THE CHALLENGE
Is there life on Mars? That’s just one of the questions that Thales Alenia Space UK is trying to discover. A world leader in space systems design, integration and manufacturing, our client is a major contributor to the Exo Mars programme which aims to discover traces of former life by analysing both the Martian atmosphere and the soil.
TAS UK started life in 2014, with a team of just 40. By 2018, this team had grown to 200 at a pace that showed no signs of slowing. For its people, this pace of growth – whilst exciting and rewarding to be part of – was becoming difficult to sustain and cracks were beginning to show in levels of engagement and motivation.
Although TAS (UK) had undertaken an annual engagement survey for the two years previously, it was seen by many as a ‘tick box exercise’ with confidence in whether senior management acted upon the results was low.
WHAT WE DID
We began by running a series of focus groups with employees at all levels to understand more about the drivers and barriers to engagement across the business.
Armed with this refreshed perspective, we overhauled the TAS (UK) People Engagement Survey; turning it into a something that not only benchmarked satisfaction but also gave valuable insights that would help target future activity.
The result was a clear direction into what made a difference to people’s engagement at TAS (UK) and, most importantly, what needed to be improved. There was also lots to celebrate – and we launched a communication campaign to promote what was working well across the business.
A number of key areas for improvement emerged and, working with the senior management team we designed a programme of activity that included Senior Management Team sponsorship of key challenge areas, employee workshops and increased collaboration across the three sites in Bristol, Harwell and Belfast.
Crucially, we worked with the senior management team help clarify business vision and value proposition, and to define strategic goals that would provide purpose and momentum for the next five years. We designed an interactive experience which fostered listening, learning, trust and mutual respect for expertise and commitment to the business.
THE RESULTS
The 2019 People Engagement Survey showed a much improved picture in many areas; most notably around the manager effectiveness, clarity on roles and responsibilities and being proud to be part of an organisation dedicated to diversity and inclusiveness.
TAS (UK) HR Director said “Passion Inc comes with my strong recommendation for businesses that are looking for fresh perspectives on People Engagement, Team and Leadership Development to drive success. As well as bringing tried and tested knowledge and techniques they demonstrate that they are adaptable, experimental and willing to challenge established ways of doing things to achieve the right outcomes. It genuinely feels like they are part of the team – motivated by our goals and ambition.”
This was echoed by their CEO, who added “The support of Passion Inc has been brilliant, paving the way to a long term collaboration with TAS-UK.”
Passion Inc continues to work with TAS (UK), providing: Strategic insight and direction on engagement, an Annual People Engagement Survey and their People Manager Development programme
