The Growing Talent programme has been designed to support and develop high-calibre ethnic minority civil servants and supplement the diverse pool of talent from which future leaders will come.
Last updated - 12th January 2010
The Growing Talent programme has been designed to support and develop high-calibre ethnic minority civil servants and supplement the diverse pool of talent from which future leaders will come. It is the only cross-Whitehall scheme for BME staff.
Selection onto the programme is through a rigorous application process, including written submissions and interview by an SCS panel. Once selected, candidates are paired with a senior mentor, at Director-General or Permanent Secretary level. In addition, participants attend workshops, coaching, shadowing and short-term work placements, designed to provide exposure to working at an SCS level, to develop key competencies, and to build confidence.
To be eligible to apply, applicants are required to be Grade 6 or 7 or above, of an ethnic minority background, and have demonstrated skills and experience to perform at SCS level.
"The Growing Talent programme has given me the ability to think critically, plan thoroughly and act decisively." "Throughout my career in the civil service, nobody has ever told me I had the potential to reach the SCS – then META came along." "The engagement with high calibre peers, with their own specific range of skills, has allowed me to benchmark myself in order to identify areas of development and consider new ways of approaching issues." "The Growing Talent programme has certainly inspired me and given me the necessary confidence to seek an SCS appointment." "I have learnt the importance of demonstrating visible leadership, making a personal impact with integrity and inspiring trust in others." "I noticed a real warmth and level of support between the scheme's participants. I think participants on other schemes are more competitive while the META approach encourages excellence but fosters a more supportive atmosphere."
Growing Talent Update, June 2009
On 18 June 2009, Sir Gus O’Donnell, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service presented the first Growing Talent graduates with their certificates at a prestigious graduation ceremony in Admiralty House, Whitehall. The other guests were META’s patron David Lammy MP, senior civil servants, many of them mentors, advisers and champions for Growing Talent, and other META supporters.
Sir Gus stressed the need for increased diversity in the Civil Service to help meet the country’s “many challenges ahead”, and in the face of tight public expenditure. He said: “We will have to be innovative and [we’ll need] a group of people who can come at this with different ideas.” He added: “Diversity is not an add on, not an extra, but a quintessential element [of today’s Civil Service]”.
There were warnings about the “perils of homogeneity” from META mentor and board member Minouche Shafik, Permanent Secretary, Department for International Development. She stressed the risk for organisations of “group think” and praised META’s role in helping to combat it.
Recalling the observation of former US President Bill Clinton that, “talent is spread evenly around the world, opportunity is not”, she remembered the impact of seeing girls her own age toiling in the fields on a return visit to Egypt. “But for an accident of birth…it could have been me,” Minouche said.
Key META supporter David Bell, Permanent Secretary, Department for Children, Schools & Families, emphasised the mutual benefits of mentoring: “The mentors have learned as much, if not more, than the mentees,” he said. His view was echoed by Sir Bill Jeffrey, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence and mentor who described the benefit of being able to “see ourselves as others see us”.
Growing Talent graduate Alex Magloire was chosen by her peers to speak on their behalf. Like the other speakers, Alex was unstinting in her praise of META founder and Chair Claudette Sutton: “We are only here this evening because of her personal passion”.
The first Growing Talent programme (2008-9) included participants from:
The following Departments offered mentoring, workshops & placements in support of Growing Talent:
