For the last 15 years, employees at Denny Bros have undertaken a temporary job-switch with colleagues to understand how other roles in the company work.

Lucy Denny, Marketing Executive at Denny Bros, talks about the ‘How the Other Half Works’ scheme…

How does the scheme work?

The scheme works by employees spending the day visiting various different departments within the company so they can gain an in-depth understanding of how they function. Normally the standard format would be for each staff member to spend a day going round the whole of the business. However, if there is a particular department they want to focus on or feel as if it would be better to extend it over a couple of days, the scheme can be altered to suit the individual.

What are the benefits of it?

The benefit of taking part in the scheme is that it offers employees the chance to learn about and understand how different departments work – giving them an opportunity they may not have the chance to see otherwise. It also helps with enabling staff to understand ways in which departments can work together in a more integrated manner and create a smoother overall process.

When did it start?

It started approximately 15 years ago. During that time, we have had around 80 staff members take part in the scheme.

Where did the idea come from?

We used to be part of the Investors in People (IIP) standard and the ‘How the Other Half Work’ was a requirement to meet this standard. Although we are no longer involved with IIP, we still believe staff development is extremely important as they remain the heart of the business. Therefore, we carried on certain elements of the scheme that we thought would be beneficial for staff development.

What types of employees have taken part and across what areas of the business?

Although the scheme is on hold at the moment due to social distancing, normally all employees are invited to take part, firstly when they join the business and then also any time they feel like it would be useful for their development here at Denny Bros.

What have staff said about it?

Staff have said they found the scheme to be very helpful and interesting. It enables them to see and learn things that they may not have known previously and also to experience what it is like to work in a different area of the business and provide an alternate perspective on how things operate.

How would you like to extend it?

One way of extending it would be to offer the chance for employees to not only visit different departments within Denny Bros but also explore various other companies within the group too to see how they operate.

From your own perspective, what would you like to say about the scheme?

“I found taking part in the scheme extremely beneficial for my personal development here at Denny Bros. I normally work in the office so getting to see how the machines run and produce the products that we market and sell was very interesting.”