Background
A corporate Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Ros Southcott established sound experience in recruitment, training and employee relations in local government and computer manufacturing before moving to a specialist training and development post with the Scottish Development Agency (SDA) in 1987. At the SDA, Ros was responsible for deriving the organisation's training and development policy from key business objectives and enabled a highly educated professional workforce to contribute successfully to economic development during periods of major re-organisation. During the decentralisation of the SDA and, subsequently, the merger with the Training Agency and transition to Scottish Enterprise, she recruited and mentored promising individuals to the SDA management development programme and established extended induction and training programmes for the enlarged national organisation, based upon rigorous training needs analysis, that helped to create its new and different identity
Ros now helps organisations to realise their potential through creative organisational and people development and the principles of lifelong learning. Her consultancy approach is based on operational training management experience and long-term consultancy assignments in the public and private sectors (Scottish Enterprise, the Student Loans Company, Wales Tourist Board and Scottish Airports Ltd).
Ros assists companies to take a strategic view of how their learning and development activities contribute to business success and the management of change. She has a sound track record of preparing complex organisations for assessment as Investors in People. Ros delivers leadership and management development support through consultancy, training events and coaching
programmes.
Recent work with Scottish Enterprise in the ongoing evaluation of their Workplace of the Future project has allowed Ros to develop expertise in the introduction of innovative ways of working. She enables organisations to improve productivity, motivation and customer service and encourages individuals to develop a healthy work:life balance through the re-design of the working environment and the adoption of flexible working practices.
Ros is a competent communicator and an experienced facilitator of Board level strategic discussions. As a qualified Myers Briggs practitioner, Ros uses understanding of personality type to facilitate individual and team responses to change.
People
Solutions
Management of change
Design and implementation of change programmes in both public and private sectors, with particular emphasis on improving the performance of restructured organisations and teams.
Working with top management teams to formulate new learning strategies for their organisations and assisting senior operational and HR staff to create cost-effective learning strategies to help reach their strategic goals.
Scottish Airports Ltd
Assisting Scottish Airports Ltd and Glasow Airport Ltd (part of international airport operators BAA plc) to shape career development, performance management and training policy to meet the challenges of 21st century. Project team chaired by Managing Director, Glasgow Airport. As well as becoming an Investor in People (1999) and achieving outstanding productivity gains, the organisations celebrated two national training awards in 2000.
Career Counselling
Offering career and personal development counselling to senior executives. A qualified practitioner licensed to use the Myers Briggs Type Inventory - the most highly validated self-report personality profiling instrument in the world.
Training & Development
Enterprise Network
Building on wide experience of the work of the Enterprise Network in Scotland, designing and leading an Introduction to Economic Development workshop which sets the context for the work of public sector business advisers throughout lowland Scotland. A key component of the Premier Adviser programme, funded by the Scottish Executive in partnership with the ESF, the required qualification for those delivering services to business on the Government’s behalf. A participant comments: “Ros Southcott has a very relaxed style which puts participants at ease. She was also good at encouraging / facilitating debate and giving straight, honest answers”.
Financial Sector
Beating a tight deadline to design and deliver a highly innovative training programme for an Edinburgh-based fund managers to facilitate the introduction of a customised project management process, enabling the company to control costs and focus on the delivery of strategic objectives. Evaluated by the company as having significantly assisted a major culture change.
Business
Performance Improvement
Biotechnology Company
Working with the Board, Executive and financial backers of a leading edge biotechnology company to plan its strategy for development and diversification. After exploring various options for change through scenario planning workshops, the company is now concentrating long-term investment in a bio-medical procedure with global market potential.
Investors in People
Assisting a variety of companies to achieve the Investors in People national standard. Gained recognition with Schlumberger Industries July 1994 and successful re-assessment in June 1997, Enterprise Ayrshire December 1994, Crieff Hydro Hotel January 1995 (successfully reassessed January 1998), Edinburgh Petroleum Services May 1995, Wren and Bell (Consulting Civil Engineers) August 1995, Scottish Business Services December 1995 (successful re-assessment January 1999), Cairellot Day Nursery May 1998 (successful review April 2001), Scottish Airports Ltd / Glasgow Airport Ltd January 1999 (successful review 2001) and Student Loans Company October 2000.
Public Sector
Best Value Review
Scottish Enterprise
Ongoing evaluation of the organisational implications of Scottish Enterprise’s pilot Workplace of the Future project which challenged traditional working practices and explores innovative workspace design. Facilitation of the communication and staff training programmes in the countdown to SE’s move to a dramatically new HQ building in September 2001, in which 95% of staff felt that the move process met or exceeded their expectations.
Wales Tourist Board
Meeting the need of the Wales Tourist Board to create a robust business planning process by involving the Directors and senior staff in a coaching programme which has as its objectives: to promote a better understanding of the fit between strategic priorities and day-to-day activities, to improve project selection and implementation and to achieve a wider participation and buy-in from staff in support of divisional restructuring. The programme has enabled the organisation to respond to the recommendations of a recent Quinquennial Review. The workshops utilise many elements of our strategic planning toolkit including the Impact
MatrixTM.
Student Loans Company
Designing and delivering off-site development events for management teams facing new internal and external situations. In one example, the team went on to deliver a complex IT project to meet a challenging DfES deadline and has dramatically increased the successful recruitment of high quality permanent staff in an extremely competitive labour market.
Voluntary Sector
Leading the ongoing change process at Victim Support Scotland following a review by the Scottish Executive Justice Department. Enabling the organisation to understand and meet the needs of victims through improvements to governance, organisational structure, processes and capability.
Scottish Higher Education
Facilitating top team meetings during periods of strategic challenge at a progressive Scottish higher education establishment. Helping Board members from different backgrounds to work together to formulate shared policy and priorities.
Contact Ros Southcott at Ros.Southcott@4-consulting.com
