GIFTS OF THE SEASON THAT LAST BEYOND REASON

Diane Birch considers where we have been, where we are going and living with purpose in 2022

2022 IS GOING TO BE A YEAR OF EXCITING INITIATIVES, AND A NEW PHASE OF GROWTH FOR BITA.

An appropriate analogy for BITA this time of year, is that it’s the gift that keeps on giving! As many of you can imagine, there is always lots to do, but business growth isn’t always about action – the vast majority is about strategic planning. Strategy and planning are what bring me to life; I find it invigorating to work on a project that I know will have a direct and beneficial impact on our members and bring it to fruition. To consider how we can be best placed to help people and to tackle issues that some people haven’t even thought of next, is where I thrive. This is also one of the things I love best about BITA – the opportunities to pursue my passions that working here offers me.

The past year, much of our planning has gone towards chapter growth and member support. We have been working with Paula Fisher on developing our HR Hub, where our members can find a solution to almost all their HR requirements! It has been a pleasure to work with Paula on this incredible project, which will be a godsend to many of our members.

I have helped develop many successful initiatives since starting with BITA, but none have had me as excited as what we have planned for 2022. And this is all thanks to the incredible support of everyone over the last few years. Our members, board members, non-executive and staff have all been working in their own ways to allow us at BITA to cast our nets further and start strategically planning for the future.

Three of the new initiatives we have planned for 2022 are continuing the World Cleanup Day, Equality, and Bringing your Teenagers to Work. Following the gusto with which over 60 BITA member companies, and hundreds of individuals, threw themselves into the World Cleanup Day events in September 2021, we want to push this even more in 2022. We all know how precious our world is, and if nothing else the last two years have also shown us how precarious our way of life is as well.

We were humbled by how enthusiastically our members threw themselves into the spirt of the day this year, and hopefully we’ll have even more sign ups in 2022! Equality and the challenges facing some members of our society is a topic that has come up with increasing frequency in the past two years, and this is something we should all be facing together. After all, the happiest and most productive societies and workplaces are also the most inclusive. We will be running an initiative that informs, educates, and engages our members on how we can all be more inclusive and address issues including racism and other forms of discrimination.

Finally, young people have suffered disproportionately during lockdown, with lots of experiences having been taken from them – from socialising and work experience, to learning. These are crucial years of development, when they start to decide what they want to do with their lives, start making forays into dating, and forming life-long friendships. In a survey by Young Minds, with 2,438 people 13 – 25, they found that 80% of respondents said their mental health was worse, and 40% were seriously struggling. To tackle this, BITA – along with Construction Helpline and Asset Training – are putting together an initiative to encourage our members to ‘Bring a Teenager to Work’ over the Easter period. BITAx is also working on an initiative to encourage young people to find a mentor to help them with their personal and professional growth.

I’m reminded of a quote from Simon Sinek; “The genius at the top doesn’t make the team look good. A good team makes the person at the top look like a genius.” In business, we can never have too much help and support, whether in the form of mentoring, strategic advice, excellent staff or just a friendly ear to talk to. This is why I think BITA continues to be relevant and continues to grow. It’s thanks to the culture that our staff and members have built – one of giving and helping others. And what could be more Christmassy than that?

Reference: https://www.bcg.com/publications/2021/ building-an-inclusive-culture-leads-to-happier-healthier-workers