Vickie Birnie – Training Lead

1 min 7 August 2023
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They say that how you spend your days is ultimately how you spend your life, so it has always been important to me to do work that aligns with some of my core values – ‘keep learning’, ‘be human’ and ‘be of service.’

I’ve always been interested in learning and helping others to learn better. I trained as a secondary school teacher and trust me, trying to motivate 11–16-year-olds to learn French was a great learning experience and helped me develop my values (and a sense of humour!).  

I became a Head of Department and was spending more time on paperwork than making a difference, so I joined a Council and transitioned to adult learning and development. Fast forward 16 years and I was Deputy Head of Learning and Organisation Development in the largest public sector partnership in the UK. Then I got the learning itch again – I figured I was too comfortable, and if I didn’t change role, I would be seeing out retirement in the same organisation.   

I had worked in the public sector my whole career and I was apprehensive about working for a private company – how could their values align to mine? A friend knew someone who worked at FSP, and this trusted recommendation helped me make the leap. Within a week I knew I had made the right decision – what makes FSP so special are the people. One of FSP’s values is Human, and you can see this in the attitude and behaviours of everyone who works here, and this has remained consistent as we have doubled in size in the two years since I joined. From my professional background I know how difficult and rare it is to actually embed a culture that lives up to its stated values, and FSP does this.  

My work so far has definitely helped me learn about transformation from a digital perspective, and my most satisfying work has been where I can use my knowledge and experience to be of service to clients who are leading transformation efforts. Through advising, training and coaching, I have been able to improve people’s working lives, which is an amazing privilege.  

I am excited about the potential for learning and development to grow as a capability for FSP and our clients – the future is ours to shape, and I can’t think of a better team of people to make it happen.