blog.gov.jeIn a changing world, learning and development keeps employees up to date, inspired to learn and promotes a culture to thrive in.
This is really important when those employees serve taxpayers who rightly expect a civil service that is driven towards continual improvement and excellence.
As an organisation focused on how we can continue to learn and develop, an Espresso programme was launched primarily to upskill managers and aspiring managers in various topics.
The clue is in the name, and like the Espresso you may have quickly drunk on your commute to work this morning, the sessions are delivered in smaller, time-saving quantities but equally pack the same boost.
The programme will celebrate its second birthday soon, and with so much positive feedback from employees across the organisation, it’s certainly a day worth commemorating.
We know that managers have limited free time due to their commitment to their roles as leaders, which is why these bite-size sessions are just what they need to continue growing and practicing self-development on a busy schedule.
More than 2,900 colleagues have attended one or more sessions and over 680 managers have attended at least one session.
The goal of the Espresso sessions is to align managers and aspiring managers’ goals with that of the organisation. It helps our managers identify areas within their teams that can be improved to cultivate a team that embeds growth and performance at the fore of their thinking.
Since the introduction to the programme, we now have 13 topics on offer. These include:
- Customer Experience
- Connected Performance
- Capability Management
- Managing Attendance
- Managing your Inbox
- Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging
- Onboarding and Induction
- Managing Virtually
- Recruitment and Selection
- SMART Objectives
- Manage your Time with Tasks and Calendar
- Supporting my team through change
- Flexible Working for Managers
The sessions create the best onboarding and induction for new colleagues starting to work in Government. A great start means our employees are motivated to perform to the best of their ability, resulting in Islanders receiving the best customer experience possible.
It also fosters positivity between our colleagues, allowing us to work and think innovatively, collaborating cross-departmentally efficiently and effectively.
Unsurprisingly, colleagues have described the programme as making a significant difference, with others stating that it had even boosted their confidence.
The Espresso sessions are also reflective of the multi-faceted and diverse Island we live in. Refreshing our thinking when it comes to Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, for example, ensures that our public service is delivered with these attributes at the core of what we do.
We understand that as an organisation we must hold ourselves accountable and continue to scrutinise the way we work. It’s why we have an entire department known as Organisational Development, which implements systems and techniques that affect organisational change and are responsible for developing the programme.
Another session is dedicated entirely to Customer Experience, allowing us more opportunities to think about what a customer journey looks like and how we can capitalise on those positive experiences.
With one of our core values being ‘Better Together’, it’s no wonder these sessions are aimed at not only building stronger relationships between managers and their teams, but us as a public service to Islanders in every community that lives here.