Five of our employee-owners, four of them elected representatives on our Shareholder Impact Board (SIB), joined more than 800 delegates in Liverpool for the National Employee Ownership Association (EOA) Conference in November 2023. They attended a range of insightful presentations and workshops delivered by others equally passionate about employee-ownership and engaged in such inspiring conversations with other EO businesses.
Smile Together became an employee-owned community interest company in 2016 to give our employees, as shareholders, a genuine voice in the business and its future development. We achieved B Corp certification in 2022 and have positively thrived together in this environment, delivering our patient care to those who need us most across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and reinvesting 100% of our profits back into patient facilities, local communities and our environment – to date over £7 million!
As an employee-owned company we often share our EO journey and experiences along the way, and it’s equally valuable to learn from other EO businesses.
A particular highlight at the conference was hearing from keynote speaker Joe Garner, former Nationwide Chief Executive, on leadership to “create purpose-led organisations that are also high-performing”. Other key ingredients for success were shared through presentations, panel discussions and a Kahoot poll, and included:
- Putting humanity at the heart of business
- Taking time to reflect on progress and celebrate your successes
- Taking a sense of ownership in your business and beyond
- Understanding what makes us happy at work
- The importance of being together, noting that whilst “technology, sustainability and health mean people are gathering less, nothing can replace the energy and learning felt in the room at an event such as this conference”
The EOA launched their new ‘Proudly Employee Owned’ logo which we immediately adopted and added to our website here!
As you can see the team had a fabulous time – alongside the conference proceedings other highlights included the dinner and inspirational EOA awards, plus the opportunity to start feeling festive in such an impressively decorated venue.
More EOA conference highlights on their website here.
