A day in the life of a Manager… Olivia Page

I have worked for IMPOWER since February 2017 and over the past three years I have been involved in many different types of projects, both client facing and internal, and was promoted from Senior Consultant to Manager in 2019.

In the summer of 2018, I wrote a ‘day in the life of’ blogpost, designed to help potential recruits understand how we work with our clients at IMPOWER and what some of the typical project activities are. It also helped in answering the dreaded dinner party question… ‘so what exactly does a management consultant do?’

Since I wrote that blogpost, IMPOWER as a company has evolved and my colleagues and I have all played a role in developing the company. Together we have:

• Embedded EDGEWORK into everything we do and have developed our suite of Inventive Methods to help our clients manage complexity and deliver better outcomes for less; no matter the local environment, or subject matter. Our EDGEWORK philosophy and approach is captured in The EDGEWORK Manifesto that was published in October 2019 and is available to buy on Amazon.
• Shifted our focus to forming delivery partnerships with our clients and have developed some long-term significant relationships with local authorities across the country, where we are able to deliver maximum impact through working at the frontline, over a number of months and years, to shift behaviours and create sustainable change.
• Introduced a new internal performance management and appraisal framework for our staff. This was co-designed by staff of all grades and is focused on a clear set of competencies for each grade that align to our company values.
• Moved office – we are now based on Old Broad Street in the heart of the city of London and are enjoying great views from the 7th floor.
• Recruited lots of new staff (including a new Chief Executive!) – again this has been a whole team effort, as it is through referrals and involving different staff in interviews and case study exercises, that we are able to find a broad range of people with different skills and shared values to join our growing team.

In this time my role at IMPOWER has also developed. When I wrote the last blog, designed for potential candidates, I was a Senior Consultant and very much performed the front-line delivery role in the projects I worked on. Over the past year I worked towards promotion to Manager through taking more of a lead in project management activities, developing closer relationships with senior stakeholders and supporting my colleagues with their own development.

IMPOWER has a very supportive attitude towards professional development and there are always opportunities on projects to take on more responsibility or work on specific objectives. We also all have a personal training budget that we can use throughout the year on individual training or coaching or other creative ways.

In June I am going on maternity leave and look forward to seeing how IMPOWER has continued to evolve and deliver amazing impact in public services when I return to work next year.