As a multi-location business, we don’t often have the opportunity to get everyone together in the same room at Highway Care, so last year we held our first-ever company-wide stand down day. We felt the benefits of that decision not only on the day itself, as our people came together from across sites and departments, but also throughout the year thanks to the positive energy and shared goals nurtured by the event.
Last week, we invested in our people and our business in the same way again, holding our 2025 Empower Day in Hereford, close to our Callow Hill engineering and production site. It gave our people the opportunity to come together, work with colleagues they don’t usually spend time with, and get excited about what the year ahead has in store… with a little surprise added to the agenda, as we introduced them to some of our new colleagues from Ramudden Global and made the announcement that Highway Care was joining the Ramudden family.
Here’s how it went…
Safety First
As a business dedicated to providing innovative solutions for a safer future, we always have safety front of mind at Highway Care. Our Empower 2025 day was no exception, with a health and safety focus being the first item on the agenda.
The topic was not road safety, however, but the health and safety challenge of maintaining positive mental health and breaking down the stigmas associated with talking about how we are feeling. Our Empower 2025 day fell on the same date as Time to Talk Day, an annual campaign run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, in partnership with Co-op which encourages people to talk about mental health in their homes and workplaces. We marked the day by encouraging our team to have those conversations as a routine approach to staying well and looking out for others.
To encourage some interaction during the session we held a true or false quiz, helping to dispel some of the common misconceptions. We discussed some of the risk factors for mental health, including triggers such as stress and financial worries with the aim of ensuring our people feel supported to speak up if they are struggling or reach out when it seems a colleague needs to talk.
Celebrating Excellence
Next on the agenda was a celebration of our team, including those who joined us over the past year and those marking long-service milestones.
This section of the day was also an opportunity to recap on our Employee of the Month winners over the past year; an accolade we hand out each month to thank members of our team for delivering excellence or going above and beyond.
Social Value
To complete the first session, we gave the team an update on our social value achievements, looking back on the volunteering days, fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support and Cones Book initiatives in 2024, as well as unveiling our targets and charity partner for 2025.
This year, Highway Care will be supporting Brake, the road safety charity, which aligns with our purpose and provides opportunities for us to amplify their important message. Our commitment to providing every employee with the opportunity to spend a paid day volunteering continues, and we have also mapped out social value targets to build on our achievements over the past year.
Down to Business
The second session focused on a business update, keeping our team in the loop with our plans for 2025 and ensuring that everyone within the Highway Care business feels confident that they understand our strategy and the measures we have put in place to achieve it.
After a short break, it was on to dinner and a pub-quiz style test of everyone’s general knowledge, providing another opportunity for inter-departmental collaboration.
Team Building with Paw-pose
Learning from feedback from last year’s event, this year our Empower 2025 event included a morning team building activity on day 2. Continuing our focus on Highway Care’s purpose of helping others, the challenge we set for our employees was to work in teams to create an interactive feeding station called a ‘dig box feeder’ for the otters at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo and meerkats, coatis and Sulawesi macaques at Drusillas Park.
Making sure not to put all our engineers together, we assembled teams to follow the instructions, which involved using recycled timber and reclaimed metal grills to create a feeding station that would encourage the animals to forage for their food to keep their curious minds active. The winning team not only created a smart and robust unit but also made improvements to the plans to enhance the safety of their creation, with modifications to prevent tiny paws from getting trapped!
Stand Down to Power Up
At home and at work it often feels like there is never a good time to take a step back and consider what we’ve achieved and what opportunities lie ahead, but when we do, it is usually time well spent.
That’s certainly our experience of our Empower 2025 day at Highway Care. Not only has it provided a valuable opportunity to reflect on successes across the team and across the business; but it has also motivated and inspired everyone to build on those successes and work together to achieve more.
Thanks to all our colleagues for their participation and enthusiasm, and a special mention to our IT partner Advanced Software Ltd, for sponsoring our lunch and a round of drinks for the evening!
