The MaPS People Story – The future we’ll build together
We should be proud of our people story so far
Our people are the reason for our success, and we should be proud of the progress we’ve made.
In a short time, we’ve grown threefold to over 850 colleagues. We’ve embraced hybrid working. We successfully transitioned from London to Bedford, while keeping all our people. We’re building links with the local community. And now we have welcomed colleagues from HGS, CAB and CAS into Guidance Services too.
These changes could have overwhelmed us. Instead, they are making us stronger.
Read more
We are now helping more customers than ever. And, as we’ve grown, we’ve recognised the need to deliberately build our capabilities, including leadership, to match our scale and ambition.
That’s why we’ve invested in the Line Managers Essentials Programme.
We also prioritise wellbeing because we know that when people feel at their best, they achieve fantastic things and our customers get the benefit too.
Our engagement levels are high and we’ve got a good reputation as an employer.
Above all, at MaPS we’re united by something bigger than ourselves – a shared purpose that drives everything we do. We have also created values – Caring, Connecting and Transforming – that really matter to us.
We take pride in the help we bring to those who need it most. And not every organisation can say that.
Working together, we’ve put great foundations in place with our people… and this is just the start.
There are three reasons why we need to take our focus on people to the next level
The first is to maximise our impact on society.
Financial uncertainty is increasing and customers need us more than ever. At the same time, expectations of us are rising. Given this, we must do the best we can with the funds we are given.
This means ensuring all colleagues are supported and held to high standards of performance. Today, that isn’t consistent. Performance discussions don’t always happen and underperformance is not always managed effectively. Going forwards, we need to be unashamedly proud of high standards and more explicit about accountability to support all colleagues to succeed.
Read more
The second is recognising that we are at a new stage as an organisation.
MaPS is much bigger now, we’ve an ambitious strategy and high-profile deliverables like dashboards, and we’re delivering guidance on a far larger scale. With all this comes greater challenges for leaders at all levels.
We’re having to support our teams through more change and ambiguity than ever before. Building inclusion, and trust in hybrid teams is also not easy, especially with so many new joiners, and not everyone yet feels fully connected.
This is why we need to develop new leadership skills to reflect our new maturity. There is work to do here. Leadership at MaPS is not yet consistent, and support for People Leaders hasn’t always been as clear or joined up as it needs to be.
The third is ensuring we have the right culture and capabilities for the future.
We’ve a good culture and growing capabilities, but with both we’re not yet where we need to be for our new era. Whether it’s building data and AI skills or becoming more agile, adult-to-adult and collaborative, we need to be clear on where we want to get to and purposeful about how to get there.
Given all this we are deliberately raising our ambition around people.
We know that narratives like this can sometimes feel familiar – and that some of you may be sceptical.
That’s fair.
This isn’t about introducing a new set of words or values.
It’s about changing how leadership is experienced day‑to‑day at MaPS, because what’s got us here won’t be enough for what comes next.
Our people ambition and how we will support the MaPS strategy
Our people ambition is to harness the talent of 850 colleagues to make the greatest possible impact on those who need us most.
All four parts of the MaPS strategy depend on our people being equipped, clear and energised for the challenge ahead. Whether it’s strengthening our insight capabilities or building a collaborative culture, we must get the people side right – because that’s what makes everything else possible.
That’s why we’ve chosen three people priorities to focus on between now and March 2028, working with you.
First up, Leadership Excellence. We want our people to have a consistently good experience of being led at MaPS. This means being clearer and more consistent about what good leadership looks like in practice and addressing issues earlier, rather than letting them build. It means moving away from relying on good intent alone, and towards shared standards that feel fair, transparent and supportive for everyone.
Read more
Second, Raising the Bar on Performance. MaPS is going to be more purposeful around performance development to support outstanding delivery and to manage underperformance more effectively. We’re going to give leaders the tools and confidence to do this. We’ll also define and build the future capabilities MaPS needs, while giving colleagues more clarity on the skills and career paths they can build to progress.
Third, A Culture Where Everyone Thrives. We’ll celebrate the best of MaPS while strengthening accountability, collaboration, inclusion, trust, and adult-to-adult ways of working.
What the People & Culture Team will be doing to support this
Our people priorities can only happen if they’re truly owned by you – our People Leaders. You know your people best and you make it real.
The People & Culture Team is here to back you – to give you the tools and confidence for everything people-related. Think of us as the scaffolding or enablers you can pull on.
That’s why we’ve created a People Leader Playbook. It’s practical and easy to use. It sets out what’s expected of you and the support on offer, so everyone is clear.
We’ve also now defined what great leadership looks like at MaPS with an inspiring Leadership Competency Framework that will be backed up with genuinely useful skill-building.
Read more
We’ll be giving leaders more support around performance development as we know that confidence is key. We’ll encourage leaders to practice and provide safe spaces to have braver conversations.
We’re upping our game on planning for the capabilities MaPS needs for the future. And, working with you, we’ll make sure every colleague can see how to build their skills.
The People & Culture team is focused, so we are disciplined about where we add the most value. We’ve listened to your feedback and we are committed to being more joined up, more consistent in our service and getting closer to your work. All so we can deliver pragmatic people solutions that help you achieve your business aims while mitigating any people-related risks.
What MaPS now needs from our People Leaders of all levels
With our new size and ambition the mindset we now need is every MaPS leader and manager seeing true leadership as core to their role.
We want all managers to have the space and motivation to lead. That’s how we’ll unlock our teams’ potential.
MaPS has three asks of People Leaders:
First, partner with the People & Culture Team. Turn our three people priorities into shared priorities and bring them to life.
Second, really grab the People Leader Playbook so we all understand our role and the support available from P&C.
Third, use the new Leadership Competency Framework and take all offers of upskilling around it. Digest it fully and get clear on strengths and development areas.
Read more
This means reflecting on tough questions: Like, How do we balance individual and organisational needs? Adapt our style to different individuals? Empower rather than parent? Have those brave conversations early?
Above all, let’s remember that relationships sit at the heart of great leadership. Let’s go all out to connect with our people to understand their unique strengths and motivations. And knowing each member of our team well, let’s then pull on the support and tools available to help us be the best leader we can be for them.
MaPS is serious about focusing our attention on leadership – and the P&C Team will back People Leaders with the tools and frameworks for them to do this.
Imagine the future we can build together and the impact of this on customers
If we all give this focus over the next two years, we aren’t promising perfection but we will feel a tangible difference.
For us as People Leaders… with two years of development using the Leadership Competency Framework, we’ll have invested in ourselves and built new leadership muscles. We’ll be truly leading – not just managing – and the standard of leadership will be consistently high across MaPS.
We’ll all better understand our strengths and blind spots, and how to flex our leadership style to support others.
Read more
Our relationships with our teams will have deepened. Conversations will be braver and more inspiring – supporting both performance and growth. As a result, we’ll feel more energised as our people take on greater ownership.
For our people… they will feel the benefit of more consistent leadership and supportive challenge. More individuals will deliver at a higher level, with greater confidence, and accountability. They’ll be better equipped to navigate change and take ownership of their development, with a clearer view of how to build their skills and grow their careers at MaPS.
Our teams… will feel more connected and inclusive, with stronger trust.
Our culture… will remain supportive, but will be strengthened by clearer accountability, more adult-to-adult ways of working, and deeper collaboration.
As a result, we’ll have delivered our strategy and be performing better than ever.
And through it all, we’ll make an even greater positive impact on the customers we serve.
What gets us out of bed in the morning.
We’ve asked a number of our colleagues to share with you what it’s like to work at MaPS and why the work we do is so important.
Hear what they have to say below:
“Every day is different and exciting…”
Shawna Bowles
“There’s tons of ways to help people…”
Nick Hill
“The journey has only just begun…”