Building a planning process that actually works with Social Work England
Social Work England needed to evolve its business planning process as the organisation matured, with a new 2026-29 strategy on the horizon. We worked with their board, executive leadership and teams across the organisation to redesign how they plan, prioritise and make decisions, creating a set of practical tools that connect strategic intent to day-to-day delivery. The result is a planning process where every part of the organisation has a defined role and knows what success looks like.
Introduction
We worked with Social Work England (SWE) to review and improve their annual business planning approach, creating an integrated framework that connects strategy to delivery and gives every part of the organisation a clear role in shaping priorities.
The challenge
Social Work England needed to evolve its business planning process as the organisation matured, particularly in preparation for implementing its new 2026-29 strategy. Support functions were operating outside the planning cycle, budget and workforce decisions were being made in parallel rather than together, and the board was being brought in too late to meaningfully shape direction. Perhaps most importantly, there was no shared understanding of where strategic priorities ended and business-as-usual began, making it hard for anyone to know what success looked like.
Approach
Over four months, our strategy team worked with staff across SWE from frontline teams to executive leadership, alongside board members and external partners including the Department for Education to co-create and design improvements to how the organisation plans, prioritises and makes decisions arSound business planning. Our approach combined stakeholder interviews and surveys with structured facilitation methods, including process mapping, stakeholder analysis and collaborative workshops to understand current realities and design practical enhancements.
We conducted 12 structured interviews with board members, executive leadership, senior managers and external stakeholders including the Department for Education. Three cross-functional workshops brought board members, senior leaders and managers from across the organisation to validate findings, establish shared understanding and design the new approach.
Results
The project delivered a redesigned three-phase business planning cycle, built around tools the organisation could immediately put to use. Process maps gave teams a clear picture of who does what and when. A new objective-setting template created consistency in how priorities are framed and measured. Updated governance terms of reference clarified board and executive roles at each stage of the cycle. And a stakeholder engagement framework ensured external voices, including regulators and delivery partners, could inform planning at the right moments. The impact of these tools meant Social Work England could have a business planning process where every part of the organisation has a defined role and can contribute meaningfully, and where strategic intent can be traced all the way through to day-to-day delivery.
The executive leadership team and board endorsed the new approach, and Social Work England is now implementing this set of business planning tools for the 2025-26 planning cycle. Social Work England now has a planning process that bridges the gap between their strategic ambitions and day-to-day work, with space built in to learn and adapt as they implement their 2026-29 strategy.
