At SeeAbility we put people first. We develop potential, reward great work and support wellbeing. Central to our 2022-2027 strategy is creating a community where people love to work and are supported to do their best. Now three years in, we can see our investments in our colleagues and community paying off.

14 colleagues participated in the 2024 leadership development programme. All colleagues commented that it had improved their confidence at work, enabled them to become a better leader and improved their decision making.

This year our Wellbeing Coach team provided over 350 cases of colleague wellbeing support, whether single instances, signposting or ongoing support. We now have 34 coaches with a number of specialisms, including overseas colleague support, fertility and domestic violence. Our dedicated coaches play a key role in supporting colleagues and reducing sickness, particularly around stress and depression, which has seen a 12% reduction in the last year.

Our breakfast clubs ensure our teams start their day right and we have now introduced a snacks and hot drinks fund. We have assisted 21 colleagues through difficult financial time with our hardship loan. We have also been able to support more people with budgeting and debt management, and signposted them to official agencies.

Last year we reviewed our reward and appreciation offering, listening closely to our colleagues’ thoughts. Their feedback helped shape our new rewards and appreciation package, which focuses on what matters most to people. We’re investing in base pay, while supporting wellbeing and celebrating colleagues staying with SeeAbility year on year. Through this we’re supporting our charity’s long-term sustainability.

New initiatives include:

• Driving lesson support, not only benefitting our colleagues, but also people they support who are able to get out and do the things they want to do more easily.
• Every month two lucky colleagues are drawn at random to receive a £500 bonus.
• New and improved policies that include paid fertility leave and better family-friendly pay.
• Colleague connection fund that enables teams to help build stronger connections and create an even more positive work environment.
• Local appreciation programme to ensure all colleagues feel valued and recognised for their contributions, building a stronger, more motivated workforce.

The annual SeeAbility Excellence Awards celebrate our colleagues, recognising hard work and dedication in making a difference for people we support. Finalists are nominated by people across the SeeAbility community, with the awards presented at our AGM.

We’re seeing positive results from our work to improve pay, rewards and wellbeing. 618 of our colleagues responded to our annual Your Voice survey, with the overall satisfaction score increasing year on year. We’ve seen a reduction in vacancy rates to 1.6% and rises in both our colleagues staying with us, as well as being promoted within SeeAbility. Our internal promotion rate this year was 48% of eligible vacancies.

We can only do what we do with our incredible team of colleagues, making a massive difference in people’s lives. We will continue to work to ensure our colleagues feel supported and valued.