Hanging up my lanyard. What I’ve learned from six years at StandOut.

We recently sat down with Alex Rose, our Head of Programmes. Alex joined StandOut in its infancy, and has been instrumental in developing the organisation into what it is today. During our conversation, he reflected on what he has learnt over the last six years, and what he will take with him to his new role at The Hardman Trust.

Alex, how have things changed at StandOut over the six years you’ve worked here?

When I first joined StandOut, there were just three of us - me, and co-founders Penny Parker and Jo Fellows. There was no office - we met around Penny’s kitchen table or at the Toast Rack opposite HMP Wandsworth - and we worked from a huge Excel spreadsheet. 

Six years later, we have a growing team (16, with another 4 joining in the coming months), an office in Vauxhall, and a thriving community of supporters and volunteers who champion our work. In the last 18-months, we’ve really developed our back office function. As a small charity, working in a prison is one thing. But working at multiple sites is another thing entirely, and you need a different type of infrastructure. StandOut can now say “this is what our model looks like” - and that brings confidence, credibility and rigour to our programmes team, and the people we work with.

You must have learnt a lot during your time at StandOut. What’s your key takeaway?

It has to be the power of coaching; its ability to help people, teams and organisations navigate major transitions. It’s a skill I know I’ll continue to use and develop for the rest of my life.

My time here has been all about learning, though. Organisationally, we really deliver on our commitment to investing in our team members. The level of professional development I’ve been able to access has been phenomenal. I’ve completed Coaching for Leadership with Resurgo, and I’m accredited as an Associate Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation. But I’ve also benefited from the hours and hours I observed Penny and Jo coaching in the early days - all part of our heavy shadowing and feedback culture. By investing in our team in this way, we make sure that the support we offer is “first class”. It’s all done with our participants in mind.

Speaking of “first class”, can you share some good practice?

Saying “please,” “thank you” and “hi” in the mornings to whoever you meet in prison goes a long way. Manners are important, as is every single person you meet. You never know what might have just happened to them.

In the classroom and on the landings, what has been your favourite coaching device?

The top spot goes to The Cycle of Development, closely followed by Transactional Analysis and the three sources of conflict. The Cycle of Development is a thread that runs all the way through our programme, and is designed to help us to understand how we develop new skills. We move from attitude, to knowledge, to coached feedback, and then to skill. Each time we complete the cycle, we expand our comfort zone and become more confident using a broader range of skills. I love the model, and I use it in my own life all the time.

The Cycle of Development

The Cycle of Development comes from our colleagues at Resurgo. How do you go about using a tool designed to be used in the community, in a prison?

One way you make learning “sticky” is repetition, and the other is contextualisation - in real time. This means drawing on what we find in our environment, which, in our case, is usually prison. When talking about different personalities, we might use relationships with prison officers as an example. And when talking about managing conflict, we sometimes use the scenario of talking to a family member who doesn't appreciate the difficulties of readjusting to life in the community, after spending time in prison. We’ve spent a great deal of time contextualising our curriculum, but it helps if you can think creatively on your feet!

Over the last six years, how has the criminal justice system changed for the better?

StandOut has always taken a nuanced approach to supporting prison leavers with employment; recognising that finding a job is just one of many things that might help someone find stability. In the past, getting people to see things in the same way could feel a little bit like trying to push a boulder uphill. With the recent introduction of Prison Employment Leads and the New Futures Network, employment is being taken a lot more seriously by HMPPS. This is excellent news overall, and more aligned with our way of working - not acting as recruiters, but supporting people to get what they need in life, through work.

And how has it changed for the worse? 

Prison regimes and the availability of courses, activities and educational opportunities are far worse than they were when I started at StandOut six years ago.

We need to see an improvement in staffing levels across the board, a prison population that is stable rather than rising, and more meaningful activities for people to engage with while serving their sentences. Plus, better access to mental health support while in custody, and on release.

How can StandOut play its part in this wider context?

We need to be generous with our time, expertise and learning - and make ourselves available for conversations about the challenges and opportunities in the criminal justice system. We also need to stay consistent in delivering first class work - that’s our North Star. We lose our quality, we lose ourselves. As long as we stay true to the person in front of us, through osmosis people will hear about our work and we will be invited into the conversations and consultations being held in the wider context. We don’t necessarily need to be knocking on doors; if we keep doing what we’re doing and remain focused on the person in front of us, people will be knocking on ours.

What has been StandOut’s legacy in the time you have been here?

Our approach to engagement. Whether the person we’re supporting is preparing for release or thriving in the community, we are always in touch. This is in part due to another of our legacies - and something I’m taking with me to The Hardman Trust - our healthy suspicion of easy solutions to complex problems. If the only challenge for someone leaving prison were getting a job, then we wouldn’t stay in contact once they’d found work. But we know that finding employment is just one piece of the puzzle. Keeping our support open ended is a big deal for us, and not something you come across very often in the criminal justice system. We see that complexity and know that we’re not best placed to solve every problem. We need others too, so we’re connected.

We’ve also influenced the way prisons and other organisations work with people receiving employment support. We can’t say that we have a monopoly on introducing things like mock interviews and employer visits, but in the prisons we work in we’ve definitely seen the adoption of the formats we use.

What would you like to see StandOut do next?

Double down on spending more time with the participants we support. In the advent of technology, AI and reduced funding; genuine, in-person, human-to-human interactions are shrinking. Personal change almost always comes through a relationship with an individual, not a relationship with a service.

What would you say to someone thinking of applying to be a StandOut Coach?

If you’re looking for space to deliver your best work in the criminal justice system, StandOut will give you the opportunity to do exactly that.

Finally, do you have a message you’d like to share with StandOut participants?

Thank you for believing us when we said that we are here to help, because it takes courage to trust a person or an organisation - especially in prison.

You can connect with Alex via LinkedIn.