My name is James and I am a second year Business Management student at Cardiff University.

My internship has taken place in the Workforce Strategy and Planning team, and I am working on the Workforce Planning Network (WFPN).

I'm originally from Cheltenham and moved to Cardiff to study business management at Cardiff University where I've just finished my second year.

I wanted to do an internship placement over the summer to help boost my networking and give me experience on what it's like to work within an office environment and put the knowledge I've learned at university into practice. I chose HEIW because of its culture.Also, I wanted to work in the healthcare sector, such as the NHS, as it is a very diverse workforce. This internship has opened me up to new perspectives on what goes on behind the front line.

Project summary

For my project, I've been looking at the workforce Planning network. This is a network of individuals across the health boards where we can actively engage and talk about workforce planning needs and challenges. It’s also a place to develop training materials and organise workshops to be able to spread knowledge and awareness to help better plan for the future.

What is workforce planning?

Workforce planning is looking at the future supply and demand of labour within the workforce in the NHS. It's about having the right people in the right place at the right time to meet patient needs and to be able to maintain high quality patient care.

It is also important to look at current user events and keep up to date with any workforce trends that may be of relevance. For example, recently many people across the country are struggling to find an NHS dental practice which will take them on.

What have I been involved with that HEIW?

Over the eight weeks I've been working on the workforce planning network to be able to expand and increase engagement. This first started by helping to organise and plan our first in-person workshop since Covid-19. I got in touch with the guest speaker to make sure everything was set up and would run smoothly on the day. I was also able to practice my presentation and speaking skills by preparing some introductory points for the guest speaker.

I was heavily involved in making an engagement survey for the workforce planning network. This survey will look at what people expect from us at HEIW, as well as things they like and things that could be improved to gain more value from the network.

Furthermore, I started creating a presenter's plan. This will cover key guest speakers as well as planning key themes for future events. The plan looks at aims and objectives of the workforce planning network, along with promotional and other organisational factors for each of the meetings.

I have also been involved in doing some logo design work for the workforce planning network which they can use on training materials and resources going forward.

What I’ve learnt

Looking back at my time at HEIW, I've learned a lot from a personal development point of view. I've been able to practice and develop my presentation skills, which has been something I've not been keen on in the past and I don't feel super confident doing. So there's been a great learning opportunity for me to be able to improve on this.

I've also been able to develop practical skills such as using Microsoft Excel in more depth. This will help me in the future by being able to efficiently input, analyse and look at data over large spreadsheets.

HEIW has given me experience, but also offered an environment to put into practice my teachings and understandings from my business management degree. This internship has helped show me how events and workshops are organised as well as how to work in a team to achieve a common goal.

Overall, I've really enjoyed my time at HEIW. I’ve met some great people who have helped me along the way and have been really accommodating and welcoming over my eight weeks. It's been a pleasure working with them.

James has now joined HEIW for a 12 month internship which started in autumn 2022.