Our learning and development partner on helping our people reach their goals
24 Aug 23
HRInzpireBlogCareersInzpire Culture
To help our employees thrive in their career, we actively encourage and fund professional development and aim to provide varied and rewarding work opportunities for individuals to grow into.
Our learning and development business partner, Vicky Tinsley, is a pivotal part of this process – helping our team members fulfil their aspirations and potential.
1. What was your journey to your current role at Inzpire?
I worked in sales before moving into learning and development, and I have now specialised in this field for 20 years. Much of this time has been spent in the financial services and insurance industry, with companies like Aviva and Legal & General. I’ve had varied roles: from being a research and development consultant, designing learning material with both internal and external stakeholders for sales teams; to leading a team of L&D professionals based around the country as their training manager. The role of learning and development business partner at Inzpire offered me a great opportunity to move into a new industry and develop further. I’ve had to understand my new audience and some of the nuances of the defence industry, such as the terminology and nicknames – I always thought financial services was full of acronyms but they have nothing on the military!
2. What does your role involve?
Basically, all things to do with internal learning at Inzpire, from facilitating requests for professional qualifications and courses, to having career development conversations, and supporting individuals in identifying and undertaking relevant opportunities.
Most recently, I’ve been working on leadership development and competencies for the business and getting input from the leadership team so this can be progressed. I’ve also been working with quite a few individuals across the business to enable them to enhance their skills through an apprenticeship. Through this, they not only gain a recognised qualification but can evidence their learning in their day-to-day roles while being supported by their line manager and a coach.
I work with our parent company, QinetiQ, to understand how else we can move forward and diversify. Recently the focus has been around opportunities for Inzpire to have graduates on placements and the introduction of LinkedIn Learning which we will be launching imminently across the business.
Mandatory learning is also part of my role, working on the virtual learning environment, getting it ready to launch, and ensuring we can report and track progress.
3. What is the most rewarding part of the job?
For me, the best part of this role is being able to successfully support someone throughout their learning and development journey. Often this happens by chatting to individuals about their aspirations and needs and helping to put a plan together to bring these to fruition. It might even be that an individual is struggling with a work relationship, and I can coach them on how they could adapt their approach to be more effective. It is rewarding to hear how things have gone afterwards and to see an individual progress is a great feeling.
Vicky is an accredited Insights practioner and has introduced the methodology to the business
4. Can you tell us about your experience in Insights Discovery?
I’m an accredited Insights practitioner and I’ve worked with them for a number of years. Insights Discovery is a methodology, based on the work of psychologist Carl Jung, designed to support individuals and teams in understanding themselves, understanding others and to make the most of relationships that affect them in the workplace. It uses a simple colour model, known as colour energies, which is easy to get to grips with, and helps you to understand your own personal style, strength, and the value you bring to an organisation. Everyone gets a personal profile and often they are surprised at how accurate they are!
I have personally benefited from the methodology; it has helped me in the way I work and interact with others, and how I think about certain situations. Since joining Inzpire I’ve introduced Insights Discovery to the business and so far, just over 140 members of the team have been on an Insights session and received their personal profile. As we continue to roll this out, I have started to work with a few teams to take Insights a little further to explore team effectiveness and to understand how, as a team, they work and sometimes conflict, and the areas to focus on to improve collaboration.
5. How do you manage your time?
Most weeks I work from home three or four days, but sometimes I’m in the office more, depending on what I have on. I really love the mix as I enjoy time on my own at home to reflect, plan and work quietly on things (my only company during the day is my dog George who sleeps in my home office!). I also need to have time with others and being in the office keeps me sane and enables me to share thoughts and get perspective and sometimes have my ideas reigned in a little! The other big benefit of being in the office is that Evie - our learning and development administrator - and I get to spend some time together looking at what is going on and planning for the future.
George resumes his usual position when Vicky works from home
6. What do you value most about Inzpire’s culture?
Inzpire, for me, is a business that is growing (not just in numbers but in maturity) and I love the fact that we have maintained a focus on our people and still really care about everyone. I’m also looking forward to what happens next for Inzpire as we continue to grow, and the opportunities and challenges this will bring.
Find out more about life at Inzpire.
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Philip is recognised for five years of continuous service in the RAF Intelligence Reserves
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