Knowledge Hub with Patrick Hurst MBE
ICC Belfast hosts Knowledge Hub with Patrick Hurst
On Thursday 04 August, ICC Belfast had the pleasure of hosting a Knowledge Hub session with guest speaker Patrick Hurst MBE, current Chairman of Nugent Engineering and previous MD for Whale Pumps, a Sunday Times ‘Best Company to work for’ company.
The purpose of these Knowledge Hub sessions is to stay on top of industry trends and gain a greater understanding of the wider societal trends impacting our business to ensure we’re better equipped to fulfil our vision of creating a world-class stage where people make great things happen.
The Knowledge Hub brought together every department in our organisation from Sales and Marketing to Hospitality to Crew as colleagues and partners gathered in Meeting Room 1 to listen to the accomplished advice Patrick had to offer.
With a cup of tea and freshly baked scone by Hospitality Belfast in hand, guests took their seats, eager to experience the session ahead.
ICC Belfast | Waterfront Hall | Ulster Hall Chief Executive Julia Corkey opened the session, noting the importance of initiatives such as the Knowledge Hub as part of the organisation’s overall schedule of team engagement activity.
Following Julia’s foreword, Patrick took to the stage, opening with a test of the audience's knowledge of the iconic building in which the session was held. Patrick quizzed the room on many of the famous acts that had graced the stages of ICC Belfast, Waterfront Hall and Ulster Hall as well as significant dates in the venues’ history. There was no shortage of audience engagement as packets of sweets were on offer as prizes for correct answers!
From the outset, Patrick was full of compliments about ICC Belfast, commenting on the work of the front-of-house staff and how helpful he had found them to be on arrival. This led him smoothly into his first point, discussing the importance of first impressions and how they matter in an initial exchange. He spoke about the first impression of the convention centre and sister entertainment venues, commenting on their grandness and how they create not only a good impression for delegates and patrons visiting, but also for the team that works there, adding how their impression of the building leads to motivating those that work within it.
Patrick continued to discuss the importance of a team within any company, reinforcing our One Team and Respect values as he explored the positive impact that working as a collaborative unit can have. Patrick reinforced this One Team approach by challenging the leaders in the room as to how they can go one step further to involve all team members and encourage them to act as one. He spoke to the audience about how staff members must feel proud to come to work and contribute to success and to do this, a positive Environment within the workplace is crucial.
Patrick spoke about the importance of engagement throughout a company and how it is vital that as a leader, you are aware of your members at every level and the importance of their job. He noted that once you lose touch of your engagement with the wider team and the vital importance of every one of their roles, you are losing as a leader. Patrick told the audience during his time at Whale Pumps, he introduced an incentive where staff would swap jobs for the day to get a feel of what every member within the company was doing to contribute to Whale Pump’s success.
As our eight organisational values underpin all activity at ICC Belfast, Patrick’s advice regarding ‘live your values’ and bringing your values was particularly relevant. If a team is consistent with their values and is driven towards achieving shared goals, they’ll be much likely to achieve high levels of job and workplace satisfaction. Patrick reinforced the message of consistency and the requirement for leaders to be consistent with everyone within the team to promote equality among all members.
Top five takeaways from Patrick Hurst MBE’s Knowledge Hub session:
- Live your values
- Consistency is key
- One team approach is vital – staff members should come to work with pride and feel responsible for their tasks if an environment is created where everyone is equal
- First impressions matter
- Leave things better than you found them
Overall, Patrick gave sound advice on what it takes to be a successful leader and how to promote staff engagement and development to create a harmonious team.
If you are interested in sharing your knowledge with our team on a specific area of expertise, please get in touch.