Coronavirus restrictions meant holding an in-person conference was impossible so the event was hosted using Remo, an immersive virtual meeting platform that allowed attendees to move around and interact naturally with each other as if they were in the same room.

The theme of the conference was ‘Shaping Our Future’ and staff from the Kingdom Group, comprising Kingdom Housing Association, Kingdom Support and Care and Kingdom Initiatives, heard about the Group’s strategy for the future, including plans for continued development in affordable housing, further development of our service delivery standards, work related to Investors in People accreditation moving from Gold to Platinum.

A key focus for the event was how the Group is planning for the future after COVID-19, including discussions on the vital role of Health and Wellbeing moving forward. The conference included an ‘Ask the SMT’ session where staff asked and asked questions of the senior management panel during an informative Q&A session.

Kingdom Group chief executive Bill Banks said: “The Kingdom Group Staff Conference is vitally important to the organisation and kicks off our annual business planning process. One of our strategic goals is to be an employer of choice and gatherings such as this demonstrate the value we place on our people and on their views, which can then be reflected in our strategies for the future.

“Getting so many colleagues together, albeit virtually, while still providing the level of service our tenants and service users expect from us is a challenge but this year, perhaps more than any other year, we wanted to give staff the opportunity to provide their views and to reconnect with colleagues that they may not have seen or spoken to in many months. Working from home can sometimes feel like working alone so there’s a huge benefit to re establishing the human connection that comes from so many people getting together at the same time.”

Gary Haldane, interim director of digital with Kingdom, said: “When planning the 2020 Staff Conference we looked at many digital platforms to deliver the virtual event. The one we selected met our requirements and made it simple to create an immersive virtual space that our staff could easily navigate around. They were able to naturally interact with colleagues in small groups, collaborate and connect just as they would in person and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.”