Building Capability for All

Effectiveness in this area is having a strong focus on continuous learning for oneself, others and the organisation. For all staff, its
being open to learning, about keeping ones own knowledge and skill set current and evolving. For leaders, its about investing in the
capabilities of our people, to be effective now and in the future as well as giving clear, honest feedback and supporting teams to
succeed. Its also about creating a learning and knowledge culture across the organisation to inform future plans and
transformational change.

Ensure that individual and organisational learning and talent development opportunities are fully exploited in order to enhance
organisational capability
Role model work-place based learning and encourage development, talent and career management for all staff
Coach and support colleagues to take responsibility for their own development (through giving accountability, varied
assignments and on-going feedback)
Establish and drive intra and inter team discussions to learn from experience and adapt organisational processes and plans
Identify capability requirements needed to deliver future team objectives and support teams to succeed in delivering to meet
those needs
Prioritise and role model continuous self learning and development, including leadership, management and people skills

As Subject Matter Expert (SME) for TB I highlighted that no quality assurance system was in place in the
Midlands for ensuring that adequate standards of TB Investigation Reports were met.

My task was to design an audit system to be implemented.

I called a meeting with the other SMEs, team leaders and relevant admin staff to capture their views and to
explore the available options. To secure their commitment and the allocation of adequate time resources I
explained how the disease investigations played a key role in the Eradication programme and how it was of
paramount importance to ensure that all the staff was capable of high standard delivery.

In order to ensure consistency, I volunteered to develop a standardized format to facilitate the auditing
process. I highlighted that the objective was to raise standards rather than target individuals, therefore
following the audits, I persuaded the SMEs to engage in one-to-one meetings in case of major issues that
needed to be urgently addressed and that needed corrective actions.
I also achieved the set up of quarterly meetings to discuss: best practices to be used as examples; common
issues; and the set up of training sessions wherever appropriate.

The DRF quality control system has been successfully implemented in the Midlands complying with three of
the DEFRA strategy targets in relation to Exceptional Delivery, Development of Our People and contributing
to the Protection from TB.