Senior Manager
IMPOWER Consulting
I was lucky enough to start working in the public sector at 18. Working in Children’s Services at a London Council for 5 years (before and during university), it become clear to me that a career centred on improving people’s lives was all I wanted to do. My Human Sciences undergraduate degree helped me understand how and why people behave the way they do, and why a behavioural science approach that harnesses relationships is key to enabling sustainable change. My public sector experience and my degree led me to joining the world of public sector consulting in 2019.
Since then, I have been privileged to work with hundreds of amazing colleagues and clients that have supported me to develop from a Junior Consultant to Senior Managing Consultant. As a Senior Manager at IMPOWER, I achieve my goal of improving lives every day – working with health and social care organisations to improve outcomes for people whilst reducing costs.
I spend most of my time working in hospitals. I work with and managing wonderful IMPOWER project teams to support NHS hospitals implement models of care that enable more patients to be discharged from hospital at the right time with the right care and support to live longer, more independent lives at home. I work directly with frontline and senior leadership teams from various partner organisations to identify the problem we are trying to solve, co-design solutions, test and learn from pilots before scaling up to deliver sustainable change and increase organisational resilience.
I am currently working with a hospital in the Southeast of England, based there four days a week. I can be:
• working on hospital wards with frontline teams to trial new ways of discharge planning, focused on strengths-based, home-first principles;
• facilitating system workshops to align ambitions and principles of what good hospital discharge looks like and what each partners’ role in that is; or
• collating and analysing data that shows the impact new interventions are having, shouting them from the rooftops so that staff can see the amazing impact they are having on patients’ lives and their organisations’ financial and non-financial pressures.
I am lucky enough to form relationships with staff across the hospital – from therapists to doctors, nurses, directors, and Board members – all playing a key role in designing, delivering, and maintaining improvements for the betterment of their patients.
I also get to manage and work with a range of talented IMPOWER consultants who have consulting and public sector experience. Part of my role involves harnessing our collective strengths to deliver the maximum impact and value we can for our client, overcoming whatever challenges may come our way.
Managing the variety of activities and relationships can be tricky, notwithstanding working in hospitals faced with industrial action by staff who are understandably sceptical that things can improve. As management consultants though, we have the luxury of being able to take a step back to assess the ‘big picture’ and work with clients to identify and implement changes that deliver real improvements. The challenges I face, are overpowered by the excitement and motivation I feel at the prospect, and realisation, of delivering better outcomes for people.
If you are considering a role in consulting, ask yourself if you:
1. Enjoy working with a range of people and organisations?
2. Crave tackling problems that don’t have simple solutions?
3. Thrive off building relationships and helping organisations improve?
If the answer to those is yes, consulting may be the career for you!