Hello PPMA members and friends

We’ve recently heard from Kirsten Moore and Daniel John our joint Apprentices of The Year about what it was like to enter the competition. This week, Steven Berry our ‘One to Watch’ winner tells us about his experience.

“When I was invited to attend the PPMA Rising Star / One to Watch competition I didn’t really know what to expect, although I knew it would be an opportunity to challenge myself and support my personal development.

The two day event started with a masterclass in techniques to support our success. There were then some quite daunting challenges, such as having to answer quick-fire moral dilemma questions in front of the panel of judges and fellow colleagues. However, there were also some fun team challenges that enabled us to get to know each other better and work together towards a common goal.

As the competition progressed, I was able to practice the techniques that we had been shown to help me to cope under pressure and perform better. The final challenge was to present our ‘personal legacy’ to the judges and the group. Considering my personal legacy really helped me to understand myself better. My legacy focused on the fact that I am naturally a quiet, introverted person, but how over time I have learned to push myself out of my comfort zone, which is when I find I perform at my best, and have the most positive impact on others. Speaking about something so personal in front of the rest of the group was surprisingly emotional but extremely rewarding. It was also great to hear everyone else’s legacies, which were equally personal and inspiring.

At the end of the competition I was shocked to be named the winner of the One to Watch category. What was more important though was the connections that I made and the increased confidence and belief in myself that I brought back with me.”

Steven is a HR/OD Specialist at Manchester City Council, leading on workforce health and wellbeing. He has worked within the HR/OD service at the CIty Council for 15 months, prior to which he worked within the voluntary sector in substance misuse services. He has supported with the development and ongoing implementation of the City Council’s Employee Health and Wellbeing Strategy, which aims to create an environment where employees are empowered to be their best selves at work.

We wish Steven an amazing year and you can meet him at the PPMA Conference, at The Hilton Metropole Birmingham, on 14^th to 16^th May, where we look forward to celebrating with him and all of our other talent programme winners. If you’d like to join us, then book your place here.

Dear PPMA colleagues and friends

As we approach conference, our President Karen Grave shares her hopes and expectations for this year’s annual conference.

“Hi everyone, I’m so looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible in Birmingham. As ever in the run up to conference the team is both excited and anxious to make sure that we haven’t forgotten anything critical! Putting on annual conference is a huge undertaking and before I share my thoughts, I want to say an enormous thank you to Leatham, Kim, Grace and everyone else who makes it possible for us to put this event on. Our focus will be on making sure you have a fantastic conference experience!

I try to take stock of the progress we have made before each of our events. Last year in Newcastle was a real thrill and it was a very personal opportunity for me to return to the place I studied at Uni. This year, I’m looking forward to conference with the same enthusiasm but for a number of reasons:

• We’ve got a great theme ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ ,that always makes me smile just when I think about it. But there is a lot more to this than a happy slogan. We have a real opportunity to increase our learning about the impact of leadership, employee engagement, wellbeing and productivity on our workforce colleagues. I’m fascinated about this link because I think it we can collectively crack this with our colleagues, it will really help us harness all of the potential of our people. It’s good for them but more importantly it’s critical for the citizens we serve. Each year we see more and more external pressure on our ability to deliver services. Finances are a constant challenge. However in my view, there is an increasing and potentially more divisive threat. Our politics are increasingly fragile and it’s harder to see policy proposals being developed that help those of us in public services really address our most pressing challenges. So to overcome this, we need to take our destiny in our own hands – enabling and empowering our people isn’t just a nice to consider – it’s an imperative for all of us. I can’t wait to hear from John, Maria, Beverley, Jamil and Shonette and of course, all of our amazing fringe session speakers. We’re going to learn a lot.
• We’ll be welcoming existing and new members to conference. It’s fantastic to meet old friends again and find out what’s happened since we last met in Newcastle. But it’s always really brilliant to welcome new members to the PPMA family. We’ll be saying a big hello to all of them – but in particular, I’m really chuffed to welcome HR & OD colleagues from all Greater Manchester Local Authorities. They are going to add a fascinating dimension to our community and I hope we will learn a lot from their DevoManc experiences in particular.
• This is also our first national event since our restructure last year. We’ve come a long way since then and we now have appointments to all of our key posts. Our first Extended Board meeting at the end of March was so exciting. Our new Theme Leads and our Regional Chairs brought energy, new ideas and a commitment to our collective future that left me feeling really hopeful.  You will have the opportunity to meet Board colleagues over the 3 days, so please make sure you take the time to meet them. Every single Board member undertakes their role on a voluntary basis – that is a huge commitment but they do it because of a collective belief in the value of PPMA. If you are interested in getting involved in the running of the association please come and talk to one of us. Board members will have a different colour lanyard to conference attendees, so we will all be easy to spot!
• We’ll have plenty of exciting things to say about our membership offering too. I am very proud of the breadth and depth of our offering – it compares very well to other professional associations. Our ability to offering a compelling value proposition depends on the great support from our existing and new sponsors, the commitment of our Board members and all of your ongoing support. You should never underestimate the amount of work that goes into volunteering for Board roles, so I encourage all of you to take advantage of what we offer.
• And last but not least, we will be announcing the winners of our PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards programme. I love this part of Gala Dinner – it’s always brilliant to recognise the efforts of our winners and everyone who takes part. With the pressures of work, it’s sometimes easy to forget that there is a huge amount of innovative, creative and inspiring work being done day in and day out across public service HR & OD. Gala Dinner is our opportunity to reflect on that, enjoy good food and great company and kick back and have fun.

And talking about fun, we’re really looking forward to our Rock the Kasbah theme…….

I can’t wait to see you soon!”

Hello PPMA members and friends

The 2019 PPMA Apprentice of the Year competition was a fantastic event and showcased the amazing up and coming talent we are lucky enough to have in the public sector. We had an unprecedented number of applicants and the 16 brilliant finalists were invited to a 2 day event at Warwick Business School. The judging panel were unable to differentiate between 2 outstanding candidates, so the decision was made to select both as our winners…and we’d like to congratulate Daniel John representing South Gloucestershire Council and Kirsten Moore representing Central Bedfordshire Council.

Below, Kirsten Moore shares with us her experiences from the event and legacy she aims to leave behind:

“I went into the competition not knowing what to expect. I had already felt challenged by the application questions but was excited to see what the activities and assessments would bring. The two days took us back to basics, focusing on self-confidence and presentation skills, as well as working under pressure and group coordination. The judges, coaches and other apprentices created such a safe environment, allowing all of us to try new things and push ourselves. There was so much support from everyone that we forgot that it was a competition! The other apprentices had such interesting, and often moving, stories and great passion for the sector they are working in.

After an intense first day, I stopped just focusing on the competition and instead set personal goals for the experience, ensuring I took all I could from my time with PPMA – and I am so pleased I did, as I feel this is what might have helped me to become joint winner.

Presenting my personal legacy allowed me to reflect on how beneficial undertaking an apprenticeship has been for all areas of my life. Professionally, I am completing a transferable qualification, where I can help to direct my personal development and training opportunities, whilst working. Personally, the security and my enjoyment of the role now allows me to focus time on my legacy: fundraising for Parkinson’s UK, which is a cause very close to me.

It has been great to challenge myself and I have learnt so much about myself, personally and professionally. The biggest thing I am taking away from the competition is self-confidence and the courage to push myself forward more in my development. ”

Kirsten Moore, PPMA Joint Apprentice of the Year 2019

We hope that Kirsten has an amazing year and we look forward to celebrating with her and all of our other talent programme winners at this year’s PPMA Conference, which will be held at The Hilton Metropole Birmingham, on 14^th to 16^th May. If you’d like to join us, then book your place here.