imprint– Autumn 2012
Message from the Chief Executive
WELCOME TO THE AUTUMN EDITION OF IMPRINT TPI® UK was established in September 1982, so we have just reached our 30th Birthday. It is interesting to review the development of the business over that period.
Dr Neil Straker Chief Executive, TPI® UK
In the eighties, TPI® was seen predominantly as a personal development provider, which still applies to much of our work with communities and with young people, as they experience programmes which enable them to become more efficacious and aspirational. hat will remain a key objective of our work in the years ahead – helping individuals turn their potential into performance.
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At an organisational level, we have seen our work evolve from personal development in the eighties to culture transformation: this applies across both the private and public sectors. TPI® UK has focused more on leadership and its impact on culture, and the use of our culture and leadership measurement tools has provided much needed data to inform our interventions. More recently, there is a trend towards the design of bespoke solutions to address key challenges within the client organisation. So these are exciting times for TPI® at a time when the need for our information has never been greater. In client meetings, the question of culture comes up regularly. All organisations believe that they are unique and have unique challenges, yet the profiles which emerge in our surveys of culture
have a lot of commonality. Most cultures are defensive: passivity pervades the majority of organisations and, at a time when organisations are needing to do more with less, culture is holding them back. Why? Because to maintain performance standards with reducing overhead and resource means that there must be more efficacy, engagement and accountability on the part of all staff. This, therefore, requires a reduction in passivity: less avoidance, less dependence and less of a need for approval. TPI® has a track record of driving down these passive behaviours and the outcome is greater staff engagement and motivation. So culture matters and there has never been a more important time for leaders to work on building a constructive culture. 2012 has represented the end of an era for TPI® UK. The passing of David Tate, who set up TPI® UK in 1982, and Lou Tice, TPI®’s original
founder in 1971, sent shockwaves through the organisation. TPI® is committed to ensuring that the groundwork undertaken by Lou, David and others lives on, and we are more committed than ever to helping individuals, communities and organisations realise their potential. This Imprint includes some of TPI®’s major success stories in organisations. We have worked with The Manchester College (originally as MANCAT) for over nine years and the publication of this Imprint coincides with the retirement of two of key advocates in the college, Peter Tavernor and Barbara Forshaw, on whom we have written an article to celebrate their professional careers. We also include interesting stories from other key clients: Remploy, SSE, an article about IIE® from a Libraries journal and a piece on TPI®’s very positive re-accreditation report from IIP.
So as ever, please enjoy the read and get back to us with any suggestions for improvements, future articles or others ways in which we can continue to provide exceptional customer service. www.pacificinstitute.co.uk
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Imprint | Autumn 2012
Putting Ability First (article by Joe Askew)
THE REMPLOY ENTERPRISE BUSINESSES STORY In October 2011, Remploy Enterprise Businesses, in line with their vision of transforming the lives of disabled people, embarked on a spectacular rollout of The Pacific Institute’s® STEPS® programme. n the initial 3 months alone, from a total of 2,500 employees across 54 sites throughout the country, 637 people have already signed up to experience the programme. The rollout is taking place at an incredible pace and the results are significant, impacting not only on the individuals themselves, but also on their families and the organisation as a whole.
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disabled employees who might otherwise be marginalised. The Pacific Institute® (TPI®), through Richie Cameron and Dougie Potter, has been working with Remploy at varying levels since 2004, through periods of significant change and modernisation in the organisation. Much of this work has focused on leaders at board and individual business levels in 2 main areas: • Building a strong and constructive leadership culture that both empowers and builds achievement • Working in times of dramatic change, to envision a clear ‘Definition of Success’ with each of the Leadership Teams
REMPLOY Facilitators
Remploy Enterprise Businesses are the UK’s leading employer of disabled people and provide a wide range of world-class products, throughout their factory network, to customers in diverse industries. They have a firm commitment to quality and value for money, which is second to none, and this is enhanced by the provision of skills and employment to thousands of www.pacificinstitute.co.uk
Alan Hill Managing Director Remploy Enterprise Businesses
STEPS® Newcastle
One of the main drivers of the transformation has been current Managing Director, Alan Hill. 3
Having been with Remploy for 11 years, he has seen the development of the organisation from an initial inwardly-focused enterprise, sheltered to a large extent by government funding, to an outward-facing, more profitable organisation, operating on sound business imperatives.
THE RESULTS ARE SIGNIFICANT, IMPACTING NOT ONLY ON THE INDIVIDUALS THEMSELVES BUT ON THEIR FAMILIES AND THE ORGANISATION AS A WHOLE In 2004, whilst heading up one of the businesses, Alan set about investigating a culture change solution to address the attitudes and beliefs that were keeping the organisation static. The outcome was the adoption of The Pacific Imprint | Autumn 2012
Institute’s® curriculum, initially at a leadership level and this has continued over a number of years. The senior leadership team are active champions of the material and have used it to build their own aspiration, a collective focus on solutions, alignment to a shared purpose and the clarification of the desired end results.
STEPS® Swansea
The natural progression for Remploy EB was to investigate how the concepts could find application in raising the selfesteem, self-belief and personal aspirations of front line staff as well. The motivation was not solely to improve business performance, although this certainly was a consideration, it was also a means of enabling staff to realise their potential, personally, professionally and in their communities at large. As Alan explains: “Many disabled people are surrounded by negativity and criticism, sometimes from their own families and themselves. They often focus on what they cannot do, rather than what they can. What The Pacific Institute® does is change their concept of what is possible and helps them look at things in a different way. It allows them to raise their own personal expectations and become focused on setting and achieving targets and goals.”
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With strong support from Colin Scott, Director of Operations for Enterprise, and Richard Bennell, Director of Sales and Marketing, a decision was taken amongst the senior leadership to make the STEPS® programme available on a voluntary basis to all employees in the division. Lynn Green, the Remploy Project Manager, working closely with TPI®, prepared an ambitious plan to roll out the project. A dedicated core team of 8 full time facilitators were trained and seconded to the project to deliver the programmes across the factory sites. A further 12 facilitators, including many from the ranks of senior management, support the rollout on a part time basis, a great example of leadership role modelling within the organisation. The scale of the project is almost unparalleled in the UK and in fact serves as a wonderful example internationally. Working together, Remploy EB and TPI® are creating an implementation process that is truly world-class. The facilitator team has been extremely busy and shows no signs of slowing down, having already allocated 16 courses for the first 2 months of 2012. They are incredibly passionate about the impact the programme is having and are determined to make a difference with each session that they run. The personal impact that they have witnessed thus far is staggering. Participants are more engaged with the work that they are doing, managers report that more questions are being asked and individuals are starting to challenge themselves in new roles and opportunities. Steve Wright, who works with Lynn and leads on
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the facilitator team, talks of how in some cases participants are now volunteering for new jobs or are becoming more involved in Remploy’s various working groups. They are also becoming more engaged in their own communities, with many, who would otherwise have been more secluded, now joining social clubs or taking part in other activities.
WORKING TOGETHER, REMPLOY EB AND TPI® ARE CREATING AN IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS THAT IS TRULY WORLD-CLASS In these uncertain times, it is impossible to predict what the future may hold. One might therefore expect a project like this to be placed on hold until the prevailing conditions improve, yet according to Alan, the senior leadership felt that this was the best time for such an investment. They are enhancing the lives of their people and by extension their families and communities, equipping them with resilience and the ability to overcome setbacks. As an organisation, Remploy EB have managed remarkably well during the recession, reporting double-digit growth figures and exceeding expectations in many aspects of the business. Whilst this cannot be solely attributed to the various culture change interventions, they have certainly played their part and made a significant contribution.
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The changes are clearly evident and more people are being persuaded to experience STEPS® for themselves as a result. The groundswell is most noticeable in the common language now in use across the organisation. This is building a momentum of positivity and optimism that disseminates beyond the workplace to impact on whole families and indeed even communities, deepening the impact Remploy EB makes. The learning is being kept alive for participants through the introduction of half-day refresher sessions at regular intervals. In addition, the STEPS® programme is also being introduced to many disabled young people who come into the various businesses on work experience placements. Remploy EB aims to reach 20,000 such people and once again sees raising the aspirations of this particular group as a real priority.
NORMALLY A VERY RESERVED PERSON, HE STATED THAT THE COURSE HAD GIVEN HIM A TOTALLY DIFFERENT VIEW GOING FORWARD For the facilitator teams, the results are even more evident. Steve Wright shares a few examples of real personal transformation: One individual attended the course with a lot of initial scepticism. On the third day of the course his emotions broke through. After spending some time with the facilitator, he explained how the activities and material in STEPS®
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had struck a major chord with him and opened his eyes to opportunities he had missed out on in life. Normally a very reserved person, he stated that the course had given him a totally different view going forward and allowed him to express his emotions much more openly with his family. This is something he would have never contemplated in the past.
STEPS® Leeds
Another individual shared how her experience of the programme caused her to stand up for herself more. Previously lacking in confidence, she often accepted negative criticism from certain people around her who were unsupportive and belittling. Imbued with a new spark and brimming with energy, the very day after the programme had ended, she was at last able to stand up for herself and tell them not to speak about her in that way. She was quite clear in crediting STEPS® for helping her change her mindset and was hugely excited with the new purpose she now possesses. One of the more negative individuals in the factory, who facilitators were certain would not attend, did in fact sign up. For two days of the four day session, he remained his usual negative self, saying that `this is no good and not for me, it’s a waste of time`.
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STEPS® Oldham
Returning on a Monday morning, having had the weekend to contemplate the information, he too had a breakthrough. The facilitator was on hand to talk through his issues and the stumbling blocks that he felt were holding him back in his life. It turned out that the programme had really made him think about what he wanted to accomplish and even more than that, what he was going to do about it. Since the programme, his demeanour has changed to a massive extent. He now volunteers for new opportunities and attempts new challenges on his own initiative.
A PERSONAL ACCOUNT FROM ONE OF THE PARTICIPANTS “I have been on the STEPS® course. My disability is speech and before I came on the STEPS® course I had no confidence. Since I have been on the course it has turned my life around and given me the confidence to stand up at work and talk. It was enjoyable and relaxing talking to people I had never met before. I would probably be stuck in my quiet world letting life pass me by if it hadn’t been for STEPS®. The course has changed me for the better and I’ve noticed the change in my workmates who have been on the same course.” Imprint | Autumn 2012
THE FACILITATORS TOO ARE EAGER TO SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCE “It is such a privilege, not only to be project managing this fantastic initiative and hearing of the amazing good news stories, but also to be working with such a great team of facilitators, who are introducing their own exercises and new materials to enhance the programme and keep the concepts alive. Having also had the opportunity to become a part time facilitator, I am excited to see for myself what impact STEPS® is having on our employees and sharing in the emotion. The programme is such an uplifting and life changing experience and one I hope many more colleagues will volunteer to take up.” LYNN GREEN, PROJECT MANAGER
“Personally, it has given me the confidence to take on fresh challenges that 2 months ago I wouldn't have dreamed of. I was ok on the shop floor doing "on
job training" but never had the confidence to come out of my comfort zone. The STEPS® course has given me that selfconfidence to take on new challenges without the fear of failure and in doing so making me feel good about myself. It has made me more positive in my outlook. For others that we have delivered the course to, you see the change in them as the course progresses. To start with they are guarded about what they say and do, but as the course progresses they become more open, confident and positive in their outlook.” GARRY BURNS
“I enjoy watching people's selfconfidence grow visibly in front of me. I enjoy the ‘light bulb’ moments when people realise they are in control of their own destiny. I appreciate the opportunity to be the catalyst for change for such an important company initiative.” CLAIRE CHARLESWORTH
STEPS® Oldham
It is clear that the programmes are making a difference. The clarity of vision and foresight displayed by Remploy EB’s senior leadership in launching such an ambitious project is laudable and will have a tremendous impact, not only on the organisation’s culture and profitability, but it will also go a long way to achieving its aim of transforming the lives of the disabled individuals who work there. FOOTNOTE: THE GOVERNMENT HAS DECIDED TO WITHDRAW FUNDING AND TO PRIVATISE
THE
ORGANISATION,
CURRENTLY A NUMBER OF THE BUSINESSES ARE BEING PREPARED FOR
SALE
WITH
COMPLETION
OF SALES FORECASTED TO BE BY OCTOBER 2013.
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Imprint | Autumn 2012
CILIP Update
(Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals)
LIBRARY VISIONARIES AND ELASTIC BANDS Creating a library strategy for a university which seeks to position itself within the top two per cent of universities worldwide by 2016 is certainly a challenge. Jacqui Gaul and Liz Harris describe how the Library Executive Group at City University London went about creating a dynamic library strategy to support this vision.
The Thomson Reuters Zone and Learning Resource Centre, Cass Business School.
BLUE SKIES AND ELASTIC BANDS Coincidentally, the two Heads of Library Services and the Director of ISL attended a four-day ‘Investment in Excellence®’ course run by The Pacific Institute® around this time. Although initially approached with some scepticism, this inspirational course turned out to be a key force in the creation of an aspirational vision for City University London ISL.
Jacqui Gaul Head of Library Services, Cass Business School, City University London.
Liz Harris Head of Library Services, Northampton Square Library, City University London.
number of drivers lay behind the formalisation of a strategy for City University Library Services in 2011. An aspirational vision for the university had been set out by our new Vice Chancellor, Professor Paul Curran, which included the ambition to be ranked within the top two per cent of universities globally. The five schools within the university were all developing strategies in line with this vision. City University London Information Services (IS) was likewise setting
out its strategic stall, so it was essential that Information Services and Libraries (ISL), which is a part of IS, had a clear and challenging vision which fed into all of the above.
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The arrival of a new Chief Operating Officer in August 2011 also made it imperative that we knew where we were going and how we were going to get there, and that where we wanted to be would be in a differentiating, inspirational place. 7
As Heads of Service, we regularly engaged in ‘thinking outside the box’, but this course took us one stage further and got us believing that we could achieve the dream vision for our library service. After all, if we are aiming to be ranked in the top two per cent of universities worldwide, we need to have a library service which matches this global status. Central to the creation of our vision was the ‘elastic band theory’ which had been demonstrated to us during The Pacific Institute® course. This was an excellent way of impressing upon us how limiting ‘realistic’ goals might be and how we can achieve much more by stretching our vision to its utmost Imprint | Autumn 2012
and really addressing things which may be blocking the fulfilment of our vision. Work commenced with the Director of ISL inviting the Library Executive Team to two ‘away days’ to work on the strategy. The Executive Team comprises the four Heads of Service of the libraries that form City University London, plus the Head of Information Literacy, who has cross-site responsibility for the work of the Subject Librarians. Also attending was the newly appointed Digital Repository Manager, as services for researchers are very high on the agenda and it was felt that his perspective would make a useful contribution.
CENTRAL TO THE CREATION OF OUR VISION WAS THE ‘ELASTIC BAND THEORY’ WHICH HAD BEEN DEMONSTRATED TO US DURING THE PACIFIC INSTITUTE® COURSE. The Library Executive Team operates with openness and trust and has been established for some years. It is a meeting of equals, with the post of Chair revolving annually amongst its members. It is responsible for strategy and operational oversight for the service. Prior to the away day, research was undertaken into the strategies published by other HE libraries and examples were brought along as guidelines to inform our thinking. We were also keenly aware that it was important to tie in with the university vision and the school plans, and these were kept in mind throughout the exercise. It was agreed that the www.pacificinstitute.co.uk
days should be facilitated by the Director of ISL rather than an external person, a decision influenced by our track record of working as a team and welcomed by us all.
The recently refurbished level five of the Northampton Square Library.
The day started with those who had attended The Pacific Institute® course briefing the others on the key concepts. The main message was that we had to think beyond what seemed achievable (given budgetary constraints, dependencies on other services and time available) to what could be possible. The image of the elastic band was ably demonstrated by one of our members to illustrate that we had to ‘stretch’ ourselves beyond what was comfortable to construct a vision for the future. The staff who had attended the training had already done some preliminary work on a vision statement. This was discussed and refinements made with the intention of revisiting it as our work progressed.
POSITIVE WORDS POST-IT NOTES
We worked in two small groups to come up with a core statement for each of the strategic goals of no more than two or three sentences. This was done by each member of the group contributing words that were key to the goal – for example, for ‘Services’, words such as flexible, quality, innovation, responsive, technology, dynamic, high calibre staff were noted. One member of the group facilitated as the words were discussed and the wording of the strategic goal was put together. This was then presented to the other group who commented and contributed their own ideas until the final wording emerged. In the case of the strategic goal for ‘Services’, we arrived at: ‘We develop and deliver high quality library services in a flexible and responsive manner. Our services exploit emerging technologies, library collections and space to drive academic excellence’.
The Library Graduate Centre at City University London.
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We began by identifying our key strategic goal areas and decided on: collections; space; people; student experience; services; partnerships, research and budget. Communications, internationalisation and innovation were considered as goals in 8
themselves but the decision was taken that they should be present throughout the other areas.
The next step was to break the goal down into targets – which would look to the next five years and be aspirational – remembering the elastic band and, with our mind set on what we would like to achieve, rather than limiting ourselves to what we thought was realistically achievable. We deliberately used Imprint | Autumn 2012
very positive language and statements such as ‘We will lead in...; world class; high performing’. This was the hardest part for all of us, as we are unused to thinking in such terms. We were also aware that we were tending to use the same phrases over and over again. We decided not to worry too much about this, as the important thing was to catch the concepts – the language used could be fine tuned at a later date. At the end of the first day, each of us was given one of the goals to research and think further on objectives for our own service.
START DOING, STOP DOING, CONTINUE DOING On the second away day one week later, we revisited the work we had done and looked at the remaining strategic goals. The next step was to flesh out what we needed to start doing; stop doing; continue doing and who we needed to communicate to in order to achieve our aspirations. Some of this was covered during the day using the same method of splitting into groups to brainstorm the topic – using the flip charts and post-it notes that are compulsory at all such events! Ideas were then presented to the other groups and suggestions and constructive criticism given. It was encouraging that there were a lot of ‘continues’ and not too many ‘stops’. Although the work could not be completed within the away days, we felt as a team that we now had sufficient experience and confidence to continue individually and each took ownership of one or two of the goals to continue the work. A template was devised and an www.pacificinstitute.co.uk
area set up using Google Docs for us to work and share as we completed it. To this we added an objectives section in which we set out specifics and added timescales to form the basis of our operational plan.
NEXT STEPS Although library staff were aware of the away days and their purpose, we set up meetings to communicate the outcomes to staff. These were fairly informal with a presentation of the key points followed by questions and discussions. Though not a consultation as such, opinions and comments were welcomed and fed back into the final documents as appropriate.
WE NEED TO ENSURE THAT OUR STRATEGY HAS VISIBILITY THROUGHOUT THE INSTITUTION, ENGAGEMENT WITH KEY STAKEHOLDERS AND HAS THE FLEXIBILITY TO EVOLVE. With a new Chief Information Officer and a fairly new Vice Chancellor, it was important to present our strategy to them and to ensure that they supported our plans. Meetings were then held with Deans and Chief Operating Officers from each school to communicate the process and the results, and to ensure that they were happy that the library was positioning itself correctly in anticipating and planning for their current and future needs. With the strategy agreed, the operational plan for the service was drawn up and signed off. All staff have access to this document and it was used as a basis for appraisal objectives. 9
LESSONS LEARNT In an ideal world, a library strategy would be produced with both university and school strategies already in place. However, school level strategies were still being written and the university strategy was being refined when we undertook this exercise. Initially, we held back in anticipation of incorporating the finished strategies into our thinking and this cost us the opportunity of translating the operational plans we created as a result of the exercise into appraisal objectives. In the end we went ahead, as creating an aspirational strategy for the service was important given the deadline attached to our vision. However, we had to ensure that our strategy was flexible enough to respond to any potential future changes in direction. Holding the away days in a neutral environment definitely facilitated our creative output and helped us to think beyond our institutional and mental boundaries. It also enabled a type of focused thinking which it is sometimes difficult to sustain in the work environment. Something that we have been very aware of is that this is a living document. It’s all too easy after creating a significant piece of work like this to put it on the ‘done’ pile. We need to ensure that our strategy has visibility throughout the institution, engagement with key stakeholders and has the flexibility to evolve. Writing it was the easy part.
REFERENCES: CILIP MAGAZINE ARTICLE REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION WWW.CILIP.ORG.UK/UPDATE
Imprint | Autumn 2012
Scotia Gas Networks Update (article by Joe Askew)
EMBEDDING EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP Scotia Gas Networks is an energy provider that owns and operates the gas transmission and distribution network for the South and South East of England, including London, south of the Thames and the whole of Scotland. The company is a subsidiary of Scottish and Southern Energy, which has a 50% stake in the business, the other 50% is owned by two Canadian pension fund investors, Ontario Teachers and Borealis. he company was formed seven years ago following the sale of some of the gas networks owned previously by National Grid/Lattice and prior to that by British Gas.
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In the initial years of the company’s existence, the focus had to be on operational synergies and establishing a business operation model in order to achieve cost savings in a fiercely regulated environment. In more recent years, as the company has matured, a new focus on developing management and leadership training has emerged, and one aspect of this development has been the introduction of The Pacific Institute’s® Investment in Excellence® programme.
CEO John Morea
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Investment in Excellence® has long been used by Scottish and Southern Energy, as part of its leadership development strategy. The relationship between SSE and The Pacific Institute® goes back as far as the early 1990’s when it was originally championed by the then Chief Executive, Jim Forbes. Jim had previously experienced an earlier version of the curriculum delivered by one of TPI®’s most experienced and skilled facilitators, Pat Given, and was convinced that the information could benefit the company. Given the nature of the programme, this was a major 10
Ralph Earwicker Leadership Development Manager
leap of faith in an industry where command-led management, extensive regulation and a very risk averse, health and safety mindset is the norm. Despite this, the programme was a huge success and has been delivered at varying levels within SSE ever since. Ralph Earwicker, Leadership Development Manager for SSE and Scotia Gas Networks, was one of the first facilitators trained to deliver the programme within the organisation and estimates that over 800 managers have experienced IIE® since those early implementations.
WITHIN THE LAST 18 MONTHS, OVER 150 PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY EXPERIENCED IIE® AND THIS NUMBER IS SET TO GROW EVEN FURTHER. With the emergence of Scotia Gas Networks, Ralph has been highly instrumental in integrating the TPI® Imprint | Autumn 2012
curriculum into existing leadership development initiatives. As an organisation, SGN is committed to investing in its people, not only on a technical level, but also in terms of how leaders and individuals in teams interact with each other and ultimately with the end users of their service, SGN’s customers.
One of the main challenges the industry faces is one of perception. Public frustration with roads and pavements being excavated in the maintenance of a gas network is all too familiar a scene. Utilities are one of the most critical household and business requirements and yet are one of the more unpopular monthly expenditures. Given the nature of the industry and all of the restrictions for regulation and safety, one quickly finds that the public persona is not one that is immediately appreciated. There is thus a conscious effort on the part of SGN to make sure that not only do they get their service operating at the highest standard, but that each interaction with customers or members of the public is handled as efficiently as possible. Ralph shares that one of the unspoken Values by which the company operates is, “Do it well and do it right!”. It is in this regard that the Investment in Excellence®
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programme is extremely useful; helping leaders and managers to interact more effectively with their teams and each other, and working together more creatively and constructively to resolve problems.
I ALWAYS PICTURE THE SUCCESS, RATHER THAN THE PATH TO IT IIE® has been championed within SGN by several key members of the leadership team, many of whom have been drawn from SSE itself. These include the Chief Executive, John Morea, Director of Human Resources, Gary Barnes and Operations Director South, Peter Webster. Having experienced the curriculum with Ralph whilst still at SSE, they have benefitted from the concepts personally and professionally and know the value that IIE® offers. At present the programme is offered to leaders and managers and works on a nomination basis. What is notable is that in an organisation of around 5,000 employees, within the last 18 months, over 150 people have already experienced IIE® and this number is set to grow even further.
Adams and Kevin Barclay, are currently running several programmes on a regular basis at sites across the country. The feedback is overwhelmingly positive and this has helped spread the word within SSE, leading to even greater demand. Having all had more than ten years experience in delivering the programme, the facilitation team are really able to ensure that IIE® matches the concepts to the needs of the business and the result is a real alignment to both SGN’s and SSE’s aims and objectives. Ralph runs a regular follow-up process about six months after managers have experienced IIE® in SGN in order to assess the value of the programme. Asking a few straightforward questions that gathers their views on both personal and professional benefits, he aims to determine whether their thinking and actions have changed as a result. The answer is generally a positive one. Managers have provided concrete examples of how they have grown and developed, changed attitudes and helped others become ‘scotomabusters’ to directly benefit the business and its customers. One notable comment from one of the participants has been, “I always picture the success, rather than the path to it. As a result, in our local business unit, with the targets we have had to deliver, we have never seen the unit in a failed situation.” Positive thinking indeed!
Ralph, along with experienced senior colleague facilitators, Steve 11
Imprint | Autumn 2012
The Manchester College (article by Joe Askew)
THE IMPACT OF VISIONARY LEADERSHIP The Manchester College has been a longstanding and loyal supporter of The Pacific Institute® (TPI®) for a number of years, having begun its association with TPI® during its incarnation as The Manchester College of Arts and Technology (MANCAT). his year sees the retirement of two of TMC’s senior leaders, Chief Executive Peter Tavernor and Deputy Principal Barbara Forshaw, both of whom have played a major role in nurturing the TPI® intervention within the college. They leave having enriched the lives, not only of their colleagues and thousands of students who have passed through the campus over the years, but also of the greater Manchester community as a whole. The Pacific Institute® offers a special tribute to two fine educationalists who truly saw the bigger picture in all they did and worked tirelessly to make it happen.
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Peter Tavernor has been a college principal for more than 13 years but has been active in education and public service throughout his
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life. As principal of MANCAT and latterly as Chief Executive of TMC, one of his key concerns has been his mission to address poor local recruitment and poor educational outcomes in Manchester. With TMC, he has helped create one of the largest further education colleges in Europe, operating with a financial surplus, exceptional facilities and impressive educational performance. Under his leadership, the college has had a major impact on levels of participation in education in Manchester and has delivered one of the highest value added scores nationally. His vision for The Manchester College is that it should work in local partnerships, particularly with high schools, to meet neighbourhood needs, whilst at the same time providing excellent skills programmes on a
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Peter Tavernor Chief Executive
Barbara Forshaw Deputy Principal
regional and national basis. Peter’s visionary leadership has created a college staff whose shared vision is to target local people of all ages and to encourage them to aspire to achieve. Part of the strategy he has implemented in order to make this a reality has been the work with The Pacific Institute®. Nationally, Peter has made an impact with his contribution to the “not in education, employment or training” (NEET) agenda. His views on the future of further education and its role in economic and social change are regularly sought by others.
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PETER’S VISIONARY LEADERSHIP HAS CREATED A COLLEGE STAFF WHOSE SHARED VISION IS TO TARGET LOCAL PEOPLE OF ALL AGES AND TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO ASPIRE TO ACHIEVE.
BARBARA’S STRONG INTEREST IN BEHAVIOURAL PSYCHOLOGY AND THIS EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE HAS ENABLED HER TO TAKE THE LEAD IN DEVELOPING THE CULTURE OF THE MANCHESTER COLLEGE.
Barbara Forshaw has an impressive background in senior leadership. As part of the executive team at TMC she has led on staffing matters and has also stepped in to deputise for the principal more extensively in the last few years, as a result of Peter’s ill health. She has performed this role with aplomb.
created the impetus for the highly regarded inclusive approach and integrated Skills for Life work across the college. A background in working with students with emotional and behavioural difficulties, first as a teacher, then as a headteacher, has nurtured her strong interest in behavioural psychology and this expertise and experience has enabled her to take the lead in developing the culture of The Manchester College. As a champion of the college’s
Barbara has prioritised the building of staff skills and facilitating effective career progression. In addition she has
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partnership with The Pacific Institute®, in developing a multi faceted approach to raising personal efficacy, improving organisational culture and increasing student aspiration, she has helped the initiative to earn national acclaim. Her enthusiasm, focus and commitment to education within the college will be sorely missed. Paying tribute to them at an official farewell in September, Jack Carney, the current Principal of the College had this to say:
“Barbara and Peter shared a common belief which impacted on all they did in the world of education - that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. They had such high expectations - of students and staff, and that made a huge difference to us all!” JACK CARNEY, COLLEGE PRINCIPAL
The Pacific Institute® joins Jack, his colleagues and the wider Manchester community in thanking them for their service and wishing them all the very best in all their future endeavours.
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IIP (article by Joe Askew)
The Pacific Institute® has once again been recognised with the prestigious Investors in People standard, continuing the tradition that has been in place since March 2003. As a standard, Investors in People specialises in transforming business performance through people, using a framework of best practice which is outcome-focused. The matrix outlines what organisations need to be successful without prescribing rigid policies to achieve this. he reaccreditation process is essentially one of assessment that collates the input from colleagues across the business, as well as that of the senior leadership team. This input is largely gathered through interviews that addressed a number of key questions in core areas. These included:
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ENGAGEMENT ⦁ Do people feel rewarded and valued for the contribution they make?
EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT ⦁ How do people know they are doing a good job? ⦁ Have there been improvements to the way people are managed? ⦁ Is performance management effective? ⦁ Do people believe everyone in the organisation values diversity?
WORKING COLLABORATIVELY ⦁ Do we work well together? ⦁ Do we share experience and learning?
BUSINESS STRATEGY ⦁ Do people believe the core values are at the heart of the way the organisation operates?
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TPI® UK CONTINUES TO IMPLEMENT AND REFINE IT’S STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN, MINDFUL THAT AS AN ORGANISATION MOVING INTO ITS 2ND GENERATION, IMPROVEMENT IN PERFORMANCE OF ITS CONSTITUENTS IS A CRITICAL FACTOR IN POSITIONING TPI® AS AN ORGANISATION OF CHOICE TO CLIENTS & COLLEAGUES. Therefore, TPI®’s Leadership team took the decision to be assessed against IIP’s wider framework. As a result of the IIP assessment, undertaken by IIP assessor Andrea Defries, TPI® UK met all the criteria of the extended framework. The final report has provided invaluable data and intelligence, which will influence our future-proofing. The Pacific Institute® is proud to be associated with the IIP standard and will continue to build on the good practice which already exists within the organisation. The TPI® vision of raising the efficacy and performance of people and organisations; accelerating the success and growth of TPI® colleagues; and significantly impacting on the well-being, efficacy and leadership in the communities, societies and countries in which we work is indeed a worthy investment in people.
Imprint | Autumn 2012