On Wednesday, 27 September 2023, ElectraLink gathered for the second annual People Conference. This was an ideal opportunity to broadcast ideas, share knowledge with coworkers and offer feedback to the Senior Management Team (SMT) in the midst of a historical library describing experimentation, innovation and wisdom at the Royal College of Physicians in London.

The whole organisation convened for a series of talks and presentations focusing on the core topic of our customers.

ElectraLink’s customers are at the heart of everything we do, the driving force behind innovation and motivation for everyone in the business. We lead with care and enthusiasm for internal customers as well as external; ElectraLink colleagues are determined to offer as incredible a service to one another as they will to a customer who approaches ElectraLink for data-driven solutions.

 

ElectraLink offers a wide range of solutions to the market and internally, so it’s useful to communicate precisely which customer cohort each team devotes their working time to. This keeps dialogue and ideas flowing between teams, smashes siloes, and opens our eyes to the demands and context of our colleagues’ work.

Throughout the conference, various teams across the business presented their customer cohorts, and how they serve them, in prerecorded videos or live presentations. As you can imagine, each team’s presentation was vastly, fascinatingly different to the others. The true diversity of creativity and resourcefulness was visible, with teams playing to their strengths and taking risks in wonderful and whacky ways. All ElectraLink colleagues are now much more aware and appreciative of the lengths our coworkers go to for customers.

 

Dotted between the team presentations, we engaged in other important discussions to gather input and feedback from across the business. Directors Amelia Heatley and Rachel Ollis updated us on the progress of ElectraLink’s equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) strategy and some of the key events and relationships we have supported in our continuing EDI journey. Amelia and Rachel also introduced a new EDI project that will require input from everyone at ElectraLink. As part of this introduction, initial feedback was recorded to ensure concerns and gaps are addressed before the project is underway.

My SMT colleagues and I ran a Q&A panel session which gave employees the chance to engage us with direct questions (anonymously through Sli.do) and gave the SMT the opportunity to share our experiences, perspectives and motivations. This session was remarkable with enthusiastic questions and honest responses from both sides, and we all found it enriching personally and professionally.

One of the highlights of the day was our guest contributor, Adrian Webster – a best-selling author and motivational speaker. Adrian’s vivacious and passionate talk covered a range of topics from the types of attitudes that one encounters at work to what makes a difference in a commercial relationship. However, the key takeaway from his People Conference speech was how necessary it is for all of us – including people in senior positions – to think childishly at times and revisit our lost sense of curiosity and wonder.

The day closed with updates from ElectraLink’s Corporate Social Responsibility team on the terrific fundraising initiatives and volunteering opportunities available before the year’s end. There was also a brief appreciation and prizegiving ceremony for the employees who took part in our Buddy Programme. It was the perfect touch to meet all ElectraLink’s new starters in person and then recognise the people who helped welcome them to ElectraLink.

 

Overall, the second annual ElectraLink People Conference was a hit. We found it easier to collaborate and keep things moving after ironing out the kinks from the year before. A focus on customers provided insight into how each team shapes their offering and manages relationships, and this was enriched with customer-centric wisdom from the SMT and our guest speaker. And we acquired employee sentiment, input and feedback on upcoming projects and initiatives, supporting our desire to be ever cognisant of our people’s concerns and wishes.

Words by Dan Hopkinson, CEO