Connect teams and raise morale with a Reward and Recognition digital platform

Introduction

RNN Group is an education and training provider. With over 1,000 staff on payroll over three locations, ensuring a cohesive work culture had its challenges. RNN Group’s adoption of our Reward and Recognition digital platform has helped unify the staff and raised morale.

The Story of RNN Group

RNN Group comprises three further and higher education colleges and seeks to educate school leavers, undergraduates, employees, and those re-joining the workforce.

Over 11,000 people pass through their doors each year, making them the largest single provider of education to school leavers in the South Yorkshire/North Nottinghamshire area.

The Group seeks to work closely with the local business community so that they can provide the training required to develop the workforce that the economy needs.

Most recently, the Group has signed up to provide a range of higher and Degree Apprenticeships at the new £3.5million “The Bridge Skills Hub”, an education hub at Bridge Court in Worksop.

The Challenge of Connecting and Encouraging Staff

The world of education is a busy one, and time is precious. Educators, by nature, want to pour all their efforts into building relationships with their students and coaching them through their studies. Managing one’s workload in a sustainable way is a daily challenge.

Education is also an emotionally demanding job; the responsibility of shaping people’s future career opportunities is a heavy burden for teachers to carry. Many of the people accessing the training provided by RNN Group have themselves personal challenges to overcome, with teachers taking a major role in helping them navigate their journey into their careers.

Well aware of the pressures intrinsic to the teaching vocation, RNN Group takes the responsibility of caring for their staff very seriously. But with so many staff spread over multiple locations, ensuring that their team’s wellbeing was being provided for would require a creative solution.

How Bravo Benefits Responded

Our aim is always to help a client’s team thrive in the workplace. A key part of this involves developing a robust wellbeing strategy that supports staff proactively, tackling emerging issues before they become full-fledged problems.

Our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is the ideal way to equip staff to manage their personal wellbeing. The EAP is a collection of resources that gives employees immediate access to counseling, advice, and online content for emotional and practical support. There are over 8,000 articles, podcasts, videos, infographics, and other online toolkits available at any time on the website. Staff also get 24/7 access to councilors via telephone or email, secure virtual online counseling, and referral to face-to-face counseling service when needed.

During their personal consultation meeting with our team, it was clear that the EAP would help RNN Group provide wellbeing support to their staff. Our Smart Hive digital platform was the ideal answer to deliver the program, allowing staff to access the service no matter where they were positioned geographically.

In September 2021, RNN Group decided to work with us to introduce their clients to a Reward and Recognition platform. The EAP was working well to provide access to wellbeing education and support, and the Group felt that the only element missing was the opportunity for staff to have peer-to-peer interaction. With the adoption of a bespoke Reward and Recognition platform, "Kudos", colleagues now had the opportunity to recognise the achievements of the team publicly and centrally.

The team at RNN Group thoroughly enjoyed the process of working with our consultants.

The Results

Since October 2021, Kudos has become the most accessed benefit on their Smart Hive, with over 430 nominations sent. It is clear that the staff really appreciate having their work recognised by their peers, contributing frequently to the recognition process. The Reward and Recognise programme has had the effect of encouraging the team to keep pursuing the best outcomes for their students no matter what the challenges may be.

RNN Group says:

“We love working with Bravo Benefits. The service is excellent, where nothing is too much trouble and every question is responded to promptly and fully. We initially brought in the SmartHive and EAP for our staff and this has been well received. We then introduced the Reward & Recognition scheme in Oct 2021 and this has been so well used by staff and managers. Staff are always so appreciative when they get a thanks for a job well done, or going above and beyond. The implementation, setup, introduction, ongoing support, training and guidance is outstanding. I’d encourage anyone to consider Bravo Benefits for their workforce”

If your team needs to feel connected and encouraged, let’s talk. We can find the right package of support for your team, ensuring they can thrive in your workplace.

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