Camelot’s
HR team played a critical role in the company’s successful bid to continue
operating the National Lottery.
Steve
Thompson, Camelot’s HR director, said one of the greatest challenges was
maintaining staff morale during the period of uncertainty from August – when
the People’s Lottery was the favoured bid – until last December.
Thompson
said, “It’s been a roller-coaster ride for the staff in the period leading up
to the Lottery Commission’s decision to grant us the licence in December.
“At least
800 employees were facing redundancies, but we maintained morale by developing
the loyalty of the workforce.”
Camelot’s
HR strategy was to retain its staff until the end of the licence period in
September 2001. A loyalty scheme promised to double notice payments to staff,
in the event of it losing the licence. A win bonus was also offered.
Information
on redundancy packages was filtered through the company using verbal cascades,
with nominated managers having face-to-face briefings with staff. The HR team
also used focus groups within the company to communicate new developments.
He said,
“We had lots of briefing sessions before we won the bid at Christmas. It was
vital that our workforce heard about their situation before it was broken in
the media.”
Dianne
Thompson, Camelot’s chief executive, paid tribute to the HR team. She said,
“Our HR department played a critical role in developing and implementing a
comprehensive internal communication strategy to ensure that all staff knew
what was happening.”
Dianne
Thompson will be speaking at Richmond Events’ HR Forum on the cruise ship
Oriana, 3-6 May
