As Result CIC’s award-winning DELTA programme (Disability Empowers Leadership Talent) for the Civil Service gets into its stride for a fifth year - with the largest cohort to date - what better time for us all, finally, to get together?
When Result ran the first DELTA programme in 2020 there were 26 participants. Everything started as planned but after just one in-person workshop early in the year, everything had to go online at a time when none of us had worked this way before. This challenge offered a steep learning curve to both facilitators and coaches as well as our participants. I’m glad to say that we have kept in touch with several of those bold pioneers from year 1, and have been amazed by their progress and achievements.
DELTA is a personal and professional leadership development programme which any civil servant on the Civil Service’s Future Leadership Scheme is eligible to join if they live with a disability, long-term health condition, mental health condition or are neurodivergent; it is entirely voluntary to do so. In this, the fifth year of the programme, we have 90 participants – a tripling of the original group size - which is a heartening testament to the programme’s positive impact.
At more senior levels in particular, both isolation and pressure to ‘fit in’ can be a real problem for disabled civil servants. In their comments and feedback, DELTA participants repeatedly highlight the value of being able to work closely with other civil servants who are disabled; sharing their experiences and feeling, often for the first time, that they are not alone. In addition, each year the cohort has asked if the whole DELTA community could meet for a conference to maximise the opportunities for networking together. And this year, 2025, it is going to happen! Result is delighted that the Leadership College of Government’s Learning Framework partner, KPMG, has generously agreed to host a DELTA@5 conference in July this year at their impressive Docklands headquarters. The theme of the event is Positive Connections, and its aims are:
We love celebrating, so cannot wait to take part in this event and catch up with 5 years of graduates from the programme and learn about all that they have achieved.
If you think that your organisation might benefit from a programme similar to DELTA, why not get in touch?