The Action Learning Set (ALS) Facilitator programme is an exciting, challenging and rewarding opportunity that not only provides participants with high quality personal development, but also puts them at the heart of developing the future leaders of the NHS on our Graduate Management Training Scheme (GMTS).
The importance of action learning in supporting trainees to develop is unquestionable. Participants will develop the skills, knowledge, attitudes and ability to become effective learners and reflective practitioners. These sets also support trainees in becoming leaders of the future with the skills to influence effectively in ways that maintain and promote the values of the NHS. We want to develop a faculty of ALS facilitators that is drawn from across the whole landscape of health and care.
The programme is free, participants will provide support to GMTS trainees at the same time as receiving training themselves.
What’s the aim of the programme?
The aim of the programme is to support participants to develop high-level facilitation skills for supporting action learning within the NHS.
By the end of the programme, (including supervision groups) participants will have:
- a range of frameworks and strategies for working with action learning sets effectively
- increased confidence in managing challenging group dynamics.
- increased self-awareness through experiential learning and feedback from colleagues and facilitators
- an on-going support network through supervision, learning sets, and buddy relationships.
- supported a cohort of graduate management trainees to solve challenging workplace issues, give and receive feedback from others, and increased ability to coach peers.
- increased capacity to give and receive feedback, coach others, and provide support and challenge to graduate trainees.
Why should I join the programme?
In return for the commitment to this important work, applicants benefit from a comprehensive programme of support and development leading to an NHS-wide recognised award in ALS facilitation.
Benefits for the individual:
- Developing a new set of skills that can be transferred back into your day-to-day job. For example; facilitation skills for meetings, understanding group processes, working with people with diverse perspectives, and learning how to become more effective at supporting colleagues and teams.
- Learning and networking with other facilitators and peers from different locations, backgrounds, and roles
- High quality and professional personal development which is fully funded, delivered and supervised by world-class experts from the NHS GMTS.
- Being able to learn new approaches and perspectives from some of our brightest future leaders of the NHS.
- Being an integral part of the journey of our graduates and seeing transformation and development as they progress through the scheme: previous facilitators have commonly spoken of feelings of reward, inspiration and privilege at being part of this journey.
Benefits for the organisation:
The development of new skills that an individual can transfer into your own role to improve the effectiveness of teams, processes, and ultimately patient experience and outcomes.
- Individuals gaining a new set of developed skills that can be shared widely with the organisation and taught to others for wide reaching improvement.
- A new sense of perspective in individuals that can be utilised to improve collaborative working across teams and organisations.
Who’s it for?
It has been identified that the programme benefits from having facilitators from a range of roles from across health and care. Previously we have had successful applications from roles that include GP, director of nursing, lecturer, GMTS graduate, policy manager, organisational development facilitator, programme lead and director of finance. These roles are only provided as examples, and we welcome applications from across health and care from those who meet the applicant criteria.
We also welcome applications from GMTS alumni, as well as those of the NHS Leadership Academy programmes, in particular the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Nye Bevan programmes.
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