Employee Director Forum and Your Voice 2015

On 16th of October I attended the Employee Director Forum, there are two forums a year and it is a chance to  raise any question that employees, via myself, may have to the Directors of
First Goup Plc.
It also paints a picture of where we are heading as a company and gives the Company Directors a chance to question us on any concerns they have about how colleagues are being engaged and communicated to within all our operating companies.
These are the members of the Forum including our colleagues from The rail division (see below Picture). The meeting is chaired by Mick Barker who is the group Employee Director

Secondly, we are nearly at the end of "Your Voice 2015" and I am glad to report, that as of today, we have  4 depots who are over the 75% completion rate and so far we have raised

OVER £1500 for Prostate Cancer UK in The Essex Area.

This means at present we have 750 colleagues who will be placed into the raffle to win one of the prizes- £500, £250 or £100 of love to shop vouchers. It's not to late to complete the, simply follow the link  www.yourvoicesurvey.com and enter the password  VOICE2015,   The finishing date is Friday 30th of October.

Over the last 3 weeks, I have met more colleagues than in the past year! so please stop and have a chat with me me next time I am visiting your Depot. 

Your Voice Schedule

We have had a really great start to the Your Voice 2015 Campaign. I can honestly say I have enjoyed meeting so many colleagues over the last few days it was a real challenge but one that I am very passionate about. It's our  one chance to have our say and a make a difference to our daily working experience.  we have already raised over  £750 for Prostate Cancer.  Many thanks to all the colleagues who have completed the survey so far.
On Monday 12th we will be in Basildon Depot, on the 13th Colchester Canteen and on the 14th Chelmsford bus station

 This was on Monday at Chelmsford Bus  station Debbie "Bake off" Knight! created a superb Chocolate cake and lots of "your voice" cup cakes  as you can see they went down very well!

On Wednesday we visited Hadleigh and at present they are in the lead with a 53% completion rate
If you want to complete the Your Voice survey  on line then use the following link
www.yourvoicesurvey.com-remember £2 donation for an on-line  completion, £1 for paper version

Colchester Quayside Depot

On Thursday 30th September it was the official  opening of the new Colchester Depot I was lucky enough to attend the ceremony. In Attendance were quite a few local stake holders and it was good to hear  how  being a bus driver really does put you at the heart of the community and how valued our services are to the communities of Essex.
The site mirrors the new Town centre offices, travel shop and staff rest area. It is a real pleasure to see colleagues working in state-of-the-art facilities. With the new buses due at Colchester very soon, I am sure that the foundations previously laid will go from strength to strength.
    Like every one else,  I was shocked when I heard and saw on the news that a Colchester driver had been seriously injured in an incident that occurred whilst he was in service. The fact that so many colleagues  have shown concern for his well being and the speed of his recovery makes me proud. First Essex are supporting his family and I am glad to report he is now in a satisfactory condition.

On a final note as next week the "Your Voice" surveys go live in depots. I shall be aiding colleagues in completing the survey. You will find me in the following depots on:

Monday 5th Oct Chelmsford
Tuesday 6th Oct Basildon
Wednesday 7th Hadleigh
Thursday 8th Oct Colchester
Friday 9th  Oct Clacton  am/ Braintree pm

A competition  is running for each depot if they achieve over 75 % completion rate - prizes of £500 £250 and £100 are up for grabs.