Here at Shift we have developed a clear idea of how we want to act as an organisation, which we have captured in our organisational values.
Our Organisational Values
We want to be:
This year we have kicked off a new initiative: Shift’s first ever Annual Award. It’s an opportunity to recognise, appreciate and celebrate the hard work and achievements of people and teams within our organisation and to call out the great things they’ve done to help us be as much like this picture of our ideal organisation.
The nomination process
We got everyone in the organisation to nominate people or teams against these 5 categories, plus three others: Above and Beyond – for an individual or team has really gone the extra mile this year, Kindest Human, for whoever has been thoughtful, kind and generally lovely to work with this year, and Brings the Craic, for whoever has brought the most entertainment to the team.
A panel of judges with a representatives from our Research, Innovation, Finance and Operational teams analysed the nominations and selected the final winners.
And here they are:
The winners
Impactful
The winner of this award is our Lead Researcher Immy. Immy is at the centre of all our projects with the NCS, innovating to improve the impact of their four week programme which serves over 300,000 young people.
Immy has led the redevelopment of the organisation’s Theory of Change, which provides the basis for aligning the aims of providers across the delivery network. She is also leading the team developing a framework for delivery partners, to encourage their own reflective learning on their quality standards; the design of engaging toolkits to help leaders run effective, engaging and consistent Guided Reflection sessions.
One of her most exciting current projects is designing a Mass Action Campaign, motivating all NCS attendees to take part in a single positive action, helping foster a sense of community across the network nationwide.
Immy has also been the driving force behind ensuring there is a robust impact methodology across several other Shift projects – particularly Storybox, our new community engagement program that runs hugely enjoyable story sharing events, designed to bring local people together and build stronger communities built on understanding, empathy and respect.
A worthy winner!
Experimental
The winner of this award is a team not an individual, our Food team – Chris (MD of our Healthy Fast Food Programme),Chloe (Lead Researcher), Maia (Researcher), Patrick (Service Designer), Louise (Senior Service Designer) and Lucy (Junior Product Manager).
Over the last year they have:
- built and tested a raft of mechanics for behaviour change in food outlets in Tower Hamlets, East London, (from changing chip packaging to repositioning healthy food as Post-Gym food – read all about it)
drawn from sectors as far afield as vehicle tracking in the logistics industry- built quick and inexpensive solutions where none existed (such as their successful EatMap app)
- used a range of other sources (from individual’s account histories on Just Eat and Uber to GoPro’s strapped to kids) to build a comprehensive picture of the environment’s impact of family food behaviours
- Tried a range of innovative techniques including facebook ads and willingness to pay tests to test their venture proposition – a takeaway service aimed at urban low-income families with kids that is healthier than its competition.
Empathetic
The winner of this award was Lead Researcher Chloe, someone who approaches every interaction with empathy.
This is apparent in the time she spends getting to know participants and their lives, but also in how she relays the stories of these people to clients – never generalised or judgemental but always with empathy.
Most recently she has been the driving force behind our Insights video and report summarising our research into how the environment influences families’ food behaviours in Lambeth and Southwark, produced with Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity.
Practical
The two winners of this award are certainly not satisfied with ideas or insights, and always strive to develop real world solutions.
Our Innovation Director Tayo has been described as the the go-to girl for practical advice as she’s always got concrete, tangible suggestions for how to move things forwards and always offers her support in doing this.
Tayo has done amazingly well to get a new product out into the real world: Tip is a personalised mobile website that provides tips from parents and practitioners, developed in partnership with NCT. The site gets better and better at matching parents with high quality information they’ll love, by getting to know them over time, aiming to help parents feel confident and capable in their child’s first 1000 days, and raising healthy, happy children. Watch out for the beta launch in the coming months.
The second winner was our Senior Service Designer Louise, who has pushed two new ventures forward over the last year. She’s is leading the food team in the development of their Everyday Takeaway Venture which is about to be tested in market.
On top of that, Louise has led the launch of a new product into the world with the Historypin team: Storybox – a new community engagement program that runs hugely enjoyable story sharing events, designed to bring local people together. She’s blogged about the process here and here.
Entrepreneurial
There was a standout winner for the category rewarding those who use their initiative to seek out opportunities, strive to make money and set up sustainable business models.
Patrick our Service Designer who joined us this year, has led the way in hustling for results.
Whether it’s Facebook testing for our Everyday Takeaway Venture, running up to Birmingham to find a kitchen, or selling Storybox all over the country, he has done an amazing job.
Other awards
We also recognised:
Finance Manager, Caroline, for the Above and Beyond Award, as she takes on so many tasks that sit outside her day to day role effortlessly and without hesitation or complaint.
Akram, CTO of BfB Labs the mental-health tech venture set up by Shift, for the Kindest Human Award, as he generally makes our offices a nicer place to be.
Manjul, our Senior Service Designer, for the Brings the Craic Award for her continual efforts to get everyone together and seek inspiration outside of the office and outside the industry.
Congratulations to all the winners.