A year on, amidst the chaos, a more powerful collective
Ian Close & Dan Masquelier – Founding Partners
On 7th June last year, smack bang in the middle of pandemic lockdown one, we joined our new home – The Creative Engagement Group. A chaotic time to make such a big change but a change that was very much welcomed and, despite the chaos around us, happened surprisingly smoothly.
Many of us have experienced acquisitions before, with most of them quite disruptive, but with Russ Lidstone, Group CEO at the helm with an expert leadership team alongside him, our acquisition experience could almost be considered plain sailing.
In fact, we can probably speak on behalf of the entire Cormis team when we say that one of the main reasons for this is the simplicity of the integration and onboarding process and the very complementary values that all The Creative Engagement Group divisions bring to the table.
Everyone we have met and worked with believes that an organisation is nothing without its people – a belief that ties in seamlessly with our own; and while we expected The Creative Engagement Group’s culture to be great and their people to be talented, what we have really learnt is that, the richness of their expertise and their willingness to share ultimately culminates in the same goal – to delight clients by creating moments that inspire lasting change.
For all of us at Cormis the past year has flown by, with the majority of our time happily still focused on partnering with clients to create solutions that deliver real business impact.
The palpable difference being that now our solutions, whilst rooted in capability development, are able to integrate expertise in Scientific Engagement, Digital Learning, Employee Engagement, Behavioural Science, Hybrid & Virtual Engagement and Live events, to deliver not only business impact, but unforgettable moments for our clients.
What has been the icing on the cake for us though, is not just the impact it has had our business but actually the impact it has had on our people. Knowing we were going to mark our anniversary, we asked a few members of our team what joining The Creative Engagement Group has meant for them and wanted to share these, as well as our own thoughts, with you (reading these it’s probably safe to say that we’re all definitely working in the right business!):
Lauren Gregory, Leadership Expert: “I’ve strengthened my expertise by involving myself in new, cross-division projects every day. Working with Forty1 has not only reignited my passion for employee engagement but deepened my understanding of behavioural science.”
Dan Masquelier, MD & Partner: “We’ve quite simply upped our game. By being exposed to new people, services and expertise, we have enriched our own learning and enhanced our offering as a result.”
Justin Plante, Operations Co-ordinator: “Being provided with more resources and expertise has allowed me to expand my thinking when it comes to how we can help our clients achieve greatness”
Steph Plowright, Marketing and Capability Development Director: “Learning is 1 of my core values and hugely important to me. Getting to work with such a diverse group of people on a daily basis means that I have endless opportunities to learn and can truly live that value every day.”
Ian Close, Partner: “I’m finding it energising and re-motivating to do things we couldn’t before. We were looking for a partner not a buyer and that’s exactly what we got, a partner (in fact multiple partners) we can grow with and learn from.”
Beth Lang, Learning & Capability Development Specialist: “The number of ways I am able to develop myself has grown, from being able to work on different types of projects to having access to a wide variety of high-quality learning experiences”
Emma Bannon, Account Executive: “it has given me the opportunity to learn from, and be a part of, a great collaborative, learning culture. I’ve found it really refreshing, working and connecting with new teams & people. Despite having only met each other virtually I feel we are even more connected than before.”
Ultimately though, what all these fantastically positive comments are saying, is that we are empowered by The Creative Engagement Group and, subsequently, able to deliver more value to our clients by enriching our own learning and combining the expertise of our integrated services.
As we look ahead to the next year, one which we hope (as we’re sure you do) is much less chaotic than the last, we feel only excitement at what it holds and move into it with complete confidence in what we bring to the table and the impact we can make.
To find out more about how we could help your team please do get in touch or connect with us directly on LinkedIn.
