Developing public servants for the future

ABSTRACT

The majority of UK civil servants are ‘developed’ within a particular service or profession and there is frequently very little movement into other service areas. Many current leaders therefore have limited experiences in services and organizations other than their own. This paper presents a new graduate programme for the training and development of future public leaders in Wales. The programme is a leadership and development programme for civil and public servants, exposing them to a range of services. The intention is that, through these experiences, future leaders will approach problems from a multi-service perspective, will be better networked and ready to deal with complexity. Areas of good practice are highlighted, together with some of the challenges of developing leaders in this way.

IMPACT

This paper sets out the details of an master’s graduate programme in Wales, UK that focuses on improving the leadership and governance of public services. The scheme takes a pan-sector approach, it is collaboratively delivered through real partnership working and it pushes at the boundaries of traditional graduate recruitment. The aim of the programme is to develop graduates who are change agents with unique frontline service experiences and are able to view issues from a range of different perspectives.

KEYWORDS:

• Graduate public services programme
• integrated working
• leadership development
• Wales

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).