All Members Transformation Update – Saturday 4th March
We held a virtual All Members Webinar on Saturday 4th March at 10.30am via Microsoft Teams to give a high level overview and a chance to ask questions. This session was recorded and can be found in the links at the bottom of this page, or on the Transformation Resources page.
Background
In 2018, the next vision for Scouting was launched, a 5-year plan which looked to prepare more young people with skills for life, supported by amazing leaders delivering an inspiring programme. Our Skills for Life strategy looked to grow Scouting, making it more inclusive, shaped by young people and having a bigger impact on our communities.
Whilst a considerable amount of early work was undertaken on the strategy, when COVID-19 hit the focus rightly moved to keeping Scouting going and supporting our young people throughout the pandemic. Over the last 12 months, some of the Programmes of Work have been reactivated and work is now underway to complete our Skills for Life Strategy by 2025.
We want to make volunteering with Scouts easier and more rewarding so that more young people can gain skills for life. To do this we’re making changes to how we welcome new volunteers, our roles and team structures, our learning and digital tools. The changes are coming because volunteers told us they need more volunteers. 1500 volunteers have been involved in shaping the new solutions, and a huge amount more on the testing hub.
HQ works volunteers closely with various volunteers across the movement on every step of the way in the updated strategy, to make sure that anything new works for the majority and genuinely make things better, easier and more fun. They are supported by HQ Staff to deliver the changes.
What is Transformation?
Transformation is the execution of our Skills for Life strategy. It’s broken down into four simple steps:
- Understand (We are currently here)
- Plan
- Deliver
- Keep Going
What are the main changes?
There are three key focus areas:
1 – A warmer welcome for everyone
We’re creating a warmer welcome for new volunteers, with flexible, personalised ways to get involved.
This means:
- A new digital tool to recruit volunteers and speed up the appointments process
- Replacing Appointments Advisory Interviews with Welcome Conversations
2 – Simplifying roles and structures
We’re simplifying volunteering, by changing roles and team structures.
This means:
- A new team-based approach to volunteering to reduce overlaps
- Revising role titles to make them more understandable externally
3 – More engaging learning
We’re making learning valuable, focused, convenient and easier for volunteers to work through.
This means:
- A new digital tool to complete and track your learning
- Revised core and optional learning
- Optional Woodbadge
All three of the above will be supported by new digital tools and the introduction of a new Membership System which will replace Compass. This will be easier to access and use on desktop and mobile devices, with everything in one place accessed through a single sign on from the scouts.org.uk homepage. The new Membership System will include functionality for new member joining/processing, membership records and learning.
What’s next?
We are still currently in the ‘Understand’ phase, so no action needs to be taken at the moment. Communications will come from HQ and County with plenty of notice as and when changes start to be implemented. Having an understanding of the three main changes above is beneficial.
We have appointed Stu Bennett as our County Transformation Lead. Stu was previously our County Youth Commissioner along with being a national volunteer for a number of years in different roles. He’ll be responsible for communicating and helping all our members in Northumberland successfully implement the transformation changes over the next few years.
You can contact Stu about any questions relating to the transformation work via email on [email protected]. There’s also a huge amount of information available on Scouts.org.uk
In a nutshell…
These changes will make volunteering easier and more fun, so that:
- We recruit more volunteers and retain current ones
- Volunteering at Scouts feels rewarding for everyone
- We consistently and safely deliver a better programme
- To ultimately make sure that more young people are gaining skills for life