Building culture, strategy and engagement at Woodford

Client: Woodford Ltd. 

Industry: Building Services with Construction, Facilities Management, Renewables and SmartTECH 

Established: 1993 

Sectors: Residential, commercial, retail, leisure and hotels 

Overview 

Woodford has been delivering complex Mechanical, Electrical and Public Health (MEP) projects across the UK since 1993. With a strong ethos of building not just homes but entire communities, Woodford combines long-term client relationships with a dedicated team of mobile engineers. In 2024, as the business prepared to set a bold course for 2025, Woodford turned to us, at Hedfan, to support the evolution of its strategy, culture, and internal engagement. 

The challenge 

While Woodford already had a strong foundation of long-term client service and internal pride, its Leadership Team recognised the need to sharpen its focus on organisational culture, leadership performance, and employee engagement. They also wanted to bring their strategic direction to life for the wider business – ensuring alignment, energy and a clear sense of purpose across the team. 

Our approach 

Phase 1: Strategic planning session – VMOST creation 

In November 2024, our founder, Naomi Coleman, facilitated a dynamic Business Strategy Day with the Woodford Leadership Team. The goal? To distil their business plan into a clear, compelling one-page VMOST (Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, Tactics) framework for 2025. Key themes included: 

• Our Team – Developing a proactive and engaged workforce to drive personal and professional growth 

• Improving Everyday – Elevating culture, systems, and standards 

• Bringing ‘Our Standards’ to Life – Embedding behavioural expectations across the business 

• Structured Feedback – Actively listening to the team to assess leadership performance and culture 

The session laid the foundations for a focused and actionable year ahead. 

Phase 2: Team engagement survey 

To support the tactic of gathering structured feedback, we designed and supported the delivery of a confidential engagement survey, issued directly by the Managing Director – a more personal approach that encouraged trust and openness. The response rate hit 60%, significantly higher than previous internal surveys. 

Results were analysed independently and presented in an accessible PowerPoint format – first to the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), then to the wider team at the company’s Look Ahead 2025 event. 

Phase 3: Facilitating Look Ahead 2025 

We played a central role in designing, hosting, and facilitating Woodford’s flagship Look Ahead 2025 event. Working closely with the team, we helped shape an engaging agenda that would: 

• Launch the 2025 VMOST and strategic priorities 

• Share the survey results with openness and energy 

• Gather further feedback from team members through interactive sessions 

• Begin embedding a culture of shared accountability and continuous improvement 

Our facilitation ensured the day remained energetic, purposeful and inclusive, allowing every voice in the room to be heard. 

Phase 4: Bringing ‘Our Standards’ to life 

Although time constraints meant the full planned activity on Woodford’s internal behavioural standards couldn’t be delivered on the day, the event still raised awareness and created momentum around the importance of clearly articulated behaviours. Future activities will revisit and deepen this exploration to ensure ongoing cultural alignment and team cohesion. 

Outcomes and impact 

• A clearly articulated 2025 Business Plan on a Page, created by the Leadership Team with expert facilitation 

• 60% engagement with the new employee survey, providing valuable insights into culture and leadership perception 

• Successful Look Ahead 2025 event that launched strategy, shared insights and inspired meaningful conversation 

• A blueprint for continuous engagement and cultural improvement in the year ahead 

• Renewed energy and direction around embedding ‘Our Standards’ into daily practice 

Client testimonial 

“We engaged the services of Hedfan to assist us to agree, set and communicate effectively our Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies and Tactics (VMOST) to our employees.  We then asked Hedfan to work with our senior managers so that they could create their own departmental VMOST with their teams, ensuring alignment and engagement across the business to deliver on our objectives.  The VMOST works on a 12-month time frame and enables all staff to be focused on the right things and support the directors in delivering the business Vision and Mission. 

“We engaged the services of Hedfan again for the 2nd year of working with the VMOST model and utilised their expertise to run our engagement survey to collate feedback from our team and the return rate was an impressive 60% response rate which gave useful insight and the findings were fed back to our team at our yearly business update to staff which Hedfan also facilitated for us.  

“We are looking forward to seeing the results of this work over the next 12 months, delivering on our objectives and working with Hedfan to prepare the VMOST for the third year!” 

— Sharon Wood – People Experience Director 

Contact us now! 

Are you ready to turn strategy into action and energise your team around a shared vision? Let’s talk about how Hedfan can help you build a culture that drives real results. Contact us or call t: +44 7506 725195 e: naomi@hedfan.co