Our staff

LCCOS could not succeed without our greatest assets – the dedication, skills and expertise of our staff. Our current strategy includes a focus on career development pathways.

Case studies

• Apprenticeship stories
• Development pathways

Apprenticeship stories

LCCOS has a number of staff undertaking apprenticeships as part of their professional development. Below, two of them tell their stories.

Abigail Cheung, Apprentice Library Assistant, UCL East Library

Although there have been multiple memorable achievements so far, I have narrowed them down to a couple to share here. During the LCCOS staff conference this year, I delivered a presentation to colleagues talking about my apprenticeship. I expanded my network and strengthened my public speaking skills through this opportunity. Another highlight was working with my line manager on the Green Impact award. I learnt about UCL’s commitments to sustainability and how we can make the library more sustainable. Our library received the Gold Award because of our efforts, and we hope to achieve this again next year.

I also collaborated with colleagues from the Cultural and Community Engagement team at UCL East for the H is for Hostile Environments exhibition. I curated a reading list that reflected the exhibition themes and covered various genres. I helped with the Support Services Fair at the start of the term. Through this experience, I improved my communication skills by introducing UCL libraries to new students. I also strengthened my teamwork skills by working with others to answer queries concisely and efficiently.

Josh Henning, Museum Visitor Services Manager

The 13-month course is designed as on-the-job learning to fit alongside my role and comprises weekly training modules of four-six hours in length completed on an interactive (online) portal, alongside longer periodic assignments. I particularly enjoy the reflective nature of each week’s end of module questions which not only help confirm understanding of the topic, but also force me to apply the learnings to my role. Similarly, by creating a personal development plan, I have been able to tailor my learning to fit with my needs and those of my reports, implementing new ideas / understanding as mini projects throughout the duration of the programme. This directly benefits my team and has improved my performance as an operational leader from day one.

I can absolutely recommend UCL’s apprenticeship programme to anyone who is searching for career development opportunities. Having the opportunity to implement the learnings on a practical level within my current role, to the benefit of our museum visitor operation, has been a game-changer for my career development.

Development pathways

LCCOS is building a set of career frameworks to support progression and published the first, for library customer service roles, in 2024. Training to enable growth and career planning is both responsive to staff-identified needs and designed to equip colleagues with the essential skills to succeed. This year saw the introduction of a new LCCOS mentoring programme while a second cohort participated in our innovative Aspiring Managers Programme.

Learners provided the following reflections:

“The Aspiring Managers Programme is a valuable and engaging experience. I have been encouraged to discuss my leadership values in depth, exploring how and why they vary from others’. I have used the AMP to reflect upon and evaluate my conduct as a leader, and ask how I can improve, for the benefit of our team and myself. It has been useful to identify practical areas for self-improvement in a supportive and non-judgemental environment, giving myself the opportunity for personal development. In applying what I have learnt to my current job role, it enables me to improve our team’s working environment. I am better able to encourage learning and growth within our team.”

(Natalie Telles, Wickford Stores)

“From the start, the Aspiring Managers Programme content was well structured and organised, paced appropriately over 10 months, using a hybrid approach and a variety of engaging teaching and learning methods. It was particularly advantageous to apply some of the knowledge into real-life practice, and a real strength is that that line managers were also onboard. For example, undertaking a 1:1 with a colleague, with a supportive manager observing and feeding back, as a critical friend, was extremely productive and helpful, in an area of uncharted territory for me.
The highlights for me were around the collaborative nature of the programme and working with a small group of talented colleagues from different areas of LCCOS on the programme. The careful selection of guest speakers, from experienced colleagues and external speakers, was hugely insightful, with the knowledge they were willing to share, from areas such as Human Resources and Finance, as just two examples.
On reflection, the programme has provided me with the confidence and foundations in many areas that I had previously lacked. I have learnt that I do need to push myself and get out of my comfort zone, but now have the tools, skills, and support within LCCOS and beyond, as I endeavour to consider my next step on my professional journey.”

(Craig Martin, Subject Liaison Librarian)

“I found the mentoring programme well structured, particularly the initial session at the start of the year. I’d already done a bit of reading on this so not everything that we were told was new to me, however I appreciated the time the trainer spent on explaining the different levels of listening as well as the fact that we were given the chance to practise what we learnt. I thought this was crucial, as although most of the concepts were easy enough to understand, putting them in practice was quite challenging.
Once I was paired with my mentee, I enjoyed the gradual process of discovering what kind of mentor I wanted to be. I found that my confidence grew as a result and as I felt more relaxed, I think I also did a better job. I’m looking forward to continuing to learn in the future.”

(Francesca Ezzelino, Subject Liaison Librarian)