NS&I

💭 How many people does it take to create a great Annual Report? Our 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts was published last month, showcasing how we’ve delivered for both savers and government. This report has been touched by nearly every area of the business - finance, media, brand, compliance, risk, our data analysts, HR – the list goes on! 🎉 That's a lot of people working together and the end result is a fantastic snapshot of one year in the NS&I story. We’re extremely grateful to every colleague that has been involved. You prove that we’re #StrongerTogether. Join us in thanking our brilliant colleagues in the comments below! And check out the report here ➡ https://lnkd.in/gdCvjZUU #AnnualReport #ThankYou #ShoutOut

Shout out to our Social Committee for organising free and fun activities for our colleagues. Held at lunchtime and after work, these friendly and informal events help us get to know one another better and bring more joy to the working week.   As part of Civil Service Bike Week, our colleagues grabbed their bikes for a lunchtime cycle around St James’s Park. Others braved the steps of the medieval tower at London’s Garden Museum for panoramic views of the city. And coming up in August we have a weekend hike in the Malverns.   A huge thank you to everyone that volunteers to organise these exciting events for us. You bring the fun to work! 

At NS&I, we’re really proud to allow space for our colleagues to choose a personal objective. This is a chance to set a goal of their choosing that truly speaks to their passions – and have protected time to work towards it. We’ve seen some brilliant personal objectives in action. From gaining new qualifications and organising social committee events, to building industry networks and training to become first aiders. There are so many ways in which our colleagues are using their interests to help make NS&I a great place to work. 

Huge congratulations to our Learning & Development Manager, Catherine Nice, Mind's Wellbeing Lead for 2024!   This award recognises a colleague who has made a significant, positive impact championing mental health and wellbeing at their organisation. Catherine was selected out of almost 300 nominations by Mind’s judging panel, no mean feat!   We’re beyond grateful to Catherine and our Wellbeing, Diversity and Inclusion Group. They keep wellbeing at the forefront of NS&I’s agenda by delivering training and events, promoting open conversations about wellbeing and ensuring we have plenty of mental health first aiders across the business.   Catherine’s success comes on the back of NS&I being awarded Silver in the 23/24 Mind Workplace Wellbeing Index, an accreditation we’re really proud to have held for five years. 

We’d like to say a big thank you to our Employee Listening and Action Group (ELAG)! Our ELAG reps are volunteers from across the business who listen to colleagues, suggest improvements and advocate for change. Each year, they analyse colleague survey feedback to develop an action plan. This ambitious plan aims to make NS&I a better place to work by tackling themes that matter to us all. The latest edition of the plan was launched last week by our Chief Executive Dax Harkins and ELAG Chair Lauren Wallis. Here’s what Lauren had to say about it: “We’re proud that NS&I is in the top 25% of civil service departments for employee engagement. But there’s more we can do, and our plan shows that. Last year, we responded to our people by supporting a new recognition programme, further developing our wellbeing and learning offer and engaging colleagues across the whole business to get involved. This year, our focus is on our business transformation, ensuring our customers and our people are at the heart of this work. It's a really exciting time to be part of NS&I.” Thank you to Lauren, our ELAG reps and everyone involved in this work for your invaluable contributions. You help us all to aspire to do more.

🎉 This month marks the 30-year anniversary of our first Premium Bonds £1 million jackpot win, which means it’s also 30 years since we introduced Agent Million! Our very own Matt Taylor was lucky enough to be Agent Million for over three years, travelling the UK to tell Premium Bonds winners that they had become millionaires. Here’s what he said about the unique role. “My first visit is one that stands out. I was shadowing an experienced Agent Million when delivering the life-changing news. The winner came to the door, confused, mid-haircut, in an apron! “The winners go through a rollercoaster of emotions during the visit. People are typically sceptical to begin with. The next stage is disbelief and shock. They find it hard to believe that they have won the top prize. “The final stage is my favourite, not just because of the tea and biscuits which usually make an appearance! The winner starts to take the news in and reflect on their life journey up to this point.” Thanks, Matt, for sharing your story 👏

At our Connect Conference we set aside time to shine a light on our NS&I superstars in our annual colleague awards – the Spotlights! We were blown away by the amount of nominations across seven exciting award categories, showing love for colleagues across all regions and teams. Energy in the room was high as we cheered for one another and the winners took to the stage to be congratulated by our Chief Executive Dax Harkins and Chair, Ed Anderson. Congratulations to our 2024 Spotlight winners: 👟 Total Trooper - Catherine Nice 💡 Creative Hero - Samantha Burton 🚢 Calm the seas - louise winslade 💎 Hidden Gem - Nathan Young 🔭 The Sage One - Danielle Morley 🌥 The Silver Lining - Lauren Wallis 💪 Everyday Champions – Facilities Management & Internal Communications - Steve Downey, Stan Williams, Clare Murray, Alex Fearn, Jessica Penny, Lizzie Bramer, Bistra Braykova and Carrie Gerard. Thank you to everyone that attended and made this event special. We can’t wait to bring the Spotlights back next year!

We brought the financial year to a close with our all staff Connect Conference last week - a brilliant opportunity to reflect on the year, celebrate our successes together and look ahead to 2024/25. We kicked off with a message from our Minister, Bim Afolami MP. Transformation was a key focus as we explored how we'll enhance customer experience, and colleagues brought their enthusiasm to a collaborative session on new ways of working. We were also delighted to learn about The Royal Mint's inspiring transformation journey from Nicola Howell. We ended on a high as we shone a light on our NS&I superstars in our annual colleague awards - the Spotlights. We just love these moments of connection. Thanks to everyone for coming together for a great end to the year. 

It was an absolute pleasure to host NS&I Retail Director, Andrew Westhead MBA, and Assistant Director, Sally Swait, this week in our IBM London offices where we discussed all things digital customer experience, mobile strategy, Conversational AI, Gen AI, our Adobe capability, a vision for the future of digital services for NS&I, and how we are fully committed and excited to transform the business in partnership. Looking forward to the fun ahead! Thanks to Jeremy Forshew, Michael Conway, Thomas Simpson, Benita Kailey, Peter Smith, Atif Mahmood, and Raghavendra Bharadhwaj.

A big shout out to our Security Team for organising a brilliant Cyber Security Month. With talks, quizzes and guest speakers, it was a jam-packed occasion exploring the motivations of the cyber criminals and how to stay safe online, both at work and home.   Particular thanks to Dinesh Nagarajan from our partner IBM for joining us to speak about how AI is impacting the world of cyber security. It was enlightening to see how advanced AI has become and to understand how we can stay vigilant against malicious attacks.    Credit to our colleagues Michael Nunn, Chris Dixon and Prom Akinbade for arranging these educational events and helping NS&I maintain a secure and resilient business environment for colleagues and customers.