Belfast HR firm wins Irish award for graduate programme

  • Belfast-based HR firm Think People Consulting has been awarded a Best Graduate Development Initiative Award from the Irish Institute of Training and Development (IITD).

    The company was commissioned to develop a talent development programme for the Irish Civil Service. 

    “What made this programme so successful was the truly collaborative relationships between the Civil Service Department of Public Expenditure & Reform and Think People," said Paul Rothwell of the Civil Service HR Division.

    "Think People’s team embedded themselves in our team and worked to understand our complex organisation and culture, as well as our ways of working so that every detail of the programme was powerfully contextualised to real challenges and opportunities we’re facing now.” 

    The IITD National Training Awards promote excellence, best practice and innovation in learning and development across the island of Ireland. 

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    The Think People team curated a range of modern tools for the Civil Service, including hackathons, Action Learning Sets, agile pace projects, self-reflective exercises, psychometric tools, discussion groups, lectures, case studies, and exposure to 133 subject matter experts representing 35 government departments.

    Paul continued, “The emphasis on applied learning and action means we have clearly seen the direct impact of the programme on confidence, collaboration, productivity and innovation amongst the delegates who took part.

    "This is where learning and development needs to be – integrated with organisational strategy and the day-to-day work-lives of delegates beyond the training room.”

    “We’re extremely proud of what we have achieved in creating a programme for a very diverse audience through working in a truly collaborative way with the team in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform,” said Think People Managing Partner, Emer Hinphey.

    “Winning this award with a programme which started as face-to-face and ended as a highly successful, fully remote programme, shows that learning and development functions have a lot to add to the strategies organisations are putting in place to manage the relentless change we are continuing to face.”

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    Niamh is a Sync NI writer with a previous background of working in FinTech and financial crime. She has a special interest in sports and emerging technologies. To connect with Niamh, feel free to send her an email or connect on Twitter.

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