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Approach and beliefs
Tamsin’s a big believer in the saying ‘‘Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.’’ Her passion for personal authenticity and its benefits runs deep.
“The way we work and the way we conduct ourselves is changing. More and more people just won’t stand for you not being yourself at work – especially younger employees. I joined Ultima with that mindset, and with a desire to foster a culture of openness and authenticity. But then Covid hit five months after I joined the business and accelerated everything."
Finding strength in adversity
Despite having awful consequences in so many areas, there was a positive side to the way Covid affected Ultima.
“Especially at the start of Covid, and at a time of such huge challenges, it became normal to ask colleagues “Are you ok? How are you feeling?” The personal inevitably crossed over into the professional, and we saw a new level of humanity in the workplace – especially in the way we reached out to people who joined the company during the pandemic and made them feel welcome.
Today, we’re working hard to hold onto that approach, and to sustain the culture we’ve created. It definitely brought our leadership team closer together too – being open about how we felt, and sharing the responsibility of making sure our people felt safe and looked-after.”
Nurturing Ultima’s communities
Tamsin is committed to giving Ultima’s teams opportunities to develop and grow. As well as introducing learning and development initiatives throughout the business, she’s established Ultima’s quarterly catchups. These informal company get-togethers give everyone a chance to connect, share experiences and build relationships.
But Tamsin is mindful that not everyone enjoys the same experiences.
“There are lots of different personality types in a tech company, and everyone has the right to feel comfortable. When we meet as a company, some people will enjoy socialising at the bar whereas others might be much happier gaming. The more everyone feels welcome and included, the better it is for them, and therefore for our business and our customers.”