Heywood
To celebrate our incredible journey over the past fifty years, we are sharing stories that reflect on our heritage, long-standing relationships and the impact we’ve made. This video interview features Sue Bell Thompson, Heywood's Chief People Officer.
What does it take to build a workplace people genuinely want to be part of and choose to stay with as a business grows and evolves?
At Heywood, it’s about creating the right conditions for people to do their best work, feel valued and stay connected to a shared purpose.
Watch the video to hear our Chief People Officer explain how this people-first approach shapes our culture and supports our future ambitions.
I joined Heywood in October 2023. My role as Chief People Officer is to make sure that our business can operate for our customers and our clients, and is a great place for people to come to work and where they want to be.
I like to think of it as a party and use that analogy; we’re making sure from a people function that when people arrive they feel welcomed, they are happy with the music that’s on offer, they are enjoying being with other people, and they get a sense of satisfaction from the work that they do, and then they’re recognized for it.
Ultimately, it’s about bringing the whole piece together so that people don’t want to leave the party. That’s really my role - we’re making sure that everyone wants to be here, which aligns with our business strategy to grow and move forward in the best possible way.
A flexible future
Over the years, COVID changed the societal view of working in an office five days a week. Hybrid working is a factor that many Heywood employees want, and they have adjusted their home life to accommodate their work life.
People have the opportunity to get together at our brilliant offices, which we redesigned a couple of years ago. We have a really good collaborative working space with excellent coffee, and when people gather for events like Hive days, it’s a great place that makes them want to come together.
The overarching factor is that we create the space and the opportunity, but we don’t force people in at a specific time. This works well and aligns with our values and how we operate.
Our values
One of our values is ‘We work together’, and that’s exactly how we created our values in 2021! We held a series of workshops for our people, which was very important as they created values that reflect how we operate and how we want to work with our customers and clients.
Our value ‘We make things happen’ is so important for making sure that we deliver quickly, accurately and get things done. It’s essential to us that we can create great things which serve our customers in the best way possible.
Lastly, 'We encourage people to be themselves.' Ultimately, people can show up to work exactly as they are. There's no judgment and no game, and I think that's brilliant, as it allows people to attend a workspace and feel comfortable being absolutely themselves.
After I joined Heywood, we had a collaborative working party to find a way to deliver recognition through the simple act of saying thank you, which is often underrated but goes a long way, because people want to do more and help. The recognition is aligned to our values and is made public on Hive Day, where we show the names of people receiving the recognition. It helps drive and reinforce value-driven behaviours.
Our culture
Our average length of service is over 5.5 years, which is fantastic, as we’re growing and have had many new starters. Everyone at Heywood is so approachable – there’s no hierarchical route to how people see others, and that’s really valuable.
The commentary on Glassdoor is honest feedback from real people, and I’m really proud of our score. It’s a testament to our people and how we operate as a business.
Our people development is incredibly varied, which is important because everybody has different learning styles. We host Hive Days every other month, which have a palpable buzz and provide an opportunity for every individual in the business to collaborate. Additionally, it offers a chance for everyone to run a session, helping people learn something new. It could be work or product-related, or something personal based on experiences that are important to and matter to them – there’s always something interesting going on!
Training can also take the form of specific apprenticeship or graduate programmes that people work through, and they’ll have a mentor to guide them. It’s much harder for graduates to work from a remote location and learn how things work in a business environment, but I think we do it really well. Two members of our executive team joined Heywood as graduates and have progressed through different roles, demonstrating that you can advance your career at Heywood.
What will the next 50 years look like for Heywood?
Our expansion into North America is going to be a big part of the next 50 years.
To return to the party analogy I made at the beginning, I want to keep people at the party. I want to ensure that we’re in a great place and that people want to stay here, contributing to the continued success of Heywood.
