MEMBERS NEWS
Hello Hybrid!
But What Next?
Hybrid working. It’s the latest great disruption resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. And with some leaders very firmly ‘in’ and others equally firmly ‘out’, it’s a noisy world out there. So, where to start with creating a successful future workplace? St Albans-based Culture Consultancy, Culture Chameleon, share the following tips: • Press Pause. There’s so much that we can learn from the past 18 months about the successes and challenges of working remotely, and that we can use to inform our hybrid future - if we only take the time to do so. • Don’t mark your own homework. If, as leaders, we sit in isolation with our hybrid plans, we risk missing some key insights. Instead, open a hybrid conversation with the wider organisation. • Ditch the Policy. Smart leaders know that a policy is never going to cater for every conflicting need arising from a hybrid way of working. Instead, create a series of principles, based on the insight gathered, that can be regularly revised as your organisation progresses with hybrid working.
Whilst for those opting for a hybrid workplace, the starting point appears to be deciding when & where people will work, Laura Lewis, Founder and Chief Chameleon of Culture Chameleon advocates throwing standard thinking up in the air and reframing the hybrid ‘problem’:
And mindset is very much the focus of Culture Chameleon’s online, 1:1 Hello Hybrid Masterclass series. The first masterclass, Cut Through the Hybrid Noise, empowers healthy, highperforming hybrid teams by re-framing the hybrid ‘dilemma’ and using Culture Chameleon’s practical framework to break hybrid down and make it a long-term success. By facilitating team commitment to ways of working that will drive cohesion and clarity, the second masterclass, Re-writing the Rulebook, supports healthy, connected, engaged and productive teams, no matter where they work.
“Our research has shown that a successful hybrid strategy isn’t about time or place after all. Instead, it’s about enabling people to achieve their full potential, to make work great, so that great work follows. And that’s down to mindset.”
If you’d like more information about Culture Chameleon’s Hello Hybrid masterclasses, please email info@culturechameleon.co.uk
VolkerFitzpatrick celebrates 100 years by donating to charity
This year marks 100 years since the inception of ‘Fitzpatrick and Son’, which later became VolkerFitzpatrick. To celebrate its centenary, the business is making donations to three of its key charity partners. VolkerFitzpatrick has been a Patron of CRASH charity since 2015, supporting several of their construction projects for homelessness charities and hospices, along the way. In 2019, a team of volunteers from the business refurbished the lounge of Caritas Anchor House in London, returning again last year to revamp the dining area.
meaningful youth employment and enterprise, protecting vulnerable environments, combating climate change, and ensuring the right to safe water and sanitation. In previous years, volunteers from VolkerFitzpatrick have travelled overseas to work on projects, such as the construction of a school in a remote area of Costa Rica to enable more young children to participate in education.
fundraising activities and provide ongoing financial support to the charity, including an initial donation of £10,000 to support children around the world to reach their full potential. Save the Children and VolkerFitzpatrick are exploring how the business can offer pro-bono technical expertise and advice to support the organisation’s construction projects, as part of the next stage of the partnership.
This year, the business is donating £10,000 to support CRASH’s work with Emmaus Village Carlton in Bedfordshire – a charity offering active support to formerly homeless people.
Unfortunately, travel restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, have prevented the team from participating in a similar project this year, so the business has instead made a donation of £10,000 to support the charity’s vital work.
Richard Offord, managing director of VolkerFitzpatrick, said: “Our partnerships with charities such as Raleigh International, CRASH Charity and Save the Children are extremely important to us. These organisations share our values of hard work, striving for success and caring for one another. I can think of no better way to mark our 100th anniversary than by supporting their invaluable work.”
Raleigh International is a youth-driven organisation, supporting a global movement of young people to take action. Working globally to promote the role of young people in decision making and civil society, creating
VolkerFitzpatrick has entered into a partnership with children’s charity, Save the Children. The business will undertake
Learn more about VolkerFitzpatrick’s history www.volkerfitzpatrick.co.uk/en/about-us/celebrating-100-years INSPIRE
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