The lowdown from those in the know

POD is working hard to address various challenges. We’ve achieved a lot but the improvements never stop – mainly because we’re ambitious and committed to making Cancer Research UK the best it can be. These are the issues we’re committed to tackling at the moment:

  • Misconceptions. People often don’t realise how big we are, how diverse we are and how complex the organisation is. We are constantly looking for ways to show people that a charity like Cancer Research UK is not a soft option compared to the corporate sector. 
  • Informing people about our stakeholders. They’re a wide variety of people who range from volunteers to Nobel Prize winners.
  • Maintaining the culture we want: friendly, supportive and respectful. It’s about achieving a balance between the need for flexibility and understanding, and the need to deliver results.
  • Managing change. We need to be agile enough as an organisation to accept and implement changes that will help us work more effectively. 
  • People expect rapid results from POD. But they also want high level operational support. Supplying both at the same time is an ongoing challenge.
  • Getting buy-in. We’re proud to be an inclusive and collaborative department. But getting agreement on different issues isn’t always easy.
  • Internal perceptions. Some parts of the organisation have traditionally thought of POD as the old-fashioned personnel department. But we’re far more than that. Perceptions are changing – but slowly.
  • Developing people. Helping employees to progress in POD is always important to us.

We’re proud to be part of a professional and ambitious organisation, creating achievements that affect society. POD are very active in changing policy and continue to support the rest of the organisation in carrying out world class research. It’s an exciting time for Cancer Research UK and we want to do everything we can to contribute to the success of the charity.