A revamped leadership programme for Department of Corrections staff has left graduates buzzing.
“The Future Leaders programme was an amazing experience and I learned so much about the way I learn,” says graduate Vicki Walsh, a Public Prisons Service Co-ordinator for the Initial Training Course.
By reducing the Future Leaders programme from 26 to 16 months, the gap between workshops is less, says Senior Human Resource Adviser Kay Howard.
“This helps keep motivation levels high and sustain the intensity required to put the new skills learned in the workshops into practice,” she says.
Twelve staff recently graduated from the Future Leaders programme.
Co-ordinators Kay Howard and Kate Moynagh from Strategic Services Human Resources, say the previous time period between workshops, often several months, was too long for participants and some were at risk of losing focus.
The course was also redeveloped to change the format of the participants’ project work. Previously participants completed individual projects but in the new programme they completed, then presented, two group projects at their graduation.
Topics covered were policy on the timing of prison-based interventions and the role of staff in achieving targets for programme referral and participation.
“Applicants for Future Leaders cannot yet be in management roles. The project work gives those who are not managers a way to put their leadership learning from the programme into practice,” says Senior Human Resource Adviser Kate Moynagh.
Participants selected for each project group had different work styles so they had to learn to work as a team and work with people who had a different approach.
“This helps to teach leaders how to get buy-in to their ideas even if their work-style is different to others in the team,” Kay says. The 12 participants completed five intensive workshops covering subjects including leadership styles, team behaviour, coaching, project planning and report writing.
The final programme requirement was a presentation to the Chief Executive and general managers at the graduation ceremony.
“Some of the participants found it incredibly hard to get up and speak in front of the group at the very beginning, but graduation day was a good opportunity to show how far we had all come,” says Senior Business Analyst Chris Cameron.
Future Leaders is a programme that identifies and develops staff with the potential to become Corrections’ leaders and managers of the future.
The programme provides focused development for participants over an extended period. The skills, confidence and experience gained over that time equip the candidate to become a leader and influencer in whichever role they hold within Corrections.
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ISSN 1178-8453