Land registry and its achievements

Investing in our people

Future Leaders is all about ensuring that those with promise are fully equipped to take on leadership roles

N ews in brief

• The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) qualification was launched in April 2004 to enable Land Registry candidates to relate their work to other areas of the property industry.  

“Studying for the TechRICS qualification has given me the impetus to build on the knowledge and skills I already possess.”   Rob Bradbury, Nottingham East Office.

• An intranet-based Operations Gateway was set up in response to staff requests about how and why policy decisions are made.
• Land Registry leads the way among government departments for the provision of nursery spaces. The nursery at Coventry Land Registry was opened by Lord Falconer.

Developing tomorrow’s leaders today

“Our Future Leaders programme is one of the most exciting and challenging development initiatives to be launched at Land Registry. New people we have recruited at all levels have introduced fresh ideas and impetus. It is now time for us to be proactive in identifying staff with real potential. We need to be more innovative in developing these people in order to maintain and improve the knowledge and skills that our organisation needs to survive the challenges it is facing. Future Leaders is all about ensuring that those with promise are fully equipped to take on leadership roles.”   Manager Alan Hollingmode

Staff will work towards their career aspirations in a structured but flexible way through a balance of theory and practical experience and, in some cases, working with other organisations via secondments and attachments. There are two modules: a locally-delivered version, supporting leadership development over one year, and a central module over a three-year period for staff who show exceptional leadership potential. Participants have access to courses that offer cutting-edge business skills, including aspects of the Cabinet Office Top Management programme which is delivered in partnership with the National School of Government and Henley Management College.

“We should not bet the future of Land Registry on the hope that the right people from outside will come along as and when we need them. Our aim is to ensure that we can put up some first class internal candidates. Future Leaders represents a significant investment in ensuring that all staff have the opportunity to fulfil their potential.”  Peter Collis, Chief Land Register and Chief Executive

Investing in a balanced life

Is it possible to achieve the perfect work–life balance? To try and answer this question, Land Registry’s Lytham Office set up a special project team that started by looking for a definition of what this aspiration means in practice. The next step was to prove to the assessor for the Investors in People (IiP) standard that Lytham Office staff had taken the work–life balance culture fully to heart. As a result, Lytham Office was awarded IiP’s new work–life balance accreditation.

“Our flexible working hours were certainly a factor in this award, but so was the on-site gym, biennial health checks, visiting chiropodist, massage and much more. This is a formal recognition of Lytham’s practical, people-focused philosophy, which integrates a work–life balance for our staff with the needs of the business as a whole.”  Area Manager Keith Melia