A Conversation with a Group Manager

We spoke to a the Group Manager responsible for delivering promotions Supervisory and Middle Manager (Leading the Team/ Function) processes in their FRS to find out what led them to VCA and how they found the CPG first time round.

Summary

In November 2023 VCA was contacted by a new FRS to discuss the options for supporting them with their assessments for promotions.

Using the Crown Commercial Services procurement framework, we were quickly able to progress all the arrangements to complete a Career Progression Gateway (CPG) assessment for Control Room Managers in December 2023, and for Wholetime Station Managers the following week. At the beginning of the year VCA delivered Developmental Feedback Sessions for the unsuccessful Station Manager candidates. Later on we completed a Crew Manager assessment process for over 20 candidates using the CPG LITE Case Study and Role-play exercises, with a 57% pass rate (including 100% pass rate for female FF and candidates with reasonable adjustments).

A lot of other Services are considering working with us at the moment, so I thought your perspective might be helpful for them, showcasing that it doesn’t have to be that complicated. Here are just a few questions:

What were your concerns with your previous process which led you to thinking about a different option?

We have a number of people who were transferring or moving into our service from other organisations and we wanted a new approach to delivering a process that is fair for everyone so everyone goes through the same thing.

Also the fact it’s independently set, it’s independently marked. I like the fact that I can say to people ‘I don’t know what you’re going to be asked’. I can say ‘here’s the breakdown, we just get a list of candidate numbers and we get the mark and we’re told who’s passed and then I can find out the names, but not before’. So there’s no question about any potential bias.

Were there any other options you considered?

We were impressed by the Direct Entry process and we knew the NFCC had done their due diligence, that gave us the confidence to work with you. The NFCC are obviously satisfied with the service you’re offering and you’ve shared anonymised candidate feedback reports that come from the CPG so we weren’t going into a completely blind.

What are the advantages for you for using the CPG?

The confidence we get from your team being trained psychologists, and we don’t have to worry about finding or training assessors. And the exercises are all taken care of.

Staffing issues, there was a cost that’s there, but it’s not really seen, as a Service you don’t put a price on that. We were paying actors every year, plus we never really factored in the wages for those Middle Managers involved.

The culture of independence is a real benefit for me, bringing in an independent company. Internal assessors work really hard to be impartial, but there might still be comments about fairness, and this takes all that away. It’s an emotional process, you want confidence in the system, that it’s being done on an equal footing with everybody. It gives the people of taking part confidence as well.

I can say to candidates, when you have your feedback, it tells you what you need to do. No-one likes to fail things, they want to know why.

We review anybody who gets a borderline score, look over everything again thoroughly. We want people to pass- but if they don’t, we can be really clear why not, and what their next steps are from there.

So far have the results aligned with your expectations?

There are no massive surprises.

Any concerns around the CPG?

I think one of the main ones for me was probably people have issue with the typing but it’s good people can handwrite if they want. Neurodiversity was obviously a big concern, but this was really handled well and there was positive feedback from the candidates. So no, no issues at all.

Since this discussion, VCA has run an on-line Leadership Behaviour workshop for the candidates for this summer’s Middle Manager Assessment process and CPG. This session was felt to be very informative and useful for Watch Managers who were unsuccessful in the last CPG. The session focused on highlighting what simple mistakes to avoid, and how the Leadership Framework ties in with positive workplace practice, and how this can reflect in effective performance of the CPG tasks. Crew Manager CPG assessments are scheduled for autumn 2024.