IoPPN Research Culture Insights: Organisational Development at King's

We are passionate about supporting every member of King’s staff to see their professional development as a genuine priority, as well as helping to create a positive and inclusive culture. We want to make sure everybody feels they belong and can succeed.

We try to facilitate this by delivering organisation-wide activities set against 3 key streams: Leadership, Learning & Development, Workplace Culture and Staff Engagement. This means, if you’ve taken part in a central learning and development programme, attended a staff Welcome to King’s event, completed a PDR or provided feedback in a Staff Survey, there is a good chance you have already connected with some of our key Organisational Development work.

Leadership, Learning and Development Training Opportunities from Organisational Development

We listen to our community and their priorities. Therefore, Organisational Development’s leadership, learning and development offering is broad, inclusive and supports the diverse needs of our wider King’s staff community. There are four learning pathways, each supported by distinct masterclasses and leadership development programmes. Below is an overview of each pathway, as well as examples of masterclasses and leadership programmes.

The diversity of our offering means that for colleagues all across the IoPPN there are learning approaches, opportunities and themes that will suit all career journeys. In a big organisation like King’s, it can sometimes be difficult to know what’s available, or where to find it. We’ve put together the table below summarising some of our programmes, but please check out our website or reach out to us for more details or advice.

The Impact of Organisational Development’s Learning Activities

Across 2023/2024, we’ve welcomed over 6,500 colleagues to at least one of our webinars, masterclasses or programmes. Within that, we have also had 1,063 colleagues join us from across the IoPPN community alone. We’ve had feedback that our programmes and activities offer a great experience and benefit when investing in professional development, measured through self-assessment as well as promotion metrics. Specifically:

• 95% of colleagues gave the session they attended a positive rating of either excellent or good.
• 98% of colleagues said that attending an OD session this year had a positive impact on improving their confidence.
• 96% of attendees believed that they would be more effective in their role as a result of attending a session.
• 11% increase in internal promotions when comparing OD leadership programme participants with their peers.
• 34% increase in retaining talent when comparing OD leadership programme participants with their peers.

This is also mirrored by our qualitative data with recent digital skills and management effectiveness training. Colleagues within the IoPPN have said:

“Through this training, I have learned how to optimally design SharePoint pages with inclusivity in mind. The OD trainer was exceptionally helpful, and I know if I run into any difficulties I can go to them for advice and support.” Introduction to SharePoint

“Excellent course and very interesting. Good delivery - held my interest. I liked the fact that the content aims to make people think about their own behaviour and their privilege to speak up and make changes.” Dealing with Difficult Conversations

Tips for Prioritising Your Development

Everyone is busy and we know it can be difficult to take time for your own professional development. We’ve put together some tips to help you prioritise your own development and learning:

• Schedule regular development discussions – while a PDR is a helpful annual anchor for discussing both performance and development needs, there is a real benefit in setting up regular, dedicated 1-2-1 time with managers and peers to assess ongoing needs and progress.
• Take ownership – your career is your own to navigate and manage. Being proactive around your learning needs produces a clear narrative to those who can help support your ongoing development.
• Understand business priorities – show how an investment in your learning can deliver positive gains in business operations - this can help stakeholders see the bigger picture of prioritising your development.
• Diversify your development options – for a lot of people development is attributed to courses or programmes, but King’s has a wide portfolio of support that can help prioritise your development. Undertaking mentorship programmes, engaging in community/professional networks and investigating work shadowing or secondment opportunities, can all help to meet your development needs.
• Seek feedback – it can feel awkward at first, but regularly asking for feedback on performance and capability, and being open to suggestions on where you could improve, can often offer invaluable real time development, especially whenframed against your existing work.

This blog is part of a ongoing series looking at research culture at IoPPN. If you would be interested in contributing, please contact aneita.pringle@kcl.ac.uk.