Testimonials

As Chairman of Cambridge Weight Plan, I have worked with Ian since December 2019 when he was appointed an Independent Trustee of our Employee Ownership Trust.

He balances a focus on Employee Ownership values (and on looking after the interests of our employee owners) with good commercial judgement. He has proved willing to roll up his sleeves where he can help yet has not shied away from asking the challenging questions required of his role.

Very experienced and always professional, he is also a pleasure to work with.

Ian’s attention to detail and unflappability ensures that things get done. He listens to and includes everyone; his natural curiosity and inquisitive manner means no stone is left unturned.

Ian brings organisation to proceedings and does it in a friendly but professional manner. He is the driving force to a board to make the most of new ideas by drawing the best out of others.

We made contact with Ian for support in developing a new initiative that involved setting up a community of practice formed of professionals from diverse health, social and emergency care backgrounds to share knowledge and best practice on a very sensitive issue. Ian has become a vital part of our team of researchers. He was a huge support in planning the first event; supporting us in refining our focus, thinking about how to engage members of the new community in a way that valued all voices, flattened hierarchies and created a safe space for people to share their ideas freely.

His expertise in workshop planning was essential in ensuring we got the most out of the valuable time we had with our members, bringing matters to our attention that we would not have considered and refining our ideas into tangible objectives through doable and enjoyable workshop-style activities for participants.

On the day he was masterful in keeping things flowing, adapting timings where necessary and in response to the debate, while still respecting the voices of those in the room. This meant that we were able to listen more actively to discussions and focus on the content rather than on managing the proceedings. We really valued how he was able to summarise the outputs of the day with gratitude to participants.

Overall we were very pleased with Ian’s work – in advance of the event, and in running such a successful and enjoyable day.

Ian is the master of facilitation. He is able to command the respect of large conventions in a style that is considered, insightful and full of respect for others. What he can do is a skill not easily learnt and masterful to watch in action.

Having worked closely with Ian for many years in our shared aspiration for exemplary employee engagement I have seen his outstanding ability to enable employee free speech, his courage to hold to account and his determination to honour corporate values. He is a resilient leader and a highly regarded chair of employee consultation.

I have witnessed Ian facilitate debates and consultation on the most emotive and sensitive of topics on many occasions, leading high quality discussions in an adult and open way, and which contribute to issue resolution or greater understanding and cooperation. His calm, open, thoughtful and relatable style is adept at surfacing issues, ensuring genuine balance and shared insight.

Ian supported us with an important strategic change programme in early 2020.  He designed and managed the collective consultation process, supporting and advising both affected employees and the management team leading the change.  He ensured roles and responsibilities were clearly understood and that we kept to a defined timeline.  Ian was measured and balanced in his guidance and support throughout, for both staff and management and played a key role in helping us through each stage of consultation and the transformation.

When 3P were looking for help transitioning to an employee-owned Business, Ian Hiscock came highly recommended. We weren’t disappointed. Ian provided significant assistance with initial presentations and messaging to our staff. On the back of this success, he then carried out focus groups with our staff to aid with the formation of our employee body. Every member of staff who has engaged with Ian has been highly complementary. We can’t recommend Ian highly enough.

3P engaged with Ian during its transition to employee ownership to assist with our launch communication to all our staff. Ian articulated the intention, goals and vision of 3P’s move to EOT very well, but perhaps more importantly was also able to use his knowledge and experience of employee ownership to address what the benefits from an employee’s point of view were, address any possible concerns and pre-empt questions.

After this announcement we decided Ian was the right person to engage independently with our staff with a view to understanding their perspective of the 3P employee experience, and begin to introduce the idea of an elected employee body and what it could do for 3P. The qualitive data and corresponding report Ian was able to produce gave an honest view of our employee experience and highlighted both good and bad, giving the business clear areas to begin to enact meaningful change, however small or large. This exercise I’m sure will be benefitting the business for years to come.

Ian demonstrated skill and confident leadership in his facilitation of a number of Group Consultations processes on my behalf. He is quickly able to grasp relevant situational factors as well as technical considerations and manage these as part of his empathetic but structured approach to the task. Wouldn’t hesitate to work with him again.

Ian chaired the consultation process for a restructure that I was leading. He did it brilliantly. He combines an ability to understand and summarise technical content with an authentic, empathetic style that engages people through sensitive and difficult processes.

He also comes with a broad smile and a decent knowledge of cricket!