Sue Hopgood CMgr FCMI

Roles & responsibilities

I joined NHS Blood and Transplant  September 09 and lead a team of 30 with responsibility for all aspects of organisations learning and development, including creating and implementing a new talent and leadership development strategy.

The aim is to develop an inclusive approach to talent management, maximising the potential of all employees but with some targeted development for people identified as having high potential for future leadership roles.

I think it is well documented that the NHS is facing significant challenges and it is therefore even more important to maximise the contribution from everybody within the service.

NHS Blood and Transplant was created as a new organisation in October 2005, by a merger of the National Blood Authority and UK Transplant. We employ over 6000 people, including scientists, doctors, nurses and other professionals. Because we are a fairly new organisation, we are going through a considerable transformational change programme.

Main issues

• Supporting a transformational programme of change 
•  Maximising management contribution 
•  An inclusive approach to talent management

The introduction of a talent and leadership development programme is really about leaders taking ownership and making sure that they are developing, motivating and really bringing on their people who are going to have to deliver the changes.

We are very focused on providing a better service to our customers and have key performance indicators that measure our performance. We have to collect a certain number of units of blood every day and there is a constant drive to increase the number of blood donors. We are also focused on getting more people to donate their organs when they die. There is something like three deaths a day as a result of people not getting an organ transplant.

We are about to go live with our first talent management programme, aimed at middle to senior managers, called "The Hubbub". We have been running an internal Diploma in Management programme for some time, delivered by the CMI. We are also just about to launch our first Chartered Manager programme, with 10 managers planning to undertake the award.

The Appeal of Chartered Manager

• Chartered Manager is a proven programme that delivers results 
•  Leaders that take ownership of their management development and that of their staff 
• Managers that effective drive change management

I am a great advocate of Chartered Manager and one of the first things I did on joining NHS Blood and Transplant was to talk about where the scheme fits in this developing strategy. I know that people who are Chartered Managers make a real difference and impact in their organisation, and I will be encouraging more people to undertake the award.  I am pleased to say we already have 5 Chartered Managers within NHS Blood and Transplant.

To date, I have probably been involved in enabling over 70 people to become Chartered Managers. I previously worked for the National Probation Service and the Fire and Rescue Service.

My approach to leadership is very much focused on bringing people on and enabling them to achieve, utilising their own strengths. That's what I really enjoy doing.

I was very much working to a career plan when I became a Chartered Manager (one of the first to do so, in 2003). At that time the plan was to get to a 'director of HR' role, which I did at the Fire and Rescue Service where I was director of organisational development.

In terms of my plan now, it is to introduce what will be a very ambitious people strategy at NHS Blood and Transplant and see it through to implementation, embedding it over the next two/three years. Then I will be looking for a more senior role.