This department delivers a wide range of world-class knowledge products and services that support not only IET members, but the wider engineering and technology community, including publications, technical networks, the IET Inspec information database and, of course, events.
The events team helps organise a huge variety of commercial, community and thought leadership events each year, and Bethany’s responsible for helping her team lead, organise and deliver these.
“It’s been amazing to be a part of this community – we all want to make the IET a better workplace for our colleagues. Ultimately this leads to a better organisation for all our members and stakeholders.”
A role overflowing with variety
“There’s a lot of variety in my work and that’s one of the things I absolutely love about my role. I could be involved in a huge awards ceremony or a small technical conference, working with internal or external clients. Timelines can span anywhere from two to three months for a last-minute event through to three years for a really huge one.”
Bethany’s time is spent working closely with other departments and event producers to develop the best possible outcomes for each event. In essence she’s an enabler: using her knowledge and experience to bring together the right people from in and outside the business to create a successful event.
“It’s really down to me and my team to look at a concept and work out how to make it the best event possible. It’s all about delegate experience.
“A lot of time is spent in meetings, but we also get involved in site visits to understand how to make the best use of any given venue space, and obviously food tastings,” she laughs.
“The best part of the job is seeing the end product however; being around the delegates, seeing them smiling, taking in the content, networking and even getting on the dance floor at social events.
“It’s quite emotional actually, it brings us a lot of joy to see the results of our hard work.”
Supporting both her colleagues and the wider engineering community
Bethany’s work has an impact on both the wider engineering community and her IET colleagues.
Externally, she’s helping create these events that bring engineers, technologists and academics together to share knowledge and experience, while internally, she’s creating lines of communication between departments.
“Our team really is the link between everyone involved in an event,” she explains. “We pull all the right people together to ensure it’s delivered successfully. Not only that, we’re also relied on for our own knowledge and understanding of how we can make an event the best possible.”
Bethany also supports her colleagues in a different way. A few years ago she joined the IET’s equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) committee as a way to become more actively involved in the organisation and meet new people from across the business.
This had a much bigger impact on her than she expected, as the conversations she had opened her eyes to the challenges people from different walks of life were facing.
“I loved the social element of the group, but more importantly I learnt so, so much from the other members. The committee has become a platform for positive change across the business and it’s been amazing to be a part of that.”
Becoming a wellbeing champion
With the backing of the IET executive team, the EDI committee adopted the National Wellness Institute’s Six Dimensions of Wellness framework and set goals for the year ahead.
Employees across the organisation volunteered as wellbeing champions, with roles broken down into five focus areas: vitality, mental health, environment, financial and culture.
Bethany chose to become a mental health champion and introduce mental health first aiders to the business.
These are individuals that provide support by listening non-judgmentally to colleagues, giving reassurance and information and – dependent on the situation – encouraging self- or professional help and advising on support strategies.
Introducing mental health first aiders
The introduction of mental health first aiders had been on the cards for years at the IET but never came to fruition, so Bethany took it upon herself to make this happen.
“Within six months I had the exec team on board, found 15 volunteers and began training. This was accredited by Mental Health First Aid England and was very intense but really rewarding and we’re now out in the business offering support to our colleagues.
“The uptake has been really positive so far and there’s a real sense of community. I’m really proud of finally making this initiative a reality!
“It’s been amazing to be a part of this community – we all want to make the IET a better workplace for our colleagues. Ultimately this leads to a better organisation for all our members and stakeholders.”
