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“I love the variety of people we’ve met and all the things we’ve learned”
Over the last month, delegates from the Step Into Work Programme undertook a three-week placement with different teams across the Partnership. These included IT, Organisational Development (OD), Wellbeing and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI).
The placements were an opportunity for them to experience first-hand what it’s like to work for the Partnership and what a day to day looks like across different teams.
Delegates were also able to put into practice some of the skills and knowledge they’ve gained through the programme over the past few weeks.
As part of one of the placements, three of the delegates or ‘Steppers’ – Elka, Yavinash and Daniel (pictured above) – spent three weeks with different teams from the People department including Wellbeing, OD and EDI.
As part of their time with the OD team, the delegates gave a presentation about how they would approach change within the organisation and how they would propose the teams involved to deal with this.
Daniel said:
“The placement was very good, I’ve learned a lot and improved lots of my skills.
The feedback I received on the OD exercise has helped me a lot as I’m already thinking how I could improve next time I do a presentation for someone”.
Gary Lawrence, OD partner at the Partnership, said:
“I’ve learned a lot from them as well, the questions they ask they make you think about your own work and reflect on what we do”.
Elka, Daniel and Yavinash also spent a few days with Ann Weekes, Partnership’s Staff Networks Coordinator in the EDI team.
They spent a few days with Ann getting an insight of the EDI team, they also joined a variety of meetings, they were out and about in the community, participated in training activities and joined some other external activities. Ann said:
“The delegates have been very easy to work with, they are very clear about their goals and what they want to do and it has been an honour to work with them.”
She added:
“I think the programme is excellent and from what I’ve seen and heard, they’ve thoroughly enjoyed their experience as it gives them focus and understanding if they want to be a part of the NHS.”
After completing their placements, the delegates worked with one of our external partners on a comprehensive strengths assessment tool that helped them identify their top talents, career drivers, performance limiters and values to support their professional and personal growth and development.
The results of these assessments will help them in the upcoming employability skills training they will be taking part of. This will cover training with job applications and interview practice.
“I love the variety of people we’ve met, all the things that we’ve learned.
The programme has definitely improved my life which it makes me feel more motivated to be myself instead of trying to fit into a model,” said Elka, one of the 11 Step into Work delegates.
Step Into Work is a 12-week programme aimed at providing people with skills and real work experience to pursue a career in the NHS.
The first cohort of Step Into Work will come to an end on 17 May, with a second cohort planned to start in September this year and a third cohort starting early in 2025.
