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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2018/jan/26/i-found-it-enormously-rewarding-the-civil-servants-seconded-to-charities
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| 'I found it enormously rewarding': the civil servants seconded to charities | 'I found it enormously rewarding': the civil servants seconded to charities |
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| Working with a charity that uses rugby to address issues of unemployment, crime and antisocial behaviour probably wasn’t what Yasmine Hafiz had in mind when she applied for the civil service fast stream. But she says the six months she spent with School of Hard Knocks was incredibly valuable. | Working with a charity that uses rugby to address issues of unemployment, crime and antisocial behaviour probably wasn’t what Yasmine Hafiz had in mind when she applied for the civil service fast stream. But she says the six months she spent with School of Hard Knocks was incredibly valuable. |
| “I didn’t know what to expect, but I found it enormously rewarding,” she says. “You can see positive things happening in people’s lives as a direct result of your work.” | “I didn’t know what to expect, but I found it enormously rewarding,” she says. “You can see positive things happening in people’s lives as a direct result of your work.” |
| If civil servants are stepping out of significant strategic roles, the worst thing you can do is underutilise them | If civil servants are stepping out of significant strategic roles, the worst thing you can do is underutilise them |
| Hafiz’s secondment was organised by the Whitehall & Industry Group (WIG), a not-for-profit organisation that works to improve relations between the public, private and charitable sectors through its Charity Next programme. Originally conceived by the Prince of Wales 10 years ago, Charity Next has placed 275 civil servants with charities and has now been incorporated by the Cabinet Office into the prestigious three-year civil service fast stream scheme, which gives graduates a choice of spending six months with a charity or a private company in their second year. | Hafiz’s secondment was organised by the Whitehall & Industry Group (WIG), a not-for-profit organisation that works to improve relations between the public, private and charitable sectors through its Charity Next programme. Originally conceived by the Prince of Wales 10 years ago, Charity Next has placed 275 civil servants with charities and has now been incorporated by the Cabinet Office into the prestigious three-year civil service fast stream scheme, which gives graduates a choice of spending six months with a charity or a private company in their second year. |
| Around a third of fast streamers choose to spend time with a charity, says Peter Unwin, WIG chief executive and former director general of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). “What it gives civil servants, at a very early stage in their career, is an opportunity to go out and work in a frontline organisation that’s going to be organised very differently from government, and a perspective on what government looks like from the outside,” he says. | Around a third of fast streamers choose to spend time with a charity, says Peter Unwin, WIG chief executive and former director general of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). “What it gives civil servants, at a very early stage in their career, is an opportunity to go out and work in a frontline organisation that’s going to be organised very differently from government, and a perspective on what government looks like from the outside,” he says. |
| WIG receives up to 100 applications from charities for each of the two intakes of graduates a year. The process can be rigorous: the roles offered need to be well-defined, and the charities well-organised, with a measurable impact for the charity and civil servant. “The [civil service] is paying the salary for six months, so [the role] has got to be something that’s going to stretch and develop [the fast streamer],” says Unwin. | WIG receives up to 100 applications from charities for each of the two intakes of graduates a year. The process can be rigorous: the roles offered need to be well-defined, and the charities well-organised, with a measurable impact for the charity and civil servant. “The [civil service] is paying the salary for six months, so [the role] has got to be something that’s going to stretch and develop [the fast streamer],” says Unwin. |
| So far, School of Hard Knocks has successfully applied for seven graduates. The operations director, Jack Lewars, heard about the scheme when the organisation only had three members of full-time staff. “What attracted us to it,” he says, “apart from the fact that it would be a very capable graduate from a very competitive scheme, was that adding a full-time position to a team of three would make an almost unimaginable difference in capacity. It was completely priceless.” | So far, School of Hard Knocks has successfully applied for seven graduates. The operations director, Jack Lewars, heard about the scheme when the organisation only had three members of full-time staff. “What attracted us to it,” he says, “apart from the fact that it would be a very capable graduate from a very competitive scheme, was that adding a full-time position to a team of three would make an almost unimaginable difference in capacity. It was completely priceless.” |
| The role for fast streamers at School of Hard Knocks has evolved over the years after a purely communications role proved too straightforward. Lewars admits the biggest challenge in managing the graduates has been giving them enough to do. “We needed to stretch them more,” he adds. “If they’re stepping out of pretty significant strategic roles in major government departments, the worst thing you can do is underutilise them.” | The role for fast streamers at School of Hard Knocks has evolved over the years after a purely communications role proved too straightforward. Lewars admits the biggest challenge in managing the graduates has been giving them enough to do. “We needed to stretch them more,” he adds. “If they’re stepping out of pretty significant strategic roles in major government departments, the worst thing you can do is underutilise them.” |
| In the six months Hafiz spent at School of Hard Knocks, working as a finance and marketing officer, she managed the day-to-day accounts, redesigned the charity’s annual report and visited frontline workers and service users. She says there are many lessons she’ll take back to the civil service with her, not least the ability to think creatively about problems. Hafiz feels she better understands the perspective and insight the charitable sector can bring to policymakers in government, and has new-found empathy for the financial hardships many charities face. | In the six months Hafiz spent at School of Hard Knocks, working as a finance and marketing officer, she managed the day-to-day accounts, redesigned the charity’s annual report and visited frontline workers and service users. She says there are many lessons she’ll take back to the civil service with her, not least the ability to think creatively about problems. Hafiz feels she better understands the perspective and insight the charitable sector can bring to policymakers in government, and has new-found empathy for the financial hardships many charities face. |
| “I don’t think I understood that beforehand,” she says. “[Charities] are concerned about stability above all else. They’re concerned about the outcomes for people they’re trying to help, but they have to keep the lights on. | “I don’t think I understood that beforehand,” she says. “[Charities] are concerned about stability above all else. They’re concerned about the outcomes for people they’re trying to help, but they have to keep the lights on. |
| “At the same time, if you have an idea at School of Hard Knocks, the organisation is small enough that you can implement it. The civil service could learn something about that approach by being a bit more innovative, a bit less risk averse. If we’re too careful, it means we might not be taking risks that can lead to real improvement or real change.” | “At the same time, if you have an idea at School of Hard Knocks, the organisation is small enough that you can implement it. The civil service could learn something about that approach by being a bit more innovative, a bit less risk averse. If we’re too careful, it means we might not be taking risks that can lead to real improvement or real change.” |
| For the charity, too, working with fast streamers has given them a new understanding of government bodies. School of Hard Knocks has had a number of contracts to work with unemployed adults, via the Department for Work and Pensions. While the graduates can’t actively introduce them to people in government to facilitate new contracts, they can explain different department priorities, alert them to a recently published white paper, or suggest what a new policy might be trying to achieve. The experience has also helped the charity grow to a team of 14 and a turnover of £1m a year. | For the charity, too, working with fast streamers has given them a new understanding of government bodies. School of Hard Knocks has had a number of contracts to work with unemployed adults, via the Department for Work and Pensions. While the graduates can’t actively introduce them to people in government to facilitate new contracts, they can explain different department priorities, alert them to a recently published white paper, or suggest what a new policy might be trying to achieve. The experience has also helped the charity grow to a team of 14 and a turnover of £1m a year. |
| “This scheme offers the chance to bring in really hardworking, really bright, really focused people who will work their socks off for you for six months,” says Lewars. “In five years, we’ve gone from being a startup to turning over just over £1m a year. I don’t think we could have done it without the fast stream.” | “This scheme offers the chance to bring in really hardworking, really bright, really focused people who will work their socks off for you for six months,” says Lewars. “In five years, we’ve gone from being a startup to turning over just over £1m a year. I don’t think we could have done it without the fast stream.” |
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