People come to work for all sorts of reasons – financial security, personal satisfaction, career ambitions, social networks, contribution to a wider purpose and so on. Whatever the reason, we want colleagues to feel like their time at work isn’t just going through the motions but that there is an opportunity for personal development no matter what your role is. Growing your self-awareness, understanding your impact, clarifying your personal goals, and developing your working relationships all impact your ability to do a great job now and enjoy being part of the Christ Church community. It also puts you in a great position for whatever your future holds.

In our team we spend a large proportion of our time focussing on the development of the organisation, its leaders, teams and culture, and on professional and role related skills. However, we also recognise we also have a part to play in that deeper personal development of colleagues within our community.

Some colleagues have benefitted from our Mosaic or, more recently, Personal Insights programmes. We know from years of running these programmes that they can have a considerable and lasting impact, offering insight, confidence, and clarity. Some of this is from the content, however there is also a strong cohort experience; the value of social and collaborative learning in development of this kind is undeniable.

Having switched the programme online over the last year we reflected on the benefits and challenges that presented for learning. We also considered various ideas for how to take this course forward (including not running it at all). What has emerged is a decision to build on the original face to face format and the online version and create a new blended personal development programme which we are very excited about.

It will be called Personal Insights and Growth and rather than focus on specific skills or role related competences in your role, it is about you as a person.

We will bring together the very best elements of our experience of running similar programmes in the past by keeping it practical and full of activities, with space for discussion, reflection, and building connections and networks. Alongside this will be a Teams channel that we hope will become the hub for sharing and conversations, motivation and support.

Anchored around a series of live workshops, the main focus of the programme is a flexible and personalised set of self-directed activities for you to do alone or with a learning buddy. It is spread over a 4-month period, with an expected commitment of around an hour per week over that time. Of that, about 7 hours are on a fixed schedule, the rest is flexible to fit in at a time that suits you best.

Although we are building on what we know works, it’s still a bit of a risk for us. Offering this kind of programme might look great on paper but to make it work it relies not just on our team and the programme design, but on the full engagement of the participants – you.

Social learning needs the social!

It will also need a different type of facilitation from us: yes the live stuff in the workshops, but also the creation of a comprehensive yet simple to navigate workbook, the management of and contribution to what we hope will be lively online chat discussions, regular motivational nudges and 1-1 conversations. I for one am really excited to see how it pans out.

Do you want to join us in this adventure? See dates and book on StaffSpace.

Juliet Flynn, People, Culture and Inclusion Team