Glamorgan Brewing – their Agile Nation 2 business programme journey

The Anstee family set up the business in the early 1990s as they identified a gap in the market for them to start brewing and distributing their own beer. They later rebranded as Glamorgan Brewing Company in 2015. Over the years they developed close working relationships and first-hand knowledge of their local communities and the needs of the hospitality industry. The brewery, logistics and offices are based in Llantrisant and despite some unavoidable job losses following the recent pandemic, they employ 62 staff and have plans to expand the business over the next 12 months.

Glamorgan Brewing are strong advocates of employee wellbeing and were keen to participate in the AN2 business programme to better understand their employees’ perception of the workplace. Managers were keen to improve the ‘work experience’, particularly in the area of employee progression.

As a result of their hard work and commitment to equality, the Glamorgan Brewing team received our ‘Achieving’ FairPlay Employer award.

The business areas we worked on

Performance Management

Armed with a desire to encourage all staff to develop their skills and progress their careers, Glamorgan Brewing saw that the AN2 business programme would have a huge impact on their performance management processes. Following attendance at both a Performance Management and a Learning and Development workshop, managers at Glamorgan Brewing were keen to ensure that every employee had the opportunity to discuss their current job role and any future opportunities with their line manager.

Working with their business partner they implemented a Personal Development Plan (PDP), which was acknowledged as a key tool in providing the framework to allow employee and manager the time and space to discuss learning, development and job performance. From September 2020 every employee will have a meeting with their line manager to set up their own development plan which will take account of their current role in the business and how they see their own careers progressing.

Communications

As with many organisations, communications is carried out, but sometimes it takes a fresh pair of eyes to review what is being said and how this filters through to every employee. With many staff working from home, effective communications is especially important for morale, job satisfaction and employee wellbeing.

Whilst Glamorgan Brewing already undertook a number of communications initiatives that supported the employees to understand the business and their role within it, these were not structured or formed part of a wider plan. The business partner helped Glamorgan Brewing identify how communications would aid employees to feel they belonged, regardless of role or where and when they worked and the importance of this for both employee and the business. As a result, a communications policy was written that set out the communications that would be used internally. This policy was then cascaded so that all employees knew what they should expect in terms of business communication. The Company work tirelessly to ensure that all employees are kept up to date with business initiatives and are keen for these to be reflected in employees’ objectives and personal development plans.

The gender equality outcomes

All employees, regardless of gender, job role, length of service or working patterns have been encouraged to undertake training to help them in their current role. Employees will now have dedicated time with their manager to consider their future career aspirations so that specific development can be worked on to prepare them for future opportunities. Managers and employees feel much more engaged in how learning and development is reviewed which has helped make the day-to-day work experience much more fulfilling.