Corporate Vision Issue 4

42 CORPORATE VISION / Issue 4 2018 , Peopletopia focuses on delivering high-quality, impactful and lasting solutions. We profiled the passionate and dedicated teamat Peopletopia, before speaking to Clare Portman as we look to find out more about the impressive services that the firmoffers. The Employee Engagement and Development Specialists Established in 2011, the team at Peopletopia hold a longstanding passion for helping workplaces to become great places. The company works with a wide range of organisations, from corporate and SMEs to public sector clients, and the team work hard to understand their employee engagement levels and help them to improve. Clare offers an insight to the services that the team offers, emphasising the importance of meeting and surpassing client expectations. “Firstly, we spend time getting to know our client. They will help us to understand the problems that they are facing, and the differences that they would like to see in the way that their people behave, perform and deliver. Our clients tend to have identified an area of concern around performance or culture, so we will begin by reviewing these concerns and really getting to the bottom of an issue. “Secondly, the solutions that the client needs will depend on the issues. Usually, we might put together a programme of improvements, work with the leadership team to make sure that they are sending out the right messages and supporting a positive culture, as well as delivering a range of learning and development solutions to support the required changes.” Discussing the key challenges that clients typically face within the industry, Clare notes that it is important to pay close attention to detail when trying to work out why some employees may be underperforming. “There are many reasons why our clients come to us, perhaps their people are underperforming, the culture is not what it could be, or their managers lack the right approach. It’s important that we take the time to understand any underlying causes. It is often the case that there is a disconnect between how the company claims to value their people ‘people are our greatest asset’, and what their people really feel. We will work closely with the teams at all levels to help to redress the balance, ensuring that employees are valued and encouraged to give their best.” Predominantly, Peopletopia works with technology companies, and Clare and the team have noticed a trend in which some people are promoted to managers when they may not suit the role, despite being excellent in their jobs. “Many of our clients are tech companies, and we have noticed a trend in which some people are promoted for being great, but sometimes promoted into management roles, which they’ve never been trained for. This usually means an upskilling of these new managers through one to one coaching, and development programmes to ensure they are getting the best from their teams. “Subsequently, we are putting together an exciting new package specifically for tech companies covering leadership, employee engagement, culture, employee development and executive coaching, all designed to maximise the productivity of the company and ensure employees are as engaged as they can be.” Testament to the success that both Clare and her business partner Gail have achieved, Peopletopia’s clients enjoy working with them, and Clare notes that the company has sometimes become part of its client’s organisation. “Crucial to our success, we build up relationships and trust amongst the people to make sure that we deliver the best results. We have the experience of working in and with large organisations, are able to deliver the whole package, but we have remained small enough to adapt to our client needs.” Above all else, listening is what Clare sees as the most integral aspect of achieving success 1804CV32