Training for leaders in the Civil Service and public sector

The Leadership College for Government offers training for Civil Service and public sector leaders at different stages of their career. This training is led at our physical Government Campus locations, with partners across the UK, and virtually through online modules and events. Our offers aim to better prepare our public leaders and managers with the skills, knowledge and networks they need to serve their communities.

There are many options for leadership development, in and outside the Civil Service. We are mapping programmes across government departments, the wider public sector, and external providers. This will help you make an informed choice to pick the opportunity that is best for your career and the needs of your organisation.

The support offered by the Leadership College for Government is described below. You can also read about these programmes and courses in more detail in Leading to Deliver: A Leadership and Management Prospectus.

Managers at all levels

There are 4 new programmes for managers at all levels of the Civil Service.

Personal Effectiveness

This programme will focus on accountability in role rather than line management responsibility. Following the training, you will be able to deliver against personal and team objectives using relevant policies, systems and procedures. You will be able to support a senior team in achieving organisational goals.

Foundation

This programme is available for any civil servant new to management. It is a modular programme, including peer-to-peer learning and networking opportunities.

Book the Management Foundation Programme.

Practitioner

The Practitioner programme will focus on the more challenging aspects of leading and managing. Modules include strategy, technology, data, and communicating change with authenticity.

Book the Management Practitioner Programme.

Senior Practitioner

The Senior Practitioner programme will focus on the complexities of being a leader and manager with a large number of people reporting to you and your teams. You will be able to describe the systems-thinking required to balance the strategic needs of your business unit with the broader needs of the agency or department. This skill will help you to deliver complex objectives.

Who the courses are for

These 4 courses are not specific to a certain grade level. Each one provides skills and knowledge needed for challenges you will face at different points in your career.

For example:

• a grade 7 policy officer who is new to line management could benefit from the Foundation level
• an executive officer who is an experienced line manager could choose to top up their skills at the Practitioner level
• a new entrant senior executive officer with no line management responsibility would be directed to Personal Effectiveness courses to start their leadership journey

These programmes are currently being piloted, starting with the foundation programme. All 4 will be available to all civil servants by spring 2023.

Book onto the Management Foundation Programme.

Book the Management Practitioner Programme.

Grade 6 and grade 7 development

The Future Leaders Scheme is cross-government accelerated development training for around 400 high potential grade 6 or 7 civil servants. As part of the Future Leaders Scheme, we also offer the Minority Ethnic Talent Association (META) programme to successful candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds and the Disability Empowers Leadership Talent (DELTA) programme to those with a disability or long-term health condition.

These programmes can help you accelerate your learning and build your personal leadership effectiveness. They will develop the skills, knowledge and networks you need to serve others in modern government and find fulfilment in your careers.

Subscribe to Inside Leadership for practical management and leadership tips, and alerts on the Future Leaders Scheme.

Find out more about the Future Leaders Scheme and other accelerated development schemes for civil servants.

Senior Civil Service induction and Civil Service orientation

We offer 3 activities for new senior civil servants:

• Civil Service orientation for external Senior Civil Service (SCS) hires
• Deputy Director (SCS1) induction
• Director (SCS2) induction

New colleagues joining from outside the Civil Service can attend a Civil Service orientation, before taking a place on a more specific induction with their new director or deputy director peers. We expect to induct around 400 newly appointed directors and deputy directors a year.

Internally promoted senior civil servants will be able to go straight onto their grade-specific induction in cohorts of up to 20 participants.

Induction programme structure

The new approach will include:

• a virtual launch event
• online modules at times to suit participants, delivered on a digital platform called FutureLearn
• a residential face-to-face workshop

Every induction closes with a residential face-to-face event. You will meet peers and have development sessions that work best in person, such as group conversations to work on key strategic priorities.

Next steps

Book a place on an upcoming induction.

Subscribe to Inside Leadership for practical management and leadership tips, and alerts on orientation or induction activities.

Deputy director development

The Senior Leaders Scheme is the cross-government accelerated development training for deputy directors (SCS1) with the aspiration and potential to reach the highest levels in the Civil Service.

The training will accelerate your learning and develop your leadership effectiveness as part of a cohort of high-potential civil servants from across government.

It includes formal learning and self­-led development and consolidation, including:

• workshops on developmental, system, collaborative, and adaptive leadership
• executive coaching and action learning sets
• modules on priority capability areas
• participant-­led learning, where participants share their knowledge and expertise with fellow scheme members learning trips to external organisations

Subscribe to Inside Leadership for practical management and leadership tips, and alerts on the Senior Leaders Scheme.

Find out more about the Senior Leaders Scheme and other accelerated development schemes for civil servants.

Director development

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Directors are also now welcomed to the events and activities for public sector leaders, as highlighted below.

Director general and above

The Civil Service Leadership Group brings together civil servants at the most senior levels — permanent secretaries, directors general, and equivalent roles — to work together on strategic issues and government priorities. The group is regularly invited to calls, webinars, events and visits.

If you are a new, recently promoted, or interim director general and are not receiving notifications about these events, please contact leadershipcollege@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Directors general and permanent secretaries are also included in the public sector offer for chief executive officers (CEOs), where they can build universally applicable skills and deep networks with colleagues across the wider public sector.

Public sector leaders

PublicWe sectoroffer a series of short courses and programmes to chief executive officers (CEOs), deputy CEOs, and public sector leaders in equivalent-level roles. Some events may be exclusive to specific groups, and this will be made clear. More information about eligibility can be found further down this page.

They help leaders:

• enhance their equivalents,practical, asevidence-based wellknowledge asand expertise around facing complex systems challenges
• build strong networks between peers and break down silos between the Civil Service and wider public sector
• inspire and encourage measurable improvements in public service delivery

Cost

Our programmes are free with the exception of the short courses where attendees are asked to pay £100 per course towards accommodation.

Short courses

Our courses for public sector leaders focus on leading in different contexts. We welcome alumni of our Public Leaders Programme to join us on our new courses. Applicants are welcome to attend more than one course. If you would like more information about any of the courses, please contact us at leadershipcollege@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

Leading Public Services in the Digital Age

This short course focuses on the skills that senior leaders need to operate in a workplace and world dominated by data and digital.

We will talk about what the exponential growth in digital information and activity means for public services. Specifically, we will explore its effect on peoples’ behaviours, expectations and their interactions with public services via expert demonstrations.

For leaders who are less confident about this level,rapidly canevolving attendsubject, ourwe have hand-picked expert speakers who will make the subject accessible. We have also designed the course to allow those who are more seasoned to share their experiences and be inspired by new ideas. Guest speakers, group discussions and experiences will bring to life the responsibilities and opportunities around data and digitalisation for senior public service leaders.

This course is residential with an overnight stay in Manchester.

Residential: Wednesday 22 to Thursday 23 March (Manchester)

One-day event: Wednesday 7th June 2023 (London)

Register for the ‘Leading Public Services in the Digital Age’ short coursescourse.

Leading Collaborative Organisations

Participants will broaden their understanding of effective leadership and programmes.collaboration Thesein aimpublic service. Guest speakers, facilitated discussions, case studies, collaborative opportunities and experiential activities will teach new insights on how to improvelead knowledgecollaborative public services.

This new course will be delivered Autumn 2023.

To be first in line for places please register your interest for the ‘Leading Collaborative Organisations’ short course.

‘Connections’ schemes

Our ‘Connections’ schemes are relationship building and expertisejob shadowing schemes. They allow participants to grow their peer network, learn about workingother togetherparts acrossof systems,the aspublic wellsector, asand builddevelop networkscollaborative leadership skills.

Participants are matched with a small group of peers from different areas of the public sector and measurablymeet improveregularly delivery.over an eight-month period to work to solve problems and job shadow one another.

Find‘CEO Connections’ is aimed at CEO-level leaders and Civil Service equivalents. ‘Leadership Connections’ is aimed at deputy CEO-level leadership and Civil Service equivalents. You can find out more aboutand ourregister for the scheme using the following link:

Register interest for the ‘Connections’ schemes’

Coffee Connect

This programme focuses on building your personal network. On the first Tuesday of every month, we pair participants with a leader from a large public sector organisation or Civil Service department. Participants get in touch with each other to arrange a convenient time to meet either over the phone or by video-conferencing platform. Each month, participants are offered the opportunity to opt out if they aren’t available.

Thanks to the success of ‘Coffee Connect’ with CEO-level andleaders, we’re delighted to expand this offer to deputy CEO-level developmentand opportunitiessenior leadership teams in 2023.

Register for ‘Coffee Connect’

Eligibility requirements for our public sector courses

Our courses are available to the two most senior tiers of public sector organisations

including:

• CEOs and howDCEOs in the National Health Service, including NHS Trusts, Ambulance Trusts, and Clinical Commissioning Groups
• vice-chancellors, pro-vice-chancellors and deputy vice-chancellors of universities
• heads and deputy heads of large further education colleges and academy chains
• local authority CEOs and DCEOs
• chief constables and deputy chief constables of police services
• chief and deputy chief fire officers of fire and rescue services
• Civil Service permanent secretaries, director generals and directors
• three, two and one star military officers
• CEOs and DCEOs of large Housing Associations
• CEOs and DCEOs of large Arms Length Bodies and Regional Transport Authorities

All applications are non-selective but the LCG reserves the right to joinensure them.that there is a reasonable distribution of different sectors across the organisations attending. Where courses are extremely popular, the LCG will look to repeat them as soon as possible.

Apprenticeships

Outside of the Leadership College for Government, there are other opportunities for training to be a better leader or manager.

The Civil Service offers a number of apprenticeships in leadership and management. These qualifications allow you to learn and develop whilst you are in your job and enable you to apply your new knowledge, skills and behaviours as you progress through the course. Depending which level you study, the apprenticeships offered last from 12 to 48 months.

More details can be found on the GOV.UK apprenticeships page or within the Government Campus website. If you are interested in starting an apprenticeship, talk with your line manager.