DA MBA Senior Leaders - Jonathan Borrett
Senior Leadership’ degree apprentice helps Devon and Cornwall Police to implement trauma-informed practice.
Find out how Jonathan Borrett enhanced his career and his skills in project management, strategy, and innovation with a Degree Apprenticeship.
In his role as Strategic Safeguarding Improvement Hub Lead, Jonathan Borrett helps to direct DCP’s strategic response to a range of incredibly important issues. In 2022, he graduated from the MBA Senior Leadership programme, an advanced degree apprenticeship that gives leaders the opportunity to enhance their existing skills in project management, strategy and innovation.
How the course is helping Jonathan to deliver new projects
A leader who came to the course with years of experience under his belt, Jonathan excelled on the programme, receiving a distinction for his project report and presentation exploring how Trauma-Informed Practice can be embedded within the Force.
For the project, Jonathan combined his previous knowledge of the evidence-base for Trauma Informed Practice with tools and frameworks learnt on the programme, to articulate why a move towards a Trauma-Informed Practice is critical for policing in the 21st Century.
As a result, the Force recently commissioned a full Trauma-Informed organisational audit to be carried out by third-sector charity, the WAVE Trust. There are other projects in the pipeline too, including a piece of qualitative data analysis that aims to understand the ‘voice of the victim’ and improve police officers’ awareness of the serious challenges that traumatised victims face.
The benefits of studying the MBA Senior Leadership programme – strategy and innovation
Alongside this direct impact, the course provided Jonathan with a valuable toolkit for leading and strategizing effectively, and for implementing change. Learning about Robert Harris’ 4-box model for change, for example, allowed him to break down the process of change and, in turn, better implement and communicate the need for changes in his organisation. “In terms of managing change,” Jonathan said, “this model was profound for me – showing how to set out the imperative for change, giving reassurance around what will and won’t change, and being really clear around timeframes for implementation.”
Similarly, he found the course’s innovation module incredibly useful in developing frameworks for implementing change on a strategic level, as opposed to a reactive one. These insights have already made a positive impact on the Force, through the exploration and future introduction of an automated update system for the LEPH (Law Enforcement and Public Health) Link app. The progressive web based service, which allows police officers to contact the full spectrum of local support services when they need to, will be updated with an automated email system that goes out to each support service and asks them to update their service’s availability – an efficient process that frees up police time as a result.
“As a leader, especially during periods of change, your role is to hold some of the friction between current systems and new ways of working, so knowing how to communicate this with colleagues and recognise their different perspectives and challenges is crucial.”
