A Journey to Becoming Future-Fit Amidst Rapid Growth
Breaking Down Silos and Building Team Cohesion
Tina was brought in primarily to assess the organisation – where we were at, how we were structured, and whether that structure was fit for purpose for the future. Over the past 15 years, we’ve experienced rapid growth, and as we scaled, it became clear that our organisational design and delivery needed to catch up with our evolving goals. Tina’s role was to evaluate our structure and ensure it aligned with our ambitions for the future.
One of our biggest challenges was the fact that we were an organisation of multiple services and were primarily operating in silos. We had seven or eight directors, each responsible for their own areas, we were attempting to work more cohesively and envisioned building a whole-team culture. We needed help breaking down those vertical walls and barriers and making the organisation more horizontal.
Tina was instrumental in helping us to start to think about how we could dismantle those silos and foster collaboration, not only helping us create cohesion, but also turning the whole strategy-building process into a powerful team-building experience as a direct example.
Creating Safety and Trust in a Trauma-Informed Organisation
Something that quickly stood out once we started working together was Tina’s resilience. She operates at an incredibly high level, and I often describe her as a “4×4” because she can genuinely go anywhere and handle anything. She’s fearless and confident, and that energy became contagious within our team. We quickly realised we were heading in a positive direction, and it motivated us to fully embrace the journey.
As an organisation that works with individuals who have experienced a lot of trauma and adversity, creating a sense of safety is paramount. Tina recognised this immediately and made it a priority. She built rapport, and before we knew it, we were moving at the “speed of trust,” which is critical in our environment. Her approach ensured that everyone felt safe and secure in the process, which allowed us to make significant progress.
Her ability to help us manage strategic discussions and navigate differing opinions was a key part of this. When you bring together people who have been working in silos, they can offer a level of defensiveness and can be wed to their own unique perspectives, which can sometimes create deadlock, so this needs breaking down. Tina had an exceptional way of addressing this and opened up space for deeper conversations and solutions, encouraging us to become positively disagreeable which became an invaluable part of our strategy discussions.
Future-Fit: Aligning Strategy with Vision
We were also introduced to smart tools and strategies that had a lasting impact on how we operate. Together, we were able to map out our vision of the future – starting with where we wanted to be and working backward from there. That approach has since been embedded into many of our leadership programs.
Tina’s expertise in organisational reviews was invaluable. Together, we made sure our non-operational services were integrated with our operational services to become more aligned and “future fit,” especially coming out of the challenges of COVID, rising costs, and the complexity of so many fast moving external changes.
Personally, Tina’s involvement also had a significant impact on my work and confidence. I was pushing forward some innovative and creative ideas and sometimes wondered, “Is this backed by research and evidence?” Tina provided that reassurance, which motivated me even further and strengthened my sense of purpose. It gave me the confidence to fully deliver on these ideas.
In terms of whole organisation impact, another key objective was to create a trauma-informed practice across the business. Three years into our strategy, we’ve achieved 100% of our KPIs and developed the RISE practice (Relationship Inspired Ideas for Supportive Environments), which has since been accredited and won the UK Culture Award for Best House Development Program in 2024. Our biggest accolade of course and the one we are most proud of, is the difference we are continuing to make to individuals in our care. That is the most powerful impact we could ever hope for and we wouldn’t have gotten there without Tina’s help.
She’s charismatic and highly personable but also very robust—nothing gets past her, and she won’t accept anything less than best practice. This high standard made us all step up our game.
Refreshing Our Brand and Building Pride
I think something I didn’t expect at the start was the improvements we’d make to the brand. Tina helped us dive deep into what we stand for—our value proposition, how we present ourselves internally and externally, and how to leverage that for future growth. We surveyed individuals in our care, employees, local authorities, and clients, which provided us with insights that led to positive changes. There’s now more cohesion across the organisation, it’s fostering a genuine sense of belonging and I think that this (cohesion) is our advantage! When people believe they’re working for an interconnected community that truly cares about people and demonstrates this daily it creates pride and commitment to the work we all do.
Without a doubt, I’d recommend Tina to anyone. She has an incredible ability to identify areas where you’re stagnant or leaking value and works with you to become a better version of your future selves. She encourages you to reflect, examine, unlearn and relearn; and interrogate all of this into your systems, ultimately leaving you with a fresh perspective on your organisation.
Wayne Okell is the Director of Talent and Performance at Fairways, a charity operating in the health and social care sector with the goal of making the biggest possible difference for individuals who have experienced extreme adversity and trauma.
