Guisborough Gunners
When Lucy Trethowan took over as delivery office manager at Guisborough in January, one of her first challenges was to improve colleague engagement.
‘The team had had lots of different managers in previous years and felt ignored by management,’ said Lucy. ‘Results in the previous year’s Employee Survey had been low. I felt the team really wanted to be involved, and wanted assurances that I was going to stay around. It was just a few weeks before the next Employee Survey launched so I didn’t have much time to make a difference.’
To help bring the team together, Lucy decided to dedicate an entire wall in the office to sharing the Employee Survey results and action plan, celebrations, birthdays and key messages. She painted the wall lime green - as ‘green means things are going well’ - and created different sections with blackboard paint that everyone can add to.
‘The wall has had a great impact on team morale,’ she said. ‘There’s even a “Beat the scales” section. Some of us take part in a weekly weigh-in, which is definitely helping me keep my weight on track!’
Employee Survey scores jumped significantly in this year’s survey, with engagement up 19, culture up 19 and customer focus up 12. ‘It was a brilliant vote of confidence and made me think I was on the right track,’ said Lucy. ‘I always give my team a nickname and these are the “Guisborough Gunners!”’
Lucy has since created another wall to share performance measures. ‘Everyone can see how we’re doing on scanning, safety and so forth, and how we compare to other offices,’ she said. ‘It’s creating a bit of competition and helping us be the best we can be.’
Postwoman, Hayley Bulmer, shared her feedback on the changes at Guisborough: ‘Lucy is a fun manager and brings camaraderie to the office! She takes a lot of interest in us as individuals, as well as working hard to achieve our little office's full potential.
‘The “crazy” green walls and rainbow writing are a focal point while we're on our breaks, which brings a fun element as well as giving us more things to talk about each day. They're a great idea!’
