With a remote and hybrid workforce, North East based educational charity NCFE is embracing different ways to build supportive and collaborative relationships amongst its colleagues, with a particular focus on human connection. We went along to one of its new Connection Days to discover more about this interesting initiative.
The first NCFE Connection Day took place in January and these face-to-face gatherings are now being piloted monthly at its head office in Newcastle.
This initiative marks an opportunity for colleagues to get together to collaborate, socialise and learn more about the different functions and projects across the business. What’s more, Teams meetings are limited throughout the day to ensure people can spend quality time with each other.
“We’re listening to our people and enabling a more connected and rejuvenated workforce,” explains Helen Ketteringham, Executive Director of People at NCFE.
“We are learning how to strike the right balance. Some colleagues enjoy being home-based and really benefit from it, while others prefer to work together in-person. We are taking a personcentric, agile approach by offering different opportunities and empowering leaders and their teams to experiment with what works best for them.
“The atmosphere on each Connection Day has been fantastic and they have been really well attended so far. Where there’s a desire from our people to come together, it’s our job as an employer to help facilitate that and measure the value. So far, the value is evident; we are re-energising colleagues, broadening learning opportunities and co-creating some new and innovative solutions for the future.”
NCFE’s Connection Days have been filled with talks, interactive sessions, and mini events to help people make the most of their time in the office. These have included brunch to help fuel the day and encourage networking, opportunities to meet with the Executive team over a coffee and cake, and drop-in sessions with the organisation’s mental health first aiders, coaches, and the careers and talent teams.
Colleagues have the choice over how they schedule their day and everyone is encouraged to organise and host events, with recent examples being a masterclass on a specific topic, a support group, a business area overview, and a project feedback session.
Across the first three Connection Days in 2023, more than 700 colleagues have attended and enjoyed the opportunity to get to know their teams and others across the organisation. Dawn Newman, CACHE Alumni Communities Manager at NCFE, loves the idea of prioritising people.
She said: “I like the designated day for feeling like the work is actually doing the connection bit. It feels genuinely useful in terms of finding information out that I didn’t know and making useful links with other teams and projects. I really enjoy them.”
The Connection Days were created as a result of NCFE listening to feedback from its colleagues across a variety of channels – a process that continues regularly to help inform new policy ideas and initiatives.
Helen Ketteringham added: “Over the past year, we’ve invited colleagues to complete regular engagement surveys to share their feedback and contribute ideas. We’ve used these insights to inform our priorities and have implemented a number of new people initiatives already as a result.
“Colleague responses have been invaluable and have helped us gain insight into their experience working at NCFE, and how we could make it even better. The Connection Days are a good example of this in action and we’re keen to build further momentum.
“In addition to this, we’ve recently introduced a Long Service initiative and the Executive team has been having one-to-one conversations with all colleagues who have been with us longer than five years – the ideas sparked from these conversations have been phenomenal.
“It’s so important to tap into the unique experience of this cohort of colleagues to find out what has made them stay at NCFE and how we can ensure they’ll be part of our future! It’s heart-warming to see how connected our people feel to our charitable purpose and each other. ”
The Connection Days look set to continue and there are already plans afoot to bring in new ideas, including the possibility of ‘remote connection’ sessions and looking at hosting Connection Days in different regions, to be as inclusive as possible to the organisation’s diverse colleague base.
By being receptive to new ways of working, actively listening to colleagues and responding to feedback, NCFE is a good example of a leading North East employer adapting to the evolving needs of the workforce, shaping change, and exploring innovative solutions for the future.