Training and development for award winners

Hear from previous GSK IMPACT Award winners talking about their experience on the Development Programme and Network. 

The three-day Development Programme helps winners develop their organisations and their leaders. Informed by the rigorous assessment process for the awards, it is carefully tailored to the needs of each year’s award winners. It helps winners develop a range of leadership skills and gain knowledge in specialist areas such as:

• financial management and governance
• evaluation and knowledge spread
• having difficult conversations and HR
• communication styles
• developing authority and personal impact
• positioning your organisation using social media
• policy updates
• leading across a system

Feedback on the 2018 development programme

Previous participants commented on the excellent training and facilitation, its relevance to their work, how it motivated them and the unique value of working with other award-winning organisations facing similar challenges. These are some of the comments from our 2018 programme:

What a fabulous three days – I feel reinvigorated, inspired and excited about the future.

The whole programme produced real valuable learning.

This was a hugely beneficial three days. My energy levels and creativity are now very high.

My first leadership programme opportunity, I felt safe and supported throughout – amazing expert knowledgeable trainers.

The kindness and challenge offered by King’s Fund team and other participants has given me a space for development that I’ve never had before.

The GSK IMPACT Awards Network is a unique learning network that supports health and wellbeing charities to:

• develop their leaders on an ongoing basis, providing participants with the skills to respond to the challenges of their environment
• share experiences and expertise
• build the recognition of their significant and vital contribution to the health and social care system.

The Network started as a small pilot project in 2012 and has grown substantially since this time. It now has more than 130 members representing over 80 award-winning charities from across the United Kingdom, with six Network events taking place in the past 12 months. The whole programme is driven by participants’ ideas and experience, with the facilitation led by a dedicated team of experts at The King’s Fund.

The Network explores many issues faced by health charities. Recent topics and sessions include:

• leadership in crisis
• digitalization and health
• power and policy
• how to use media and do it well
• thinking critically about resilience
• leadership in scarcity.

In 2017, we conducted a review of the awards. Organisations told us: 

• The award was a catalyst for many positive organisational changes including growth, increased funding, strategic planning, and developing and improving services.
• Many of the people leading the organisations felt isolated with limited access to training and development. The award’s programmes provided a confidential and supportive sounding board; opportunities to access training and improve practice; and somewhere to share ideas and knowledge.
• 73 per cent of survey respondents said that accessing the training and development was a key motivation for applying for the award.