Clarity in uncertain times at BEIS

Developing inspiring business vision statements in Whitehall is often complicated by the pace of change and the political cycles that frequently re-order departments into new configurations. But the changes also demand the statements – the political merry-go-round often leaves employees uprooted and in need of clarity on exactly what their new departments are designed to do.

This was the heart of the challenge given to us by BEIS – who had recently emerged out of two now redundant government departments and needed to provide clarity to employees on what the new department was hoping to achieve They also needed to provide employees with the inspiration necessary to get them out of bed and giving their best for the new department and minister.

A vision fit for 2020
We approached the challenge prosaically. Ultimately, we needed to communicate something while the formal vision statement was still in development – not doing anything would leave a problematic vacuum so communication was essential. We developed a campaign to provide a stop-gap before the final statement was issued, while helping with engagement on that statement through a series of employee sessions and interactions,

We focussed not on the miniature of the developed statement, but rather the general sentiments and ambitions the department had established. These sentiments mirrored their strategic priorities – sustainability, growth, ambition and innovation – and we brought them to life using stop motion photography championing the regions and locations that were bringing the ambitions to life. .

Adoption and integration

The success of the campaign meant it has now been adopted more broadly into the BEIS look and feel, and is part of the external communication suite currently playing on their external office space. The campaign has been developed with detailed case studies of the work they’re doing in their communities.