Meningitis Now
Meningitis Now (formerly Meningitis Trust) is the first meningitis patient group in the world, the founders of the meningitis movement and the only charity dedicated to fighting meningitis in the UK. Over their 30-year history, over £12.7m have been invested in early-stage research that has played a critical part in the introduction of five life-saving vaccines.
Following a merger between The Meningitis Trust and Meningitis UK in 2013 to create the current Meningitis Now, Ali Stewart & Co were able to provide further support during the process of merging the cultures seamlessly. Meningitis Now is able to carry out the work through a team of nearly 40 staff members, and over 240 volunteers who work with a network of over 100 counsellors, and therapists specialising in art, play and music to ensure people get the help they need, when and where they need it.
The Challenges Faced by Meningitis Now
Back in 2007/08, then known as Meningitis Trust, were undertaking a major strategic review. The Trust required a significant change in its marketplace, the impact of which would be significant. Key challenges facing the Trust were:
Vaccines that were introduced for all but one of the primary causes of bacterial meningitis, complacency was increasing across the general public, meaning raising funds was only going to get harder.
Competition in the charity sector was increasing.
The need for support for people affected was still clear (both due to the nature of the impact of meningitis and the continued cases, even if lower).
The organisation’s profile was low.
The Trust had always been ‘lucky’ with its income staying at reasonably consistent levels, but this was noticeably starting to drop.
The Trust had to learn to achieve more with less, whilst wanting to reach more people in need of support.
Under the previous CEO, the internal people aspects of the organisation had not been a priority, resulting in staff turnover of 20% which had a large negative impact on the Trust; high levels of absenteeism and sickness; and training for staff was inconsistent. It was evidence team members were not feeling encouraged to work together.
How Ali Stewart & Co Responded
Having assessed the challenges being faced by Meningitis Trust, it was clear that they needed support to:
Enable the organisation to survive - ensure people are not left to suffer in silence after meningitis.
Enable the organisation to ‘grow’ in its ability to deliver the vision in an increasingly challenging environment.
Improve the effectiveness of the organisation - enable more to be done with the same or less, with strong teamwork among staff.
Provide an environment where personal development is encouraged and achieved, and instigate effective succession planning.
The Results
The programme had a significant impact on the Trust, exceeding initial expectations. The programme strengthened the Trust in the following ways:
Staff turnover fell by 50%
Absenteeism rates dropped by 33%
The Trust won a Local Heros Award after being nominated by supporters.
Retention was at an all-time high, with 92% of staff with 12+ months service, compared with 79% three years prior.
The Trust’s core services were able to support 20% more people than before without any increase in costs.
Recruitment expenditure dropped from £30k from the year prior, down to £7k following the programme.
Established a major donor programme due to increased confidence and knowledge-base in the organisation.
PR coverage increased by 60% and the Communications Team won CIPR West of England Pride Award in late 2009 for ‘Outstanding in-house PR team’.
For the first time, became runner-up for 2 national “Best Employer” Awards in 2010, the Institute of Fundraising Annual Awards and the Third Sector Annual Awards, both of which were initiated by staff.
Comments from staff in Me PLC reviews were consistently positive.
Poor performances were quickly identified and managed appropriately, as opposed to disciplinary procedures, resulting in improved performance.
Training was no longer seen as an obligation, and instead, staff were able to utilise other approaches to aid their development on-the-job development, showing, coaching, and talking to peers and other organisations.
“Ali is fantastic and inspires you to want to keep moving forward. As a somewhat reluctant CEO, this programme has personally enabled me to develop confidence I did not know I had and made me a better leader for the Trust – and that is largely down to Ali and how effectively she supports you through the programme as well as delivers it.”
Sue Davie, Former Chief Executive at Meningitis Now
Any advice to organisations in a similar position?
“Go for it! It is worth the investment in staff time and money. It is incredibly cost-effective (particularly important for a charity). You need to see it as an ongoing journey. During that journey, you need to sit back occasionally and reflect to see what has been achieved and ensure the development continues. It is essential that it “lives” from the top and you need to ensure those who naturally take it on board are supported as ambassadors for it, with clear recognition of how they have changed for the good and how they are influencing others as well.”
Sue Davie, Former Chief Executive at Meningitis Now