Last year, The Institute began working with The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to underpin the Crossing Thresholds Programme, offered across the Civil Service.  Thresholds is a 12-month career mentoring programme for women who want to develop their career in a structured and supportive environment.

DWP has a strong drive for equality, diversity and inclusion and intends Thresholds to encourage more women to apply for and achieve senior leadership roles in the organisation.

To enrich this existing programme, DWP has become a corporate member of The Institute, in order to access its award-winning, e-learning tool MyLeadership, which combines online learning resources with interactive guidance from Institute experts across 49 leadership components.

However, Gaynor Lewis, Institute head of commercial development designed a more bespoke package of core components, most relevant to DWP’s leaders’ needs. On completion, this secures Professional Membership to The Institute for all successful delegates, demonstrating DWP’s commitment to their leaders and their continuing professional development.

DWP delegates have reported valuing the flexibility of MyLeadership and the easy access to the broad range of resources that it provides to support their personal development, or simply to confirm the great practice that is already in place.

Last month, Gaynor Lewis was delighted to attend the DWP Certification Event where all delegates who had completed the Crossing Thresholds Programme and their MyLeadership requirements were recognised.

Ozma Iqbal, DWP lead for gender diversity said: “The Institute has provided professional recognition and external validation of the programme as a whole, and the incorporation of e-learning through MyLeadership has created a great user experience.”