Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Positive Action Pathway (PAP)

How do you enable the Civil Service to become the UK’s most inclusive employer?

Civil Service Learning (CSL)

  • 5

    years of partnership

  • 3000 +

    participants

  • 54 %

    participants have been promoted

  • 80 %

    reported having a better understanding of strengths, leadership motivations, and career barriers.

  • 100 %

    reported proactively stepping into higher-level responsibilities

  • 32 %

    reported an increase in their ability to build relationships & networks

The Challenge

The Civil Service set out an ambitious strategy to become the UK’s most inclusive employer by 2020. As part of this, they wanted to create a targeted leadership programme to harness the talent and leadership potential of underrepresented groups, ensuring a more inclusive path to senior management. The challenge was to level the playing field for BAME, LGBT, disabled, and female staff—driving real change in the organisation’s culture and diversity as a key initiative in the Government’s Talent Action Plan

The Solution

We designed and delivered the ‘Positive Action Pathway’. A ten-month leadership programme tailored to 4 different Management levels (entry level through to senior management). The programme included:

  • A development centre with 1:1 feedback and psychometric assessments.
  • Three one-day workshops focusing on leadership and career progression.
  • Three Action Learning Sets to enhance problem-solving and peer learning.
  • Mentoring from senior leaders
  • ‘Leading Your Career’- a self-directed learning initiative where participants sought out real-world leadership opportunities, from shadowing senior leaders to full secondments

I’ve learned a lot more about myself…. why I am different, and how that shapes me. I have identified what drives me at work, how my personal beliefs and motivations affect my behaviour and how I come across to others. Learning about this has helped me to build my confidence, and to have the courage to put myself in scary situations, to see how I cope. For example, next month I am going to facilitate at an event for the Top 200 Leaders of the Civil Service! The part I’ve most enjoyed is meeting people from around the Civil Service, sharing our experiences and supporting each other as we push through our comfort zones. Our group mantra is ‘subvert the bias’s – in other words, to change the system from within, by showing why being different can help the Civil Service become stronger.

PAP Learner

Explore More

All case studies