Hello, I'm Helen.

I’m your culture-change partner.

Working hand-in-hand, we'll align your workplace culture to your business strategy, and unlock and accelerate success.

What people say

Six reasons why you should work with me

My ethos

Communication is everything

Verbal, visual, written, non-verbal… what, where, when and how you communicate enhances the culture you’re building, or undermines it.

Sleeves rolled up

Change sticks when it’s owned by the team. I co-create with your team, making friends quickly, getting into the weeds, sharing often, and welcoming feedback.

All about impact

I’ll only do work I believe will have an impact. That’s all.

Deeds, as well as words

Delivering a well-crafted message is critical, but not sufficient. Your culture needs to see you act, not just talk.

Honesty over harmony

I’ll say it as I see it, even if you might not like hearing it. You’ve already got enough people telling you what they think you want to hear.

How I can help

I help Chief Executives and Chief People Officers align their company’s culture with their business strategy in ways that accelerate success.

My multi-disciplinary background means I’m most effective working at the intersection between the People team, the Brand team, and Internal Communications. I speak all their languages (and can be the interpreter, if needed).

Unlike an agency, I work in and with your team, doing the strategy and the implementation. So you’re not left with a shiny piece of work you’re not quite sure what to do with.

And when your team is overstretched or thin on the ground, I’ll pull in my trusted associates for larger projects and to deliver employer brands and creative assets.

How I do it

Think of me as your part-time, fixed-term, Associate Culture Director. I’ll meet with you, your people team and your executive team, then:

  • Assess the current culture and take a baseline measure
  • Envision the ideal culture
  • Map the shifts we need to make
  • Identify priority projects / sprints
  • Design experiments, implement, measure, then scale them
  • Internal communications strategy and messaging throughout

How long it takes

  • Strategy: 2-3 months
  • Strategy + implementation + measurement: 6-12 months
Helen

Know what you need to do, but not quite how, or who? I’ll scope the project and give you a fee and schedule. For bigger projects, I’ll bring in brilliant associates to deliver at pace.

Employee value proposition: Discovery, definition and articulation of what it’s like to work for you, and what it takes. So you attract and keep more of the people who’ll thrive, and fewer of those who won’t.

Employer brand: Employer brand definition including visual and verbal identity. Campaign design and implementation across the candidate and employee journey.

Behaviours / values / principles: Discovery, co-creation and articulation of what you stand for, and what you ask of your people. Embedding throughout the employee experience in creative and credible ways.

Purpose / vision / strategy: Working with the executive team to articulate the ‘north star’ for your company and then communicate it in engaging and compelling ways your people can get behind.

Mergers and acquisitions: Culture strategy and interventions to help you preserve and develop your culture, at a time when it’s at its most threatened. So you can accelerate performance, not hinder it.

Internal and change communications: Overarching internal communications strategy, bespoke change communications strategy and narrative, leadership ghost writing, or crisis comms. All in plain English.

Moments that matter: Designing and shaping key moments: from candidate experience, engaging inductions, recognition schemes, performance management approaches and beyond.

Creative campaigns: Culture book? Video demystifying performance management? Photoshoot? I’ll bring in skilled creatives and work as your Producer to deliver creative projects end-to-end.

Have an employee-experience-and-comms-shaped gap in your team? I can support you on a retained basis; you book some of my time each month and put that towards your most important priorities. I can use some of this time to mentor your team so that they benefit too, and are able to sustain the work when it’s time for me to move on.

I also offer coaching programmes for executives, leaders and colleagues, find out more here.

Two years in the making

I’ve earned the International Coaching Federation’s Associate Certified Coach credential – a rigorous process that certifies my coach education, capability, ethics and knowledge.

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Get in touch

I’d love to hear from you.

helen@helenboardman.com
+44 7920 828378
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