Common Purpose took a group of 27 legal trainees from Simmons
& Simmons LLP to South West London and St Georges Mental Health
NHS Trust to explore the proposed changes in the NHS. The trainees
were studying change as part of the firm's unique, award-winning
MBA programme which is run in conjunction with BPP Business School,
a programme which the trainees attend before joining the firm to
enhance their commercial awareness and industry sector
knowledge.
This visit was integrated with the MBA curriculum module on
managing change, offering a real life perspective on the reality of
change in an organisation of the size and complexity of the NHS. We
spent time with a member of the change management programme team to
better understand the changes which that specific trust has been
(and still is) going through and the ramifications of the new bill.
Contributors from other parts of the NHS also shared their
experiences and perspectives to help equip the participants with a
broad and far reaching understanding of change at the fourth
largest employer in the world.
Participants fed back that this session has helped them to
better understand the complexities of change in the real world
rather than in a text book or case study and reported feeling more
equipped both to deal with change in their working lives and to add
value to their clients as they experience it.
Feedback from participants included:
"This has been a very insightful perspective of real change
occurring now in an important sector"
"The session was very informative and it was helpful to be able
to hear from those involved first hand from a range of different
perspectives"
"As a Common Purpose graduate, I know how valuable it can be to
challenge your preconceptions about what life is like for people
working in a different industry. The workshop gave participants
some insight into the real challenges of managing and leading
change in the NHS. They were particularly struck by the huge range
of stakeholders we have to deal with and the extent to which even
local changes are influenced by politics and played out in the
media. From a personal point of view, it was also a great
opportunity to reflect on my own organisation and the change
challenges we face."
Jonathan Grellier, Service Development
Programme Manager at St. Georges Mental Hospital
