Community, development, and growth: Celebrating one year of the GCS Locations Strategy
To communicate effectively with our audiences, we need people from different backgrounds and communities working in the Government Communication Service (GCS). Different perspectives and ways of thinking lead to better, more creative, and innovative communications. That’s why we created our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan, published 18 months ago.
The theme of this year’s Civil Service One Big Thing is innovation – ‘one small change makes a big difference’. What we’ve seen over the last year is how our EDI Action Plan is a brilliant example of the One Big Thing ethos in action. The many ‘small changes’ that have been made, and the dedication of our members, as well as those working in the central GCS team, has kick-started a big shift towards a more diverse and inclusive culture in the GCS.
Our members, who are dispersed across the UK, told us that they needed to feel more connected and have more opportunities to develop their careers.
In the Locations Strategy, we therefore set out to establish three GCS Locations – Leeds, Manchester, and Scotland (Edinburgh and Glasgow). With a huge thanks to members based in these locations and beyond, there are now nine active and vibrant GCS communities across the regions and nations – soon to be ten with Newcastle joining in December 2024. They have brought together over 700 communication professionals to 36 in-person and virtual events, where they have connected minds, discussed the priorities of the profession and bridged geographical and departmental gaps.
The impact of this collective effort is clear. An impressive 69% of members from these locations said they felt more like they belonged to a community, and coming together across organisational boundaries had opened new avenues for collaboration and innovation, and brought teams closer to the communities they serve.
Outreach efforts have been equally impactful. By creating partnerships with local universities that have a high percentage of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, we’re not just talking about inclusivity – we’re actively building it. Through the dedication of our local members, we’ve reached over 100 students in Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow, with 80% expressing motivation to join the GCS, and 70% of workshop participants saying they had increased their confidence and communication skills.
This is more than just recruitment; it’s about nurturing the next generation of communicators who will bring fresh perspectives and local insights to our profession and the national stage.
Perhaps one of the most encouraging signs of our strategy’s success is the year-on-year growth in roles in almost all regions, including a remarkable 24% increase in regional senior civil service roles. GCS Advance has also expanded its offer to deliver face-to-face learning across several locations, such as Edinburgh and Leeds, supporting career pathways and development for government communicators based more widely across the UK.
This is just the beginning, and we are incredibly grateful to all the GCS members who have supported the Locations Strategy so far, by helping us build these GCS communities and drive them forward, over the past year.
If you’re a GCS member and you would like to get involved, simply add your location to your GCS Connect profile and find out more about the GCS communities on our website.
A huge thank you in particular to: Niamh McKenna, Michael O’Donnel, Claire Cyprien, Emily Vickers, Harry Booty, David Henry, Rachel Atherton, Lucy Denton, Seona McGrath, Michaelle Chan, Linda Kingston, Rosie Needham Jones, Hayley Holloran and Amy Wardlaw.