The MoJ have been doing great things with their people for some time – in fact, this isn’t the first ‘Great companies’ blog we’ve featured them in. But we couldn’t just ignore the latest programme of events, which they facilitated to engage their people. We catch up with Karen Notaro and Ruth Patel from the People Experience and Insight team to find out more…
So, Karen, Ruth, we’ve been hearing a lot about your ‘summer programme’ (which is still going!), can you tell our followers what it is, and how it came about?
R: Before the pandemic, we’d developed our latest Employee Engagement network strategy (our champions), and a key part of this was to look at building capability. So, we began by asking our champions what they thought they wanted and what they thought they needed, as well as how they use their skills now, how they get their info, where they get it from and their preferred ways of learning.
It was a really useful exercise as we heard lots of feedback to inform our plans. For example:
- People like to learn from people – not too much reading, course work or formal training. They like learning from us, their peers.
- They had limited time to go on courses.
- There were a few things they’d highlighted they wanted to learn more about, such as the fundamentals of engagement – they wanted to go back to basics.
We’d already put some time in the diary to get together for an event in March/April but the pandemic quickly put a halt to that! But rather than putting it all on hold, we thought this could be a new way for us to try new things, and rip up the rule book.
K: We already knew from our conversations with the champions, that people were struggling for time and access. So, we decided to pilot some short sharp online sessions on the various topics that people wanted to know about.
Am I right in thinking this kind of technology was quite new for the MoJ?
K: Absolutely! Teams was really new to us (we introduced it right at the start of the pandemic!) – so it was a huge learning curve. Our first session didn’t feel very collaborative because of how we were using the platform, but the next one was much better, as we set it up in a way that we could talk and interact with everyone.
Can you tell us a bit more about how you managed to keep the sessions engaging using virtual learning?
K: Firstly, we try to keep a mix of content about the subject, interaction between us all, plus breakouts and practical exercises.
R: And I think it’s important to mention as well that these sessions have been focusing on subjects the attendees have been asking for. Initially just through the conversations we’d had with champions, but we’ve gone on to open up a vote at the end of each session for people to choose what we learn about next.
K: And to add to that, these sessions have been run by experts within the organisation – for example our head of wellbeing ran a fantastic session on emotional wellbeing. And we knew from our research that people like to learn from the people they know.
R: And they’ve really helped people too – like the session on measurement and analysing data when our survey results had just come out – which was so useful. And of course other popular subjects like wellbeing and mental health.
And I hear your team ran some of the sessions too Karen?
K: Yes! And one of those sessions was on Employee Experience using our learnings from the EX by Design course run by People Lab! We talked about empathy maps and personas.
Ahhh I love that! And it sounds like the programme been a huge success?
K: Yes it really has – we’re so pleased
R: …and proud
K: We offered a small number of places initially and the interest was huge! They ‘sold out’ almost instantly.
R: It started as something which was just for our champions – we went to them with a blank sheet of paper to design this. By the champions, for the champions – but we’ve since opened it up.
K: We’ve had people coming from other government bodies now too – from the home office, DWP, the charity of civil servants – and we’ve had really great feedback. Plus, we’ve been recording them, so we’ve been able to share them with people who haven’t been able to dial in live. It makes us so accessible for everyone.
…And I’m guessing this has really helped people to connect with each other too?
K: Absolutely – more than we ever thought it would.
R: I’ll be totally honest, I didn’t think I would enjoy them as much as I have. I’ve always thought of myself as a ‘face-to-face’ person – so it really challenged how I felt about working this way.
K: If anything, it’s given us an opportunity we’d never have had in person. We’ve wanted to think about how we could get out to everyone for a really long time – and this has actually given us that opportunity.
For so many people, you think you need to be in a room with someone to collaborate effectively or to get to know them, but this has really opened doors for us. We’ve observed people, talking to them and getting to know them in their own environments. We’re seeing their real lives, their real challenges, both in and out of work.
When life does change, and we can go back out, we really feel as though we know our people now, we have a much deeper level of understanding.
We’ve been developing personas recently and now we can fill in the gaps, we have real insight – which we would never have got before.
So, what’s next for the programme?
R: We’ll keep asking people what they’d like to learn about and letting them vote – we’ve also said if they have anything they’d like to share, that’s an option too! We’ve started to revisit some of the most popular subjects too.
K: We’re also thinking about developing an academy for the champions, so they can earn badges (that might just be my scout side coming out!). They’ll be trained to use the workshops and then go on run them themselves. This could just be the beginning.
Well a huge congratulations to you all – it sounds absolutely fantastic. Lots of hard work I’m sure, but with great results. And thank you for talking with us today and sharing your story with our network.
If you’d like to hear more from Karen and Ruth, or ask them your questions about the work they do, then they’ll be on the Reset Show when we get back from our Easter Hols! Sign up here to join the show live on 21st April (1pm), and to be sent the recording after the show.
