Core skills

Cancer Research UK has an amazing purpose: bringing forward the day when all cancers are cured. It’s the largest charitable funder of research into the disease in the world.

To continue to innovate and hold on to its highly sought-after people, CRUK relaunched its engagement programme. In its wake, a leadership development programme was initiated, focusing on the vital management behaviours that can transform the performance of a team. The curriculum for new and experienced managers, known as core skills, was developed on the basis of:

• CRUK’s employee survey data for the past three years.
• Where the leadership team aims to take CRUK.
• The learning and development team’s experience of what managers require.
• The needs of millennials in the workplace.

In the first 12 months of the programme, more than 500 managers attended the espresso modules on offer, many voluntarily as a result of clever marketing by the learning and development team. The confidence of managers at every level seems to be growing in leaps and bounds. Two engagement items in particular have soared: ‘It’s safe for people to speak up’ and ‘My manager asks for feedback from their team’.

What people are saying

“Excellent session full of useful practical tips and steps that help in implementing. We all know the concepts and rationale, but having practical useful ‘check-ins’ will help make it happen in practice.”
Exec team member, London

“Really energising and inspiring. Loads of really useful tips that will help me solve my problem right now.”
Experienced manager, London

“Every session has been run spectacularly and all trainers have been superb! I have been able to use something from every module within my team and I think there are so many managers, across CRUK, who could benefit from these sessions.”
New manager, Oxford

“ALL IN have immersed themselves in our organisation in a way that means they understand the strategic and behavioural development needs of our leaders and managers. Their knowledge of current trends and methodologies that work are second to none, and they consistently receive positive reactions and impactful results. They flex their approach to suit our ever evolving needs and really care about helping to develop our people to enhance performance, to bring forward the day all cancers are cured.”

Louise Donnelly, Hartlepool
Learning and Development Business Partner
Cancer Research UK