Setting a robust future for The Child Outcomes Research Consortium

The Child Outcomes Research Consortium (CORC) is a charitable organisation that collects and uses evidence to improve children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. CORC holds data relating to mental health and wellbeing outcomes of more than 400,000 children and young people in the UK, representing the largest data set of this kind worldwide. CORC’s vision is for all children and young people’s wellbeing support to be informed by real-world evidence so that every child thrives.

Why Pilotlight?

CORC came to Pilotlight because the organisation wanted to make a step-change in its development, in particular with considering how to make the charity more business-like. There was a need to increase the clarity of the organisation’s ambition as well as to structure the complex relationship that CORC has with its many stakeholders.

What we did

From the outset, the CORC team displayed incredible openness and self-awareness and were happy to be challenged by the Pilotlighters, who were able to quickly understand the limitations of the organisation, despite the complicated work they are involved in.

It soon became obvious to the Pilotlighter team that to increase clarity they needed to tackle some big strategic questions involving the who/what/when/why/how of the organisation. The CORC team were very open to change, so these conversations were carried out with refreshing honesty.

The team discussed the multiple, matrix stakeholders who are involved in CORC, and looked at prioritising their wants and needs effectively. The Pilotlight team ran an away day with the CORC management team and CORC's Board in order to, firstly, get their full support on the refreshed strategy and, secondly, to discuss whether the governance set-up for the organisation was best placed to deliver on this strategy.

Finally the team tackled the subject of succession-planning with CORC and helped instigate steps to minimise 'key man risk' in case of any HR changes in the future.

The Results

The process of stepping out of your role and having a mature conversation with the Pilotlighters was really beneficial for the organisational culture. It’s so valuable to have this space.

Kate Dalzell,
Director, The Child Outcomes Research Consortium (CORC)

Thanks to their engagement with Pilotlight, CORC now has a more robust future-looking strategy, with a clear prioritised plan for activities with key stakeholders. The Chair (who was heavily involved in the project) is taking steps towards a more diverse make-up of trustees who represent the needs of the organisation.

This project was particularly interesting given that the Director moved on to a new role in the months following the end of the engagement, meaning that the succession-planning that had been discussed with the management team and Board was able to be actioned. This ensured the smooth promotion of the new Director, so the organisation could continue to meet its charitable objectives without interruption.

All Pilotlighters were inspired by the energy and passion that CORC brought to the meetings, and to see the progress the team has made. The team loved getting an insight into the area and the complexity of the environment that CORC works in.