Survey shows value of WBS Local Government Diploma

A new Ipsos MORI report highlights the major contribution made by the Warwick Business School (WBS) Postgraduate Diploma in Local Government Management (PDLGM) to the intellectual and professional development of graduate trainee managers in the local government sector.

The Ipsos MORI survey, to be published on 10 August 2009, was commissioned jointly by the Warwick Business School Public Management Group (GPM) and the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) as part of a wider review of the IDeA's fast-track national graduate development programme (ngdp) for graduates entering local government.

The Ipsos MORI survey shows that participants in the first 10 cohorts of the programme, and senior managers in local government, both view the Warwick Diploma as a pivotal element of the ngdp scheme, recognizing the WBS cohort-based residential approach as vital for stretching thinking, sharing experience, promoting inter-organisational learning, and improving management practice.

• Satisfaction levels with the scheme run at 94% among graduates.
• 89% of programme graduates said that their studies were relevant to their career and professional development.
• 87% said the Diploma had enhanced their capacity to learn and apply new ideas.
• 63% of graduates saw the 'Warwick brand' as central to the scheme.

The first ngdp cohort began in 2003 and graduated from the PDLGM in 2005 and graduates have already been delivering major benefits to their local authorities in that time; the full impact and added value of their learning and skill development will become even clearer in the longer term.

• 80% of graduates have remained within local government, with a further 5% going to work elsewhere in the public sector.
• 87% of graduates say they are capable of thinking and acting more strategically as a result of participating in the Warwick Diploma
• 78% of graduates have gained a better sense of what communities need from local government, while 69% believe that the programme has enabled them to better target solutions for the benefit of communities.
• 44% of graduates believe that they are already introducing change and innovation, a perspective supported by senior stakeholders.

A successful innovation like the ngdp inevitably faces challenges as the political and management environment changes.

• Meeting the costs of expansion where local authorities want more trainees
• Assuring job security for programme graduates
• Measuring long-term impact, as graduates rise up the local government management hierarchy.
• Comparing long-term impact with other fast-track programmes in the public sector.

WBS has confirmed its long term commitment to this programme by offering graduates from the PDLGM the opportunity, after three or more years experience in the field, to take further modules and progress to a full Masters in Public Management (Local Government).

Professor Jean Hartley, head of the WBS GPM said today "We are proud to have been involved in teaching and training over 550 young graduate entrants into local government since the inception of this innovative national scheme in 2003. We are delighted that the Ipsos MORI survey confirms the added value of the WBS Diploma in both stretching thinking and improving practical management skills among these crucial high fliers of the future."
For a copy of the full Ipsos MORI report contact:
Professor John Benington (john.benington@wbs.ac.uk) or Jane Miller (jane.miller@wbs.ac.uk)