learn from their experiences.
- Greater empathy and ability to build effective relationships with others.
- Increased confidence to take on new responsibilities and challenges.
- Greater understanding of the complex nature of the systems they lead in and problems they face. Recognising the need to work through and with others in order to improve things.
- Greater recognition of the moral elements of leadership and confidence making difficult decisions in order to do the ‘right’ thing on a difficult day.
Who attends bespoke programmes
Staff College has designed programmes for leaders working at different stages of their career. From experienced CEOs of NHS Trusts with 25,000 members of staff, to those stepping into their first leadership roles. And pretty much every stage in between, including:
- Executive Leaders: e.g. CEOs, COOs, Medical Directors, Chief Financial Officers, Chief People Officers, Chief Nurses
- Medical leaders: e.g. Chiefs of Service, Clinical Directors, Clinical Leads, Consultants, GPs, Registered Doctors
- Nursing and Midwifery leaders: e.g. Directors, Heads of Nursing, Heads of Midwifery, Matrons, Specialist Midwifes, Consultant Midwives, Sisters, Charge Nurses, Primary Care Nurses
- Operational leaders: e.g. Directors, Head of Service, Divisional Managers, General Managers
- Allied Health Professional Leaders: e.g Chief AHPs, Chief Pharmacists, Directors, Heads of Service, Clinical Leads, Service Leads
- Specialist leaders: e.g. Healthcare Scientists, Clinical Researchers, System Architects, Data Analysts
“I have worked with the Staff College for a number of years, and would recommend them very strongly. I have been consistently impressed when commissioning them to support leadership both in NHS hospitals, and across multi-agency programmes for improvement, large-scale change, and patient benefit. I consider Staff College one of the best partners I have ever worked with in terms of their ability to listen, understand and adapt their approach to the real world. Their skill in incorporating real-world work into learning, and showing the impact of their programmes in any setting, often wrapping around busy teams and services, is distinctive.
Colleagues participating in Trust, System and Primary Care development activities with Staff College have consistently reported – directly and through formal evaluation – that the learning was unlike anything they had done before and has remained with them in influencing their leadership style for years to come.”
Charlotte Williams (she/her) | Chief Strategy & Improvement Officer
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust