The Tall Group of Companies specialises in secure print and payments solutions including cheques, electronic payment processing and election ballot papers. It employs 135 people across its three sites in Runcorn, Hinkley and Lisburn, in roles ranging from manufacturing to IT systems development and software creation.
The pandemic significantly affected the organisation, with business falling by 20% in the second quarter of 2020, forcing it to re-engineer its operations and put some staff on furlough. When business levels started to recover in mid-2021, Martin Ruda, managing director of the Tall Group of Companies, wanted to ensure employees felt valued and secure with the organisation. “We launched our ‘Road to Recovery’ recognition programme in July,” he explains. “This was designed to acknowledge and celebrate success, whether that was an employee or team going above and beyond at work or someone’s daughter getting on the school cricket team.”
Through the programme, employees were encouraged to nominate colleagues who had excelled, with everyone’s names, whether nominee or nominator, going into a hat for a weekly prize draw. “We also had a weekly newsletter detailing all the great things our employees were doing and a monthly event at each site to bring everyone together over food and drink,” adds Ruda. “It created a real sense of the business becoming more active again.”
Following the success of the programme, the Tall Group is expanding it in 2022 with a new scheme ‘We RISE together’. This is based around the organisation’s nine values, which include respect, improve, service and engage and will run through the year.
As well as recognising employees on a monthly and quarterly basis, the new programme retains the regular get-togethers for a bite to eat and drink. “It has created some excitement in the workplace and developed new relationships,” adds Ruda. “Our employees are what makes our business successful and it’s important to recognise and reward them.”