One of the best parts of our job here at CSW is the chance to find out about the little-known teams and organisations doing fascinating things all across the civil service. Not only is there usually something to learn from these teams, but we love to showcase the fact that civil servants are much more than the pen pushing nay-sayers of popular culture.
The Civil Service Awards also celebrate the variety and impact of government work – as Siobhan Benita explains in our feature on the history of the Awards, winning entries have included everything from tracking fish to working in disaster zones.
This year, we are working with Cabinet Office and EY to share even more best practice and expertise from former award winners and shortlisted entries.
We’ve launched the Civil Service Awards Community, a space where you can find out about past winners, who’ll share their advice and experiences, and learn more about the Awards themselves, with blogs from category champions and articles exploring the different categories – what DCMS perm sec Sue Owen describes as the “building blocks of a brilliant civil service”. This is a place to learn the achievements that we celebrate through the Awards, and to be inspired by the many people and teams who have won over the years.
We’re already reflecting some of the breadth of the winners’ achievements, with articles on using data to fight cancer, improving ministerial correspondence, responding better to humanitarian crises, and keeping the public informed about Ebola. In the next few weeks we'll be featuring insight on measuring the legacy of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, government’s project delivery reforms, and inspirational leadership at Forestry Commission England.
We’ve already been in touch with many of the winners from past years but – as we all know – people move quickly around the civil service, and it hasn’t always been possible to keep track with our Awards Alumni, especially those in shortlisted teams. So if you won or were shortlisted for a Civil Service Award and you’d like to share your story, please do get in touch by emailing Tamsin Rutter and registering as an Awards Alumni here.
Nominate now for the Civil Service Awards.
The Civil Service Awards Community is a new section on Civil Service World that aims to celebrate past winners, inspire people to nominate in 2018, and help us all to learn from good practice. If you’ve ever won or been shortlisted for an award, register your interest to hear about future events and projects for awards alumni