Leadership Diaries - Head of Organisational Development
Being part of our leadership team means more than just a title - it's a chance to make a real impact on the lives of our young people and your team members. You have the power to create an environment where everyone can thrive and succeed. We sat down with Marie, our Head of Organisational Development , to discuss her career journey and why working at WG is so special with particular focus on our learning and development opportunities.
What did you want to be when you were a child?
I wanted to be a writer. I loved reading and visiting libraries growing up. Maybe I still could write a book – Raymond Chandler wrote his first novel aged 51!
What was your first ever job?
I was desperate to earn money so my first ever job was doing the paper round after school, but my first salaried job was on the cheese counter in Asda. I got really good at estimating 8oz of cheese!
How long have you worked at WG and what is your role?
I started in 2019 as Learning and Development Manager and now I am Head of Organisational Development.
Can you tell us why our Elevate and Aspire leadership programmes are so special?
I think Elevate is particularly unique! I’ve worked in learning and development for 20+ years and for me it’s been the programme I’ve seen that aligns best with the need. We identified that it’s especially difficult to hire Registered Managers and Head Teachers externally, and that growing our own is something that that would benefit us and our people – giving our internal people the support and a chance to progress. It has a really strong purpose and it has gone well, with a 50% success rate of the individuals who finish the programme becoming a Head Teacher or Registered Manager. For me it’s been great to see how people have taken that opportunity and progressed. With Aspire, it’s a demonstration to our commitment for supporting growing talent. I think that’s why they’re both so special as it's about supporting and growing our people, giving them opportunities that benefit them and the business.
How has learning and development encouraged career progression here at WG?
We have a great culture of supporting career development across the group. People are funded to do CPD, qualifications and training in formal and informal ways so we have a really good learning culture which means everything we do builds on that. Leaders recognise the value of training, learning and personal growth and the impact that has on our children and young people as that is what it’s all about at the end of the day.
Congratulations on being shortlisted for a Personnel Today award recently, the Learning and Development Award for Smaller Employers -what aspect of the nomination are you most proud of?
It’s just such a great recognition. One of the main things I’m most proud of is the impact on the business the Care Academy has had. It was a really clear project we set up at the start, dedicated to helping reduce staff turnover in the homes and the metrics show we’ve had that impact. It has been great at helping to stabilise our Children’s Homes teams – ensuring people are supported during that crucial induction period. It’s also great as people are told openly how the job really is, what it can be like and how you can manage that.
Can you tell us how we are encouraging early careers through our learning and development opportunities?
Obviously Aspire is one of them. We are refreshing our career pathways at the moment. This includes qualifications, learning frameworks and clear application processes for things like teacher training as we support all of this around the group. This will ensure clarity of our offer, consistency and that we’re supporting the right people at the right time.
What is your favourite thing about working at WG?
One of my favourite things about working at WG are the people, everybody is so passionate about our reason for being, and I think it’s really inspiring. When things get tricky you recalibrate to this is what we’re here for, this is what it’s all about and making the connection that everything we do has an impact on the lives of the children and young people. You’re a lot closer to that impact at WG in comparison to other places I’ve worked. I have recently realised I have ADHD so I’ve been able to connect in a small way with the challenges that many face and the difference we can make.
What is the most interesting part of your job?
There is such a lot to do and when you’re in a fast-growing organisation you want to stay ahead of the game and want to be better than you were yesterday. We can’t rest on our laurels, but I love that challenge, we think big and we’re encouraged and supported to do so.
What are we doing to make us a great place to work?
One of the things we’re doing and will continue to do is listen. We had feedback from our internal survey that people wanted to see more from career development and career progression. This was a clear message so we’re working on some exciting things to help with that.
What is your huge small victory?
We’re exploring a lot more options to help us deliver things online, including more interactivity for engagement. I trialled an interactive white board at our last HR meeting! It wasn’t perfect, but it gave me many ideas for what we need to put into place to make it easier for people to use them. It took a little while to get used to, but we achieved the aims of the session, and once it has been streamlined it will be great - definitely something we will be doing more of in the future.
If you're interested in joining us, have a look at our latest vacancies here. Don't worry if you're not ready yet, join our Talent Community to keep up to date with our latest resources, blogs, events and opportunities below!