Hart Square support UNISON’s Member Engagement Programme 

Improving engagement with members

UNISON is the largest trade union in the UK and Europe’s largest public services union, with almost 1.4 million members and over 1000 branches across the UK. Emilie Oldknow, UNISON’s COO explained, “The needs of UNISON members and activists are complicated, and they have varying requirements of UNISON itself.” Whilst some might engage with the union as a representative or political entity, other members seek its assistance to negotiate and bargain. Although the union has updated its technological infrastructure in recent years, Emilie explained that “our technology didn’t allow us to have that two-way engagement with our members. Our systems were quite complicated.” 

In addition, external changes in the employment landscape necessitated adaptation. As policy for trade unions and the UK’s working landscape has altered over time, the workforce has fragmented. This has posed a challenge for communication, shifting to individuals directly, rather than workforces. “Gone are the days of all work being based around a particular site, be that a Council office or a health centre hospital, or indeed a police response unit.” There was further external pressure as their membership became more technologically savvy, meaning UNISON’s members expected a more responsive service.  

Selecting a new membership system

UNISON’s Member Engagement Programme brought a series of projects and workstreams happening across the union under a single umbrella, underpinned by a single direction. The motivation was “to understand the needs of the of our members and what our members wanted the organisation to be.” By creating the overarching programme, UNISON sought to reduce the silos that can occur in large organisations undergoing separate change projects, thereby reducing duplications, joining up services more effectively, and “to build that common teamworking ethos and to break down barriers that exist.” The central pillar of this programme is the upgrade of UNISON’s membership system: one of multiple workstreams Hart Square is involved with in addition to its work supporting the overall programme.

Hart Square were brought in to assist with the selection of a new membership system. Emilie explained, “We partnered with Hart Square in the first instance because we trusted their judgement of the market… there was a real sense that we were bringing in the experts.” Emilie told us that she has worked with several members of Hart Square to date and that, in addition to a “personable, friendly but professional, honest, people-focused ethos and approach”, she liked the fact that they were “normal” people. She explained, “They take the time to understand the organisation; take time to listen to people’s concerns, however minor they may feel on the outside… [Hart Square] have the credibility to go into a room with our members and get them to open up and talk about their interactions with [UNISON]. And that’s really special.”

Keeping expectations clear

When asked about key lessons or tips when engaging in a programme of this scale, Emilie told us that there should be an emphasis on consistency, in expectations, meetings, and personnel.  We also spoke about the need to, at times, “get tough.” Emilie told us that, with third party suppliers, she would stress the importance of making sure “your expectations are clear from the outset. So, there can be no misunderstandings.” Internally, Emilie emphasised the needs to have “people assigned specific roles and responsibilities and them understanding what that means in terms of their time.” People should understand the scale of the ask upon them, and what that means for their business as usual work. 

Realising the goals

Emilie explained that 2023 is “an exciting year for UNISON” and that the organisation is now progressing or realising much of the programme’s work. “I think over the last 18 months we’ve really put rocket boosters under the programme. We’re now starting to see the fruits of that and that’s obviously very motivating.” Emilie told us there were big changes ahead, not least of which would be the membership engagement portal, and that Hart Square had been an important component of the programme’s success. “It fundamentally changed our ability to make progress, and the buy in across the organisation, when we partnered on a more regular basis with Hart Square.”