Preeta Ramachandran and Mark Thompson and Aspire Participants, Department for Work and Pensions
DWP’s purpose is to ensure social mobility opportunities for its customers; Preeta and Mark wanted to replicate the same development opportunities for their Work Coaches across the South East. Many colleagues join DWP straight from school, leading to a lack of confidence and self-limiting beliefs to progress to more senior roles. Participants in the Aspire programme have been encouraged to challenge self-imposed barriers to success and show confidence in their ability to communicate effectively. They have learned how to build a powerful personal brand and set challenging but achievable goals. Feedback has been extremely positive: participants say the programme has increased their confidence and sense of purpose, and many have a newfound confidence to seek progression opportunities.