Meet Mavis Boniface, one of the founding directors and the firepower behind United Culture. After building her career in the project management and events world, she is now Operations Director at our one-year old business. Her ambition and drive is infectious, and her ability to make the impossible happen without a hitch is impressive.
Find out what gives her the passion and energy for engagement in our latest #UCVoices interview.
My role touches every aspect of the organisation. From contracting and sourcing collaborators (which I love!), all the way to being right in the middle of delivery and execution of every project. I’m also the Exec Sponsor of the Race at Work Charter which United Culture has signed up to, and as part of that role I’m currently actively widening our collaborator network.
The truth is when I started my career, I was looking for something inspiring that I could be passionate about. So, I stumbled into the sector really, but I love it.
I’m passionate about working with people and making them as passionate about their role as I am about mine.
Initially, I focused on doing that through live events but then cast the net much wider looking at everything from recruitment, to engaging people in building a safety-first culture, supporting people through change and bringing the customer voice to life in large organisations.
Starting United Culture became the natural next step.
Uniting people in a business with the company’s purpose and strategy helps define what the culture of a business should be. So honestly ‘United Culture’ was the first choice for us. It’s at the heart of what we do for every client.
I’m passionate about people. People that I work with (both our collaborators and clients), and also meeting new people. I’m passionate about building relationships. When you work in an agency, so often you get to know people really well, and quite quickly you don’t just have a client, you also have a new friend.
I’m also passionate about bringing fun into the workplace. It’s not all 'work, work, work'. I live by the motto: we work to live, not live to work.
You can love what you do, but you need strong life experiences to feel really fulfilled.
I think a couple of things are going to change. There are the obvious knock-on implications to what is happening right now in terms of redundancies, but I think the bigger change is the move to remote-working. The ability to do this creates a real opportunity to shake up how businesses operate – and that’s really exciting.
Clients are consistently talking about how changes will impact their employee journey. Particularly attracting and onboarding. How do they get their brand story and personality out there when there is little face time with colleagues, or between line managers and their teams?
Culture is an enabler but it’s also an outcome. Businesses are concerned right now about how they define and keep their culture alive. I think COVID-19 has shone a light on the fact that for most businesses there is work still to do.
The time that we live in is making brands step up and be more socially responsible. People want to work for an authentically purposeful business – most are now starting to reflect on who they truly are and what they stand for.
The financial crisis meant that businesses had to make a step-change in how they worked and how they showed up. I believe what’s happening in the world today will also make businesses take a step back and reflect on what they need to do to grow and thrive. I think we are well positioned to be a partner who will help guide businesses through the journey they need to go on. One that will make people the catalysts for change, growth and help businesses give back to society.
We are going to build a movement that is going to change the working world.
