KATH HOUNSLEY

Each month, unLTD chats to a local charity’s founder, delving into the reasons why they set up the organisation. This time around, Ash Birch caught up with Kath Hounsley, founder LGBT Sheffield and Pinknic

Hi Kath. Can you start by telling us why did you decide to set up the charity?

We started the charity back in 2016. I used to be the chair of Sheffield Pride, but it was taken over by a group who wanted to make it more of an alcohol-fuelled Manchester-type Pride. That wasn’t our cup of tea. We wanted it to remain a family-friendly event, so we founded a group called LGBT Sheffield, to run another event called Pinknic, as an alternative. We weren’t a charity to begin with, but we wanted to run more events, but in order to be able to apply for funding, we decided to set up as a charity. That’s how it began, but from there, we’ve become involved in lots of other projects –we’ve done quite a bit.

Tell us about some of the things you’ve been involved in?

We’ve done things like going out to care homes to deliver LGBT training for the staff, as well as letting people in the care homes know there is something out there for them. Sometimes, people with dementia, they don’t remember that they’re gay, or they don’t remember that they’re in the closet and they come out! In the past, we’ve also hired Union St for drop-in sessions for the LGBT community.

Can you tell us a bit more about Pinknic?

Pinknic is out main event, which is really popular. It’s

WE’VE

LIKE taken us a few years to get it going, but because there isn’t an actual Pride event anymore, people have started realising that our event is the only thing that comes near. It’s a free event that we hold in the Peace gardens and because it’s in the city centre, we get a lot of footfall from the straight community as well – we had about 6500 attendees last year. It’s a family-friendly safe space where people can get lots of information about the LGBT community from the various public information stalls. On the outside of the peace gardens, there are commercial and food stalls, and we also have local live acts, DJs and drag acts on the stage.

What are you plans for future of the charity?

My main focus is the older, maybe 50+ LGBT community in Sheffield, who are maybe lonely and isolated, or disconnected from their family, and probably haven’t got kids to go talk to. They might have had it very hard, and they can be the most difficult people to reach. A lot of them don’t have laptops, so we’ve set up a call line specifically for them. And we’re working on how we can show them how to access that.

We’re desperate to get a building to house a drop-in centre and coffee shop. We’re trying to get funding for that because there’s nowhere like that at the moment. Apart from the odd bar that will run LGBT nights, Sheffield is bereft of LGBT safe spaces. That’s our big ambition at the moment.

LGBT Sheffield’s next Pinknic event will be held in the Peace Gardens on 15th July from 11am – 7pm. For more info head to their facebook page @ pinknicsheffield.

Surely this is bonkers and goes to show that good intentions can lead to hell. The hell of feeling that you are justifying your existence or the hell of completing the paperwork to suit a corporate timeline.

The good news is that we have a chance to replace that memory with the modern experience of what appraisals and reviews should be about. So here are my thoughts and top tips:

#1 START WITH THE END IN MIND

The sole purpose of a review is to reflect on today to make tomorrow better. Make sure that the aim of the company is clearly known by all and that today we are going to discuss how we are going to reach these goals. It all sounds a little woolly, however by focusing on the ‘WE’ it removes the defenses we raise when preparing for hand-to-hand combat. Not in the gladiatorial form, but sometimes it does feel like that.

Make it easy to have an open conversation, and once you feel trusting, the candor of the topics raised will highlight areas to focus on. It’s either that or wait for the question that starts with “How do you feel you performed last year?”.

Top tip: Agree on the direction of travel. It’s easy to identify targets etc. when both parties can see the obstacles.

#2 BE MORE FLUID IN GIVING FEEDBACK

A review is usually the formal response to having a conversation with your team, but why should this only take place every year, every quarter or every month. Isn’t a review simply an opportunity to pass on feedback that you want a response too.

I’ve been part of a system that works like that. It doesn’t work. It saps the energy of everyone involved. Can I suggest the alternative method of little and often, face-to-face on an informal coaching basis, and having a ‘light-touch’ FORMAL process that makes the manager accountable for the process structure, but the individual solely responsible for making sure the process happens.

Top tip: Flip the process on its head. Transferring the responsibility to the individual focuses power into the right hands to empower change. After all, if they are too busy to talk about their own future, then do they have the right behaviours.

#3

Trust And Verify

If you write the plan, it’s another action list that may or may not be completed. If they write the plan, then it becomes part of their being. Your job is to make sure that any objectives set are SMART in nature but more than that, your job is to ensure that the individual must grow towards the objectives. Otherwise, why are you having the conversation.

Top tip: Give more focus on improving the inputs to the process, and not simply the outputs. Stretch them and it’s a ‘YES’ to all the support they need.

In a small business you are juggling many plates. The question is do you want the team worrying about dropping the plates or thinking of ways to automate the process. Life is easier with the team on your side!

Laura Wright, Head of People and CIPD tutor at Whyy? Change summarised her thoughts: Performance management is critical to an organisation’s success but too often managers see it as an annual ‘tick box’ exercise. Effective performance management centres on regular two-way discussion and is key to maximising the potential and value that each employee brings to an organisation.

According to the CIPD, the approach to performance reviews has changed over recent years with: Less focus on annual appraisals; greater focus on regular performance reviews. Less focus on process, such as forced ranking; greater focus on high quality conversations, often aided by a coaching style and sometimes involving a strengthsbased approach. Less focus on judging or appraising past performance to inform administrative decisions; greater focus on understanding current challenges and opportunities to help people improve.

Over to you, imagine what your next employee performance review could look like…

Need help with your people development plans? Get in touch with Whyy? Change. Visit www. whyychange.com, email info@ whyychange.com or call them on 0114 400 0077 for a friendly chat and a cuppa.

Medical technology firm B Braun Medical, which has its UK headquarters in Sheffield, has appointed a new UK managing director.

Sheffield-born Michael Parden has been appointed to the role, having worked for the B. Braun Group for more than 20 years.

Parden first arrived at the B Braun Group in 2001 when he joined the Aesculap Manufacturing and Technical Services division.

Michael Parden said: “To have been given the opportunity to lead this great company, which employs over 1400 people in the UK, is one that I am immensely proud of.”

“Becoming managing director of B Braun UK was always a huge ambition of mine having spent over 20 years working for the company, so naturally I am absolutely delighted to have been appointed to my new role.

“My vision is for the company to be seen as a flagship employer in the region and we therefore attract and retain the best people.

“I want each employee to have the same pride working for B Braun which I have had throughout my career with the company and for them to understand how our products and services make a difference to those who use them.”