You may have heard about Employee Voice. You may even know who your representative is. But do you know what actually happens when our representatives come together?

Employee Voice brings colleagues from across YMCA Fairthorne Group together to share what they are hearing and experiencing within their teams and settings.

It creates a space to look beyond individual experiences and identify the themes that matter across our organisation.

What’s working well? Where are colleagues experiencing challenges? Is there something we could do differently? Are there ideas worth exploring? And where do people simply need greater clarity about what is happening and why?

Our Employee Voice representatives bring those conversations together, allowing experiences from different parts of YMCA Fairthorne Group to be heard and explored.

But their role doesn’t stop when the meeting ends.

A conversation that works both ways

Representatives also have an important role in taking information back to their colleagues.

That means sharing what has been discussed, providing updates where actions have been agreed and keeping conversations going between meetings.

Done well, Employee Voice should create a two-way connection between colleagues and the wider organisation.

That matters in a charity as varied as ours.

The day-to-day experience of someone working in Early Years can be very different from someone working in Youth Services, Programmes, Facilities or Central Support. Each brings a different perspective on what is working, what could be better and what colleagues need.

Employee Voice gives those perspectives somewhere to meet.

What can Employee Voice talk about?

Almost anything affecting the wider colleague experience could become part of the conversation.

That might include ideas for improving how we work, themes several colleagues are experiencing, communication, wellbeing and engagement, workplace improvements or feedback on organisation-wide initiatives.

It is also a place to share what is working particularly well.

Sometimes a great idea or approach happening within one team could benefit colleagues elsewhere, but only if we know about it.

There are, however, some things Employee Voice isn’t designed to replace.

Individual grievances, safeguarding concerns, confidential HR matters and other personal issues should continue to be raised through the appropriate existing channels.

Employee Voice is about understanding our shared colleague experience.

Why does your voice matter?

Understanding what is happening across YMCA Fairthorne Group cannot come from one survey, one meeting or one conversation.

It requires us to keep listening.

More importantly, it requires opportunities for colleagues to see how what they share connects to wider conversations and what happens next.

That is where Employee Voice has an important role to play.

And over the coming weeks, we’ll be talking much more about it.

Could you represent your colleagues?

You don’t need to be a manager.

You don’t need committee experience.

And you certainly don’t need to be the loudest person in the room.

Good representation starts with being willing to listen, understand different perspectives and help make sure the experiences of colleagues around you are heard.

Over the coming editions of Common Ground, we’ll be sharing more about what being a representative involves and how colleagues from across YMCA Fairthorne Group can get involved.

For now, start the conversation. What would you want Employee Voice to hear?