Comms professors ‘Inspire’ GCS staff on Postgrad programme

The Government Communication Service look to the University’s Professor Anne Gregory and Professor Paul Willis for the multi-stage postgraduate programme, named Inspire

AN innovative course that aims to ensure excellence in UK government communication is spearheaded by two professors at the University of Huddersfield.

Anne Gregory and Paul Willis teach on the Inspire programme, which is taken by some of the most ambitious and capable members of the Government Communication Service (GCS).  The pair have been involved in developing the programme since its inception, co-delivering the teaching on each module and for all four cohorts.

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Inspire includes a multi-stage academic programme that offers postgraduate certificates, diplomas and ultimately Master’s degrees to its participants, who go through a highly competitive process to gain a place on the course, described as a senior talent programme designed “to develop leadership excellence and build a strong talent pipeline for the profession”.  

A recent event held in London celebrated the latest cohort to be awarded qualifications under Inspire.  Since the programme began in 2014 there have been 66 certificates, eight diplomas and six MSc degrees in Strategic Communication Leadership – a University of Huddersfield programme specially devised for the GCS.

Anne Gregory is the University’s first Professor of Corporate Communication and has lengthy experience as a consultant for the UK Government.  She has worked with the GCS for 15 years, teaching various courses. 

When Alex Aiken became Executive Director of Government Communications in 2013, he decided to launch the fully-accredited, academically rigorous Inspire and enlisted Professors Gregory and Willis.  

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One distinctive feature of Inspire is that in addition to formal taught sessions, there are also masterclasses – mentored by Professors Gregory and Willis – at which the participants develop for themselves a range of topics that are published by the GCS as a handbook, which is then used by other members of the 4,000-strong service.

The GCS personnel who make it on to Inspire are already at the top of their game, said Professor Gregory, so it is not necessary to teach basic communication skills.  “But we teach topics such as the strategic role of communication in Government, their personal leadership style and how they can develop it, and also the neuroscience of working with people and different ways to get the best out of their team.  It’s mainly about leadership.

“These are civil servants, not spin doctors,” continued Professor Gregory.  “They are not political and serve whatever government in in power.  They inform us about Government policies and priorities, tell us what are responsibilities are, and provide public information on topics such as road safety and quit-smoking campaigns.  They communicate Government polices so we can hold the Government to account.”

Commenting on the success of Inspire, the GCS’s Alex Aiken says: “Having an academic rigour to our professional practice is essential to our credibility and to ensure the effectiveness of our work.”