AoC presentation Leadership from Beyond the FE Sector event - 1 May 2014

1. The Leadership Pipeline
Marilyn Hawkins
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2. The key question
How do we
create a
stronger
leadership
pipeline for the
post-16 sector?
Internal
candidates?
External
candidates?
Better
systems and
processes?
Better
development
and support?

3. The key question
Our approach:
• Early discussions with ‘experts’, listening to their thoughts,
views, and suggestions.
• Literature search – do others do it better?
• Forty one-to-one conversations with individuals across the
sector and across the Country (drawn from eight distinctive
‘categories’).

4. The literature
As any sector changes and
responds to issues such as
technology and
globilisation, new types of
leaders are needed.
Most sectors, not just
education, worry about an
ageing workforce and a lack
of people coming through
to leadership roles.
Early identification of
people with potential (and
being clear what potential
means) gives them time to
build the necessary profile.
Most leaders come from
within a sector they know
and understand, but they
are often given some
external experience to help
them develop.
This issue is much too
important to leave to
chance –improving the
‘pipeline’ needs to be
planned.

5. Core findings - conversations
May put
good people
off applying
for a more
senior role?
Too much negative
press (scandal, risk,
cuts, failures) in the
sector – puts people
off.
Recruitment and
selection processes
take time and
energy, and work
against non-sector
candidates applying.
Assumptions that
candidates from a
teaching
background and/or
internal candidates
have an advantage.
No clear ‘pipeline’
route to show
people the path to
leadership when
they start in FE.

6. Core findings - conversations
Good
people lack
confidence
to apply
Its taken for granted that
good teachers can be
good managers –
training when available
isn’t followed through
with further support.
Does the sector allow
aspiring leaders enough
opportunities to gain the
wider experience and
gather the evidence they
need?
Poor feedback means
that candidates lose
motivation and ‘fill the
space’ with .

7. Core findings - conversations
What needs to change to improve the future
‘pipeline’ and give the sector more strong,
talented leaders?

8. Recommendations
Reforming the
recruitment and
selection
process
?
Targeting and
supporting the
next generation
of leaders