The VSO strategy is based around 6 goals; Education, HIV/AIDs Disability, Health and Social Well-Being, Secure Livelihoods, and Participation and Governance. Each overseas programme office develops plans to support these goals locally through placing volunteers with partner organisations. There are 5 volunteer recruitment bases, dotted around the world and a range of different types of volunteer (long term, short term, youth, national etc). A large part of the programme offices' role was to source appropriate volunteers across the range of volunteer types and the recruitment bases. The recruitment bases needed to reorganise to align with the six goals, enabling recruitment teams to better understand the needs of the overseas programmes and for the programme offices to better understand the range of volunteers available to them through a single point of contact. The changes affected the overall structure of the recruitment teams, the nature of the jobs in the recruitment bases, and the relationships the recruitment teams had with volunteers, the overseas programme offices and their colleagues across recruitment bases. A VSO project team was established with additional change management expertise from J Hill Associates to support those involved.

• Recommended appropriate change management strategies by analysing responses to a staff questionnaire.
• Enhanced the effectiveness of the change management team by clarifying roles and establishing agreed terms of reference.
• Developed a communications strategy by assisting the communications team to develop plans and activities to keep recruitment staff and others appropriately informed and involved.
• Improved staff morale and participation by jointly developing a workshop for staff to understand the rationale for the change, the change curve and how it might affect them, and gaining their feedback and ideas on how best to support them.
• Increased confidence of managers by coaching them through the change. conversations they would have with individual staff members.
• Helped staff develop new working relationships through activities and workshops.
• Helped managers to identify the required culture changes through a workshop.
• Increased manager's capability by exposure to well-established change management models and helping them put these models in the VSO context.
• Worked with managers and HR to ensure processes were in line with overall VSO policies and practices.
• Led research into managing complex organisational structures (matrix management) resulting in a set of recommendations for VSO.
• Contributed to longer-term HR support planning by providing observations on areas for ongoing development.
• Provided a positive, energetic role model for managers and staff.
  

• A structured approach to managing the change with appropriate contributions from staff and managers.
• Improved morale as staff better understood the reactions to the changes they were going through and that these were perfectly natural.
• New change management and communication skills and models transferred to VSO staff.
• Staff equipped to develop new working relationships quickly and effectively.
• Flexible approach; providing input when required over a five month period.
• Access to commercial organisations and their experiences e.g. meeting with Reuters.

"I felt like I was talking to someone who really understood the whole area of change management."

"Jacqueline always brings huge energy and enthusiasm to meetings. She has a helpful style which facilitates others coming up with ideas but at the same time has been willing to input ideas if people have wanted this e.g. teasing out key messages to communicate after management meetings."

"Jacqueline has more than knowledge and tools, she is a keen listener, is extremely patient and understanding and very empathetic. Jacqueline has been asked to do things at the last minute, some 'doing' rather than coaching tasks, and she has done these with great professionalism."