Following on from a hugely successful year for risual, the IT services organisation have two more accolades to add to an already impressive list of awards achieved in 2015. risual’s core values to deliver services with passion, style and good humour founded on honesty and trust; being the best by all measures. This has culminated in nationwide recognition, from those within the Microsoft ecosystem as Microsoft Partners of the Year to the Houses of Parliament. risual prove that remaining an ethically guided organisation, built on trust, openness and honesty will deliver its own long term rewards.
In February this year, risual were announced as Stafford Responsible Business Champion 2015, nominated by local MP, Jeremy Lefroy, who nominated risual for “the overall positive impact made by risual in its constituency due to the extent of employee engagement in charity work, support for the risual’s work from local partners; and the extent to which risual goes beyond what they are legally or contractually obliged to do for their employees.” every Spring and Autumn sees the risual workforce come together for a CSR day, coined ‘Helping Others’ providing manpower to support community charity and conservation projects. This year, this has resulted in all risual employees working with House of Bread, a Stafford based charity which provides food and shelter to anyone in need and Katherine House Hospice – who providing free hospice care services in Mid Staffordshire.
risual were immensely proud to win Microsoft UK Partner of the Year in 2015 and see this as recognition of the hard work of all risual employees, their passion, drive and commitment. Microsoft presented the following description of risual:
“risual have demonstrated marketing best practices in leveraging opportunities to create demand. They have invested heavily in their community, creating ‘risual Academy’, an apprentice scheme in partnership with their local college, to grow the next generation of young people with skills on Microsoft technologies.” ‘risual Education’ is a brand new venture focused on providing digital skills to the next generation all across the UK. Our programme was described by William Hague, Former Secretary of State in Parliament as, “Exactly the sort of co-ordination that is bringing great benefits to the economy and to local people.”
risual take absolute pride in acting as a professional organisation, and maintaining a “relaxed but proper” approach to working practices. risual are proud that the professionalism and organisational values have naturally resulted in external validation of the belief that risual is the Best place to work in IT. In 2015, risual were the proud recipient of The Sunday Times Best Small Companies to Work for 2015, risual were ranked at number 32 across all sectors; and listed as number one IT Consultancy with twelve top twenty results. risual received a ranking of 16/100 for Personal Growth (an 88% positive factor score), 18/100 for My team (90% positive factor score) and 23/100 for Giving Something Back. Leadership was highlighted as a top performing factor. This validation was direct from employees, which view risual as a great place to work confirms risual’s organisational values are aligned to the success and happiness of our employees. Recently our corporate video went viral on YouTube receiving over 100,000 views on YouTube, and our newest video has just been launched at Future Decoded 2015.
risual also received a 3 star accreditation in the Best Companies 2015 based entirely on employee feedback. Described in the article as a “tight-knit and caring place, offering excellent career prospects.” The organisation has grown by over 100% in terms of employees, this is mostly due to heavy investment in apprentices and graduates, creating a young and optimistic atmosphere.
Our employees are all encouraged to develop their passions, and our consultants run a volunteer podcast called risual Radio where they discuss technology. During our pizza nights budding DJs, stand-up comedians, and chefs have all shown off their talents.
In terms of development, risual offer a no-budget training system for every member of staff, from finance to our most technical consultants – a “certification for all” policy for all staff. This means employees can create their own career paths in risual, allowing them the freedom to choose the course that interests them, and try out new job roles in their annual “mothership week”.
Winning Best Company to Work for in IT and being highly commended Services Company of the Year by the prestigious Computing and BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT is a major honor and a fantastic end to a historic year for risual. risual are keen to share their model for success and hope to act as a guide to help other organisations achieve high levels of employee satisfaction and engagement across the country.
