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Collins Grandson facilitates Staff Conference
Herbert Collins 1885 - 1975, founder of Swaythling Housing
Society, would have looked down on his legacy with a sense
of pride and a wry smile last week. In 1925 he invested £200
along with three others to build affordable homes to let in
post-war Southampton. Now, 82 years on Swaythling Housing
Society has joined forces with Parkside Housing Group and
Drum Housing Association to form Radian Group Limited, with
over 15,000 properties in its portfolio and approaching 1000
employees.
Many of these employees met for the first time on May 2nd
at a staff conference facilitated and managed by Fresh Tracks,
a training and events company founded by Herbert Collins's
grandson, Dan Collins.
"Despite having hosted conferences and events for leading
businesses and numerous other housing organisation's, the
Radian Conference was a very special day for me" said
Fresh Tracks founder Dan Collins. "I've always been immensely
proud of my grandfather's work, both as an architect and social
landlord and I'm delighted to be contributing to that same
organisation in the 21st century".
Lindsay Todd, Chief Executive of Radian said "The day
was a great success, not only were we able to launch the vision
for Radian, we have also come away as a more cohesive team
with many new relationships having been established. Thanks
to Fresh Tracks the day was not only informative but also
great fun and highly motivating for all who attended ".
Fresh Tracks specialise in arranging inspiring and motivational
conferences for the housing sector and count Southern Housing
Group, Ability Housing and London and Quadrant amongst their
loyal clients. A Fresh Tracks conference is unique in its
form; presentations are kept to a minimum and replaced by
individual and group participation. The Radian Conference
kicked off with an icebreaker which explored delegate's unique
talents and interests. The audience was seated not in rows
but around tables in peer groups so that they could put faces
to names and exchange ideas, after a morning focused on the
organisation's future the afternoon involved a high energy
business simulation in which the teams competed to produce
the most viable, profitable and appealing box of chocolates.
"A really great day" commented one of the participants
"I discovered talents I didn't know existed in my colleagues
and myself."
Fresh Tracks programmes are based around having fun. Experience
has proved that when a team has fun, it becomes more effective
and relationships grow stronger.
When individuals feel valued, they are more committed, as
a result, workflow improves and staff turnover decreases.
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