Tue 27 Aug 2019
Now in its 12th year, Civil Service Live was once again a huge success. Staff from departments, agencies and other bodies came from all over the UK and overseas to learn from experts, network with others and be inspired by the professionalism that makes the UK Civil Service brilliant.
Organised by Dods on behalf of the Cabinet Office it was expected that 19,500 people would attend the events in six regional locations. In the end a total number of over 22,000 attended; way up from last year’s total of almost 19,000.
Those numbers prove that Civil Servants from all over the UK want to know what is happening in government, how their lives and careers could be affected by changing circumstances and discover how they can improve their skills and knowledge to deliver excellent public services.
Over 1,000 sessions covered a huge range of topics including diversity and inclusion, resilience, leadership and digital skills. Over 1,000 spot mentoring sessions were delivered to help staff. Another increase from last year’s 750 sessions.
None of this could be possible without the expert guest speakers and fabulous presenters who delivered the sessions. The speakers included, Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, Civil Service Chief Executive John Manzoni, Permanent Secretaries Clare Moriarty, Richard Heaton, Jon Thompson, Shan Morgan and Leslie Evans.
The Dods Training stand was extremely popular with hundreds of people wanting to know what is available to help them develop in their careers. Everyone who visited the stand wanted to show their competitiveness by completing our quick quiz. We were unsure whether this was to win a Fortnum and Mason hamper or show their knowledge of the European Union. The subject of the EU appeared to amuse, frighten and delight people in equal numbers. For those who entered the questions and answers were:
- Strasburg is the city most commonly used for plenary sessions of the EU
- There are 28 member states
- The man in the glasses was Olly Robbins
- The last UK referendum in staying in the EU was in 1975
- The geographical centre of the EU, taking into account overseas territories, is Westerngrund in Germany
Answers correct at the time of CS Live events.
And the winner is Michael Harrison, Director at UK Government Investments. Congratulations to him and thank you to everyone who we met and took part in the quiz.
It was great to see civil servants have the chance to attend Civil Service Live which once again met its aims to educate, engage and inspire. The event’s success is reflected in 90% of delegates who completed the evaluation saying they would recommend CS Live to their colleagues.
Tony Shaw at Dods Training
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