At Nine Feet Tall we are well underway in delivering the third year of our Change For Good strategy. This means ensuring we operate as a responsible, inclusive and progressive organisation, always focused on delivering the right outcomes for our clients.
A large part of our strategy also focuses on:
- The wellbeing of our employees.
- Improving our social impact through initiatives which advance our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusivity.
- Measuring the impact we have on the environment.
These workstreams have their own strategies and the impact is measured through a central channel which anchors our sustainability goals. We are using the B Corp framework and have enhanced this to include specific KPIs relevant to Nine Feet Tall, enabling us to track and improve our impact.
Here are some examples of the initiatives which we have set up and achievements in Q1 2024:
Wellbeing
- Rather than mandating when our team are in the office, we have a monthly optional “social day” for people to come together in the office. Our flexible and remote working policies remain fully flexible!
- Our wellbeing team have shared tips on Financial Wellbeing to make informed choices at the end of the financial year.
- Our wellbeing strategy has a strong focus on mental health and establishing the habits which support our physical, emotional, social, financial and mental wellbeing. To upskill, our wellbeing leader attended a conference to learn more about how to build wellbeing into our daily working practices.
- We have enjoyed many social events together in Q1 including a Blue Monday online quiz, a “Pies and Pints” evening and a creative Holi and Easter event. We also came together as a team in February for our first Company Day of 2024.
- For International Women’s Day we organised a women’s health talk to learn more about how hormones affect us, and the right foods and exercise that can support a good balance.
- Our Nine Feet Tall run club meet every week to get some fresh air and exercise together.
- We have a dedicated Volunteering Team who have revamped how we use our volunteering days and shared opportunities with the team to engage in meaningful work in our communities.
- We have established fundraising targets and activities to support our chosen charities: Jessie May and Mind. We have already raised over £500 through The Extra Mile Challenge for Jessie May.
- We have a strong focus on Learning and Development to equip our team with the skills and experience they need to develop. In Q1 three members of the team achieved new qualifications and one is receiving 1:1 coaching.
ED&I
- Our CEO and Founder, Esther McMorris, was listed as one of the most inspiring women in Bath and Somerset by The Business Exchange.
- The Nine Feet Tall team enjoyed an afternoon learning about Equity and ED&I with Bath Rugby Foundation through their Lose the Labels workshop.
- To keep our biases in check we encourage the team to take part in unconscious bias and reflection training.
- We have created a calendar of important cultural and significant awareness days which have personal meaning within our team, and we celebrate these together. These have included Blue Monday, Chinese New Year, Neurodiversity Awareness Week and World Social Justice Day.
- We reflect on and celebrate important news events, such as the Greek Parliament legalising same sex marriage and adoption and have discussed stories of discrimination such as racism, ageism, and sexism.
Environment
- We have calculated the digital carbon footprint of the technology we use, which now allows us to set targets for reduction.
- The carbon footprint of our business travel is also now captured, providing bench data for reduction targets.
- Our goal for the end of 2024 is to understand the implications involved for us to achieve net zero.
Having these workstreams help us to perform with purpose and all have a stake in the direction Nine Feet Tall takes. We are a passionate organisation who want to make a difference and it is rewarding to see how we can collectively drive Nine Feet Tall to have a positive impact.
