Gemma helps shape the culture of businesses

WHEN THE pandemic hit, a Wokingham businesswoman decided to take her fate into her own hands – and she’s never looked back.

Gemma Hood launched consultancy firm Culturehood at the beginning of last year in a bid to support businesses struggling to move online.

When the virus hit the UK, she said she anticipated people might struggle working from home and wanted to lend a hand.

“People we’re shoved into little digital islands,” she explained.

“Businesses have to think about how they can connect with people when they’re working from home, and I knew that human element would be missing within some companies.”

In her last job, Ms Hood was tasked with setting up a human resources function to manage employees as the business grew.

“I named it ‘culture and community’ because I like to focus on employee engagement and experience, rather than policies and practice,” she explained.

And over the past four years, Ms Hood’s carefully crafted people strategies have been recognised with a number of awards, including winning the Tech Employer of the Year award at the Thames Valley Tech Awards 2020.

At the start of the pandemic, she decided to use that experience and “take the leap”, leaving the safety of her former job to set up Culturehood.

Nearly a year after launching, she is now running a well-established company assisting a whole host of small- to medium-sized businesses (SMEs).

At Culturehood, Ms Hood spends her time consulting with companies which are dealing with employee disengagement.

“I look for indicators that people are not as productive as they should be,” she explained.

“I’ve created what I call the ‘five D process’ when I work with a business.”

After defining a company’s aims and discovering people practices in place and gaining employees feedback, she designs and deploys a ‘people and culture plan’.

This is followed by a debrief months later, to see if employees are more engaged than before.

“Each business is looking to do something slightly different,” Ms Hood continued.

“They could be looking to re-engage an existing workforce, fix a toxic work culture, or they want to tackle high employee turnover.”

But that’s not all Culturehood is useful for, she said.

The business also works with companies that want to grow by helping them build a good foundation for strong employee engagement.

Ms Hood believes employees have a responsibility to prioritise employee engagement and wellbeing, now more than ever.

“Because of the pandemic, they need to make sure that people are happy coming to work because from a mental health perspective, they need to ensure employees aren’t burning out or feel unclear on what’s expected of them,” she explained.

“I recently started a mental health first aid course so that

I’m better equipped to assess employees’ wellbeing when doing my audits.

“With so many people working from home, that line between finishing work and starting work is so blurred, it’s easy to become stuck in a rut and burn out.”

Culturehood is currently offering a free 45-minute consultation for anybody who believes their company culture needs a rethink.

“Ultimately, if your employees are productive, they’re going to treat your customers better,” Ms Hood added.

“The better you treat your customers, the more it will increase revenue so it comes in full circle.

“By investing in your people, you’re investing in your business.”

■ To find out more about Culturehood, visit: www.culturehood.co.uk