THE ART OF ENGAGEMENT

Earlier this week it was my privilege to collect The Hanleys award from Britains Best Companies , an accreditation for our overall comitment to staff engagement in our business. This is our 2nd consecutive year of being given a First Class rating and we are very proud to be amongst this elite.
However the customary photo-opportunity was not set up in the usual venue of a London hotel but was instead held at a special day of experiencing The Art of Engagement at a purpose-built centre in Milton Keynes where myself and 3 colleagues were able to participate in a series of development exercises on the 8 factors of workplace engagement; Leadership, Fair Deal, My Manager, My Company, My Team, Wellbeing, Persoanl Growth, and Giving Something Back. The huge warehouse space was split into zones and each had a focus on the very best practices associated with these key topics.
It was a refreshing start to the working week, and a slightly surreal experience. More crucially for me , the chance to be around other business people from different sectors of the economy is always an opportunity to re-establish my perspective on how The Hanley is doing.Too often we get a bit insular and compare ourselves to other building societies or other financial services firms. We should work hard to bear comparison with great customer-service providers in other markets, as that is how we really want to be judged.
The Art of Engagement declares that " Success is determined by the strength of relationships within your organisation. Quality conversations create quality relationships,and great relationships drive effective organisations that deliver results". Sounds very compelling to me.