Case Studies
Working Together: Oxfordshire County Council
Working Together on Lean Apprenticeships: Oxfordshire County Council
Celebrating Success
We caught up with key people at the Oxfordshire County Council – Improvement Practitioner Graduation Event in February 2023 to talk all things apprenticeships including why it’s important to build a strong partnership with a likeminded training provider, the huge benefits of doing an apprenticeship particularly in lean/continuous improvement for the individuals and organisation alike, and what a difference having the right support makes in making apprenticeships a success.
Speakers –
- Ben Payne – Apprenticeship Manager
- Caroline French – Business Improvement Team Leader
- Alan Clark – Development Coach at CQM
- Philip Alderton – Business Improvement Officer
- Lizzie Hale, Rebecca McNaught & Shey Allison – Apprentices
Huge congratulations to all the Improvement Practitioner graduates from this latest cohort on achieving a fantastic level 4 apprenticeship qualification and attaining Lean Six Sigma Green Belt accreditation.
We both know what we’re looking to deliver for our organisation and what we’re trying to accomplish, to support our learners develop, our organisation to adopt that continuous improvement culture, realising the benefits of lean and ultimately adding value for our end users.”
Why Apprenticeships?
We talked with Ben Payne, Apprenticeship Manager at Oxfordshire County Council about why apprenticeships such as the Improvement Practitioner programme are so important to the organisation and how they approach working with the right training providers to ensure that the apprentices and the organisation get the maximum value from the programmes.
Working in Partnership
We caught up with Alan Clark, Development Coach for CQM Training & Consultancy and Caroline French, Business Improvement Team Leader for Oxfordshire County Council.
We discussed why it is important that employers embrace apprenticeships to upskill their new and existing employees, seeing it as a massive opportunity to invest and bring about significant benefits for the learner and organisation alike.
Caroline also delves into why her team at Oxfordshire County Council have invested in CI/lean apprenticeships, sharing insights into the differences she has seen as a result and how CQM Training & Consultancy have supported the success and achievement in implementing a CI/Lean way of working and overall culture.
Supporting & Mentoring Apprentices
We discussed with Philip Alderton, Business Improvement Officer how Oxfordshire County Council support their apprentices, ensuring that they are making the most of their programmes as well as providing internally the tools and resources needed to make a difference.
He explains how the Business Improvement team works with and mentors the apprentices from start to finish, reflecting on the success this has had on the learners, the organisation and the wider services Oxfordshire County Council provide to the end customer.
The Apprentice Perspective
We caught up with Lizzie Hale, Rebecca McNaught and Shey Alison who have recently completed thier Improvement Practitioner Level 4 apprenticeships and gained accredited Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification.
We discussed how they have found the programme, specifically on the support they received from Oxfordshire County Council as well as CQM Training & Consultancy throughout their apprenticeship.
We also touched on their biggest take aways to reflect on the difference apprenticeships can make both professionally and personally, which is a useful insight for anyone considering apprenticeships for their development.
Would you like to find out more about the Improvement Practitioner (Lean Six Sigma Green Belt) apprenticeship?