SCOPE

Scope is the largest and most influential disability equality charity in the UK, and has been shortlisted for its sustained commitment to people-centred working practices. 

Following the pandemic, the charity chose not to return to office-based work for the half of its workforce not in retail, instead building a culture that prioritises trust, autonomy, and individual needs. A deliberately flat hierarchy supports open communication and collaboration across the organisation, while roles, expectations, and adjustments are personalised to help every employee work at their best.

This approach is reinforced through regular monthly check-ins for employees with their line managers, which focus on output and impact rather than hours spent at a desk. By shifting attention to outcomes and aligning everyone in the organisation with its three overarching goals, Scope is leading the way in outcomes-based working.  

At the same time, in giving employees the freedom to structure their work in ways that suit them and to meet their individual needs, Scope has created a supportive and empowering environment that should provide inspiration for others to follow. 

Scope’s ways of working policy is based on 3 principles, asking each employee to work:

• Where your customers need you

• Where your team need you (which could include occasional departmental meetings, in-person training, or more frequent place-based commitments)

• Where you do your best work (which may be at home, or the office, or 

The team uses Predictive Index, which focuses on strengths and preferences for how they approach their work and how they communicate with their associates: colleagues, customers, and friends.

Also Scope’s ‘MyReview’ performance review process gives space for a conversation that centres on the person over the tasks. Its focus is on development and behaviours, supporting personalising work for each individual. 

The organisation is currently implementing individual workstyle plans through the Manual of Me, which allows colleagues to share how they like to work and how others can get the best out of their working relationship with them.

Its commitment to individuality, outputs-based working and trust make Scope a leading example of how workstyle principles can be applied in practice to an organisation’s culture and structure.