Case Study

When Partnership Manager, Katie Guest, set out to enhance her professional development through the Ingeus Continuous Improvement Academy, she certainly stepped up. Originally aiming to achieve her Yellow Belt in Lean Six Sigma – a process improvement methodology – Katie soon decided to raise the bar and attempt the more advanced Green Belt qualification.  

 

Undertaking an operationally led project as part of her studies, she partnered with fellow learner and aspiring yellow belt colleague… another Katie! 

  

The formidable duo both work for the Ingeus justice team, delivering Commissioned Rehabilitative Services to people leaving the criminal justice system in Yorkshire and Humber. Katie’s wide-ranging remit sees her develop and coordinate a network of stakeholders and support services across the local region. 

 

During her four years at Ingeus she’s seized opportunities to manage teams and projects and enjoys nothing more than seeing the positive end results of her often very changeable work. When a forthcoming contract change called for a revised engagement measure with service users on Ingeus’ justice programmes, Katie’s project was formed. 

 

“Knowing what elements of my role I’ve enjoyed most in the past, my manager encouraged me to take on the more strategic components of a Green Belt,” says Katie, who has also completed an ILM Level 5 Leadership qualification during her time at Ingeus. “You really have to drill down into defining an issue, gain buy-in for change from all stakeholders, analyse and measure – which is where Katie and I worked so well together.  

 

“It’s easy to assume you know where glitches lie and how to solve them, but this approach takes away the assumptions. It’s given me valuable tools I can use in other situations going forward and the fact that our project is making a tangible improvement in engagement rates already makes it so worthwhile.” 

 

Katie – and Katie – will now graduate from the Continuous Improvement Academy and join a growing team of qualified change agents working across Ingeus. Her manager, Sarah Rycraft says: “I have been so impressed with Katie’s growth and development – this is another strength she has added to her skill set. Both Katies complement each other well as a team, and I have no doubt they will continue to drive improvement and efficiency at Ingeus.” 

 

Katie concludes: “I’ve learned so much here, certainly lots from the people within my team. I’ve been helped to develop in my role, so I’m better equipped to handle management situations and I’m able to focus on the areas that give me the greatest satisfaction.” 
 
“Ingeus invests in their staff, they’ll look at where you want to get to. If you give, they give back.”