CDC Blog: Plenty of events + regular catch ups = happy consultants

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Plenty of events + regular catch ups = happy consultants

Posted At : January 22, 2009 7:46 PM | Posted By : Sian Joseph

It's a very simple idea and Capgemini Consulting does it very well; by having regular events and lots if interaction the CDC maintains its sense of community, enables great friendships to form and makes Capgemini a more enjoyable place to work. As event stream lead I have been responsible for organising the events during the last four months ensuring that the CDC continues to achieve the above mentioned objectives. There is steering from management, but the fact that we organise the events for ourselves means that we create events that we would want to attend and ensures they are successful. There are three types of events and they can take on different forms as appropriate.

1. The highlight of our events calendar are the quarterly CDC meetings which are arranged to coincide with the induction of the new intake, giving everyone the opportunity to get to know each other right from the beginning and get networking. As well as the fun part at each meeting we get updated on how well Capgemini is doing in the market, how we as the CDC are contributing to this and also receive skills updates to help us develop. Previous meetings have included a massive treasure hunt across London (a big family competition which was competitively fought) and at venues including Imperial War Museum and HMS Hispaniola on the Thames.

2. Each month we organise a "Thursday Night of Fun (TNF)"; these are designed to be really informal and are scheduled to make sure that those on client site out of London can get back and catch up with everyone (including management).

3. As well as this we set up "Dial Deborah" teleconference calls during which CDCers can ask Deborah, the CDC Manager, any questions and raise concerns. CDCers raise questions anonymously (through the events stream) which avoids the possibility of having any "unaskable" questions and lets queries get solved giving everyone peace of mind.

Because we have so many chances to catch up it means we get to know our work colleagues really well, have lots of fun together and become friends. This not only creates a much more enjoyable place to work, but also ensures that there are plenty of people we feel comfortable in turning to for support or advice should it be needed. This makes us happy consultants.

Sian is an Associate Consultant who joined Capgemini Consulting in March 2009. She is currently undertaking a transformation role for an education based public body.