Supporting disabled colleagues to thrive - The Leadership Academy Programme at CQC

At CQC, our purpose is to make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and to encourage care services to improve. To do this effectively we believe it is essential that we embed the principles of Diversity and Inclusion, so it is at the heart of everything we do.

We want to support disabled colleagues thrive and therefore, we have partnered with Disability Rights UK to offer colleagues living with a disability or health condition and have the aspiration to progress their leadership journey are encouraged to apply for the ‘Leadership Academy Programme’

This bespoke programme has been designed to equip participants with the tools to make the transition into leadership positions by focusing on:

the tools to make the transition into leadership positions by focusing on:

Progressing your career

• Explore career aspirations, set objectives and establish goals
• Take new leadership skills and expertise back to the workplace

Improving your performance

• Develop communication, leadership and management skills
• Self-development and confidence building
• Learn to apply new techniques through live projects related to a current workplace challenge
• Receive one-to-one mentoring from an experienced senior leader

Building your networks

• Share your experience of disability in a safe and relevant environment
• Meet other aspiring managers and learn from their success strategies
• Be part of our exclusive professional Disability Alumni Network: exceptional networking opportunities with inspirational, highly regarded keynote speakers

Paul Kirby – CQC Disability Equality Network Chair attended the programme last year and said:

“Attending and completing the Disability Rights UK Leadership programme gave me a great understanding and realisation of the leadership skills and qualities I had within and gave me the time and support to evaluate those skills which gave me the confidence to bring those leadership skills to life. When I started the programme, I was unsure if it was for me, but as time went on, I really realised that the key to the programme was enabling me to look at my own leadership style and skills, understanding the difference between leadership and management and the support from the mentor helped with this too. The programme has given me the tools to seek leadership opportunities within the organisation and the confidence to lead teams and programmes."

This is just one of the opportunities available to CQC colleagues living with a disability or health condition. View our current vacancies on VERCIDA.