Rapid business growth is great. Birmingham-based multidisciplinary engineering firm, adi Group, can vouch for that. Its seen turnover grow from £12 million to £82 million and its ranks swell from 370 to 630 between 2008 and today.
But senior management at the company have also long understood that, in order to drive and sustain that growth, they have needed to take their workforce with them. And doing that is all about fostering the right culture and ensuring their employees are engaged to the maximum.
Last Wednesday, adi held an extraordinary group conference, under the banner Our People, gathering all staff at the National Motorcycle Museum in the West Midlands to let them know their futures are in their own hands, as well as sharing the benefits of the Groups growth to each individual.
adis Group Strategic Account Director, James Sopwith, explained the companys thinking. Weve experienced continual growth throughout the 28 year history of the firm and were looking to ramp that up even further in the coming years. The key to delivering that growth is our people, pure and simple. We depend on their extremely high skillsets and their dedication, but also their belief in our business too.
"But its a two-way street. People deliver growth but growth can empower people too. So, as we continue to expand, our people need to know we back them and that, with adi, they can take their careers wherever they wish. Thats the simple message we put across at the Our People event.
An engaging day of both information sharing and interactive sessions, featured a number of keynote addresses from four Managing Directors of the firms business units, outlining the individual opportunities ahead for employees as the group rolls out an ambitious plan to push turnover beyond the £200 million mark and add a further 500 staff to an existing complement of 630 in the next five years.
The Company also launched a number of key programmes that support the aims and objectives of the day, including their interactive communication platform, Tell Stirling, along with both a rewards programme and healthcare plans for all employees.
With over 30 core specialisms in its locker, adi Group has a self-delivering model that enables it to serve as a one-stop-shop provider of turnkey engineering solutions to clients in the Automotive, Food & Beverage, Manufacturing, Aerospace & Defence, Pharmaceutical and Petrochemical sectors.
With its right first time mindset inspired by the dynamism of Formula 1 racing, it was fitting that adi called upon the services of former Williams Martini Racing Head of Marketing, Scott Garrett to compere Wednesdays conference. His communications strengths were apt for the occasion.
James Sopwith expanded, saying, Cultural continuity and effective internal communications are among the toughest challenges for any growing business. You have make sure everyone knows what theyre working towards and why. They need to know the big picture and understand that their voices will be heard rather than being lost in all the white noise.
The hearts and minds of our team have always been a key concern, so we promote the ideals of teamwork, awareness of the working environment and mindfulness. If we all pull in the same direction, it benefits the firm and our clients. Thats great but the main point of the day was to reinforce the point that our growth can only happen with our teams support and it will also bring individual opportunities.
Our people make us who and what we are. And, at adi, our people can be who and what they want to be.
With serious ambitions to double both its turnover and workforce by 2020, adi Group has scores of high quality engineering opportunities in the offing.
To learn more about the openings and engineering apprenticeships available right now and further ahead in 2018, check out http://adiltd.co.uk/careers.