On 22nd May we held our first Staff Conference at our head office in Cheadle, the theme for which was ‘Celebrating Success’. This was then followed by our annual team building event, our own take on a school’s Sports Day, involving various activities.
The aim of the Staff Conference was to get everyone involved in how we can continue to build on our organisational success.
The Staff Conference started off with Shepherds Friendly’s Chairman, Joanne Hindle and Chief Executive, Ann-Marie, welcoming everyone and providing a business update on the great performance of the Society so far in 2019.
An external speaker, Olive Strachan MBE, who was invited to our conference facilitated the morning part of the programme. Her interactive session explored how we can enhance our collaborative relationships, celebrate our achievements and work towards our goals and left us all feeling highly motivated.
All of us then took part in a Dragons Den type activity. We were divided into teams and discussed ideas on how we can build on our current success.
The highlight of the day was the opportunity for staff to put forward ideas on how we can improve our products and services to members. We have had lots of great ideas, many of which we hope to implement in the near future.
In the afternoon we took part in our own version of a school’s Sports Day. This involved various team building activities testing our cognitive skills, speed, teamwork and abilities to think outside the box, where everyone’s competitive spirit clearly came out.
Nasrin Hossain, chief culture officer, said:
“We’re delighted that our first ever Staff Conference event was successful. It was great to see staff participate and really get involved throughout the day, generating a lot of great ideas, including ones to benefit our member. Shepherds Friendly will look at implementing as many of these as possible in the foreseeable future.”
Liam Cross, digital marketing executive, commented:
“The staff conference event was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. It was great to have people from all the different roles within the Society working together. Some great ideas were discussed and the team building activities were engaging and very inspiring. The day was highly enjoyable and we all had great fun.”
