Our vision is:
- for people working in operational delivery to be recognised and valued as professionals
- to have transferable skills that are recognised and respected across government and the wider economy
- to achieve the same level of status as the more established professions.
The profession was created in 2008 and through a series of work plans has been laying the foundations to achieve this vision.
The profession has made much progress over the last 4 years. Highlights include the development of:
- A clear definition for the profession
- Professional standards that apply across the public and private sectors
- A professional competency framework
- Operational delivery qualifications
- Career pathways
- An understanding of the future skills requirement for the profession
A summary of progress to 2011 is available.
Current strategy and programme plan
We are now working on a strategy and programme plan for 2011 – 2014, . During 2011/12 we introduced:
- the first cross government curriculum containing 15 learning products that support the development of those working in the profession. These are hosted on Civil Service Learning portal.
- a new level 2 diploma in operational delivery; nearly 700 people took up this diploma in its first year.
- regional communities and development programmes (on a pilot basis) specifically for operational delivery professionals.
For 2012/13 our plans include:
- Continuing the development of the professional learning curriculum with a view to accrediting the curriculum.
- Evaluating the benefits of the Diploma and developing a qualifications pathway for the profession that will see further qualifications at level 3 and 4 being developed.
- Enhancing career pathways and extending these to the SCS to show progression routes from the most junior to senior grades.
- Evaluating the regional communities and development programmes with a view to extending these.
- Enhancing the fast stream offer to encourage new entrants to become operational delivery professionals.
The future of the operational delivery profession
By April 2013 Civil Service Learning will have developed a Civil Service Capabilities Plan 2012-17 that will strengthen skills and capabilities of civil servants and build a stronger leadership talent pipeline in response to the Civil Service Reform Plan. The Capabilities Plan is expected to strengthen the authority and influence of the Civil Service professions – including the operational delivery profession. The plan will boost the importance of the Heads of Profession roles whose influence is seen as critical to raising standards, departmental appointments, succession planning and talent management. We will let you have more detail about what Civil Service Reform means for the profession in due course.
In 2010/11 the profession carried out an assessment of what operational delivery professional skills will be required in the future. Over 100 senior civil servants and directors contributed to the work and the findings are presented in the ‘future skills report’. This is an important piece of work for the profession and will inform the development of professional learning products and qualifications.