Integrity and Truth case study - Employee voice approach in Commercial Services
When Commercial Services (CS) formed in 2018, they wanted to try something new in how the leadership team stayed in touch with their teams. They created The Voice, an employee voice group. In this group, colleagues across Commercial Services and the leadership team ask the question together “how do we make this a better place to work?” and answer it with action. It’s also a forum for colleagues and leaders to talk about the directorate’s future, and work through potentially difficult issues together.
Drawn from volunteers from across the directorate, which covers Catering & Events, Accommodation, Retail, Sport and the Print Unit, the group numbers around 15. When The Voice was first started, the whole team were keen that its sessions were relaxed. Meetings are run informally and there’s an effort to keep the note of the meeting friendly and visually appealing rather than formal minutes. The Voice also isn't the only way that employee voices are shared, for example, the directorate’s subsidiary companies GU Heritage and UoG Commercial have, or are currently selecting employees to sit on their boards.
It’s made clear by the directorate leadership team that being a member of The Voice is a part of work, with time protected to make sure that everyone can contribute. Being able to run sessions online has helped with this; it means, for example, that group members working on a busy shift in the James McCune Smith Hub Kitchen can quickly step out help with the lunchtime rush, then rejoin the call.
As well as their regular conversations with CS leaders on how things are going, The Voice has also undertaken projects. Early on, the group noted that across the directorate, colleagues had very different understandings of relationships with a supervisor or line manager. The Voice then developed a graphic (pictured, alternative text is available) to try to make this relationship as clear as possible, and to make sure everyone understands the difference between line management and bullying. 
Voice goup members have also introduced CS’ Outstanding Colleague Recognition awards and sit on the judging panel.
The group has also not shied away from talking to their leaders about other difficult topics, particularly during a period which has seen some changes in organisational structure in the directorate. Robert Garnish, Commercial Services Director, talks about the importance of these conversations and how they’re not about persuading everyone on ideas they’re not sold on, but about being transparent: “you don’t have to agree with what we’re doing, but you do need to understand it and why we’re doing it”.
As the group continues to embed as part of ‘how we do things’ in Commercial Services, the leadership team talk about how they would like to make even more use of the insights gained from The Voice. In this way they can keep aware of challenges and continue to build a directorate that works for all its colleagues.
To find out more about this contact: Robert Garnish or Callum Williamson