Spring Ball at Seckford Hall

Written by Kim Cordell  |  Product Development Administrator, European Medical Journal  |  @EMJ_Kim

If you had arrived at either of our offices in London or Chelmsford on March 22^nd, you would not have found a single person working, nor computer whirring into action, not a peep coming out of either office. Why, you ask? Because it was the European Medical Group Spring Ball, of course!

Since opening its doors around the end of 2012, EMG’s management team has strived to ensure the company comes together each quarter for a half-day planning session where we can all learn new skills, develop a deeper understanding of the EMG principles, build ourselves as individuals, continue to become the gold-medal winners the company champions, and plan for the next quarter within our teams. On top of these sessions, EMG hosts an annual spring ball where employees are rewarded for all their hard work and achievements over the previous year, and I think I say it all when I say that this year was possibly the biggest to date!

Held at the beautiful Seckford Hall, in Woodbridge, Suffolk, we began our day with a session led by Andy Sleet, renowned within the company for leading our inaugural Future Leaders course at Fluid Business Coaching and for working closely with the management team.

The theme of Andy’s session? Breaking out of your comfort zone to seek the change that you have been dreaming of. If you ask me, it all comes down to taking accountability for your actions and being ready to make that change, but if your mindset is not ready to seek the change you desire, you’ll hold yourself back from reaching your true potential. “The comfort zone is a place we have all found ourselves at one point or another.[…] However, if you are continually living the same routine week in and week out, you’ll never break through that barrier and become closer to reaching your potential.”¹ It’s important to remember “no one else is going to be accountable for your lifestyle, no one else is going to be disappointed when you don’t reach your goal, and no one else will understand your mentality of wanting to reach that target, which is why you need to be the one who takes ownership of your goals.”¹

We stopped for a delicious lunch, before returning to our afternoon sessions where two of the team, Sadia Rob, Events Manager, and Millie McGowan, Project Manager, hosted a session on the aforementioned Future Leaders Course. This proved an opportunity for those who hadn’t taken part in the Future Leaders Course to gain an insight into what the programme covered, with interactive tasks for the team to discuss interferences in the workplace and how to remove them, changing your mindset, and more. It was great to see the ladies lead such an insightful session, demonstrating how Future Leaders had helped improve the confidence of all those who had taken part, but also to share their knowledge with other members of the team and help them in their personal development.

After a busy day, we were all delighted to be given free time in which to indulge, before reconvening for a champagne reception, awards ceremony, dinner, and a dance! Some of the team treated themselves to a pamper session in the Seckford Hall Spa, some dived into the deep end of the pool, while others propped up the bar, or took the time to settle into the luxurious hotel rooms, which were provided by the company for those who wished to stay the night.

The awards ceremony proved a great opportunity to reward long-standing members of staff for their loyalty to the company, and present awards to the employee of the year, with Stacey Rivers, Product Development Manager, coming in third; Millie McGowan, Project Manager, coming in second;  and Joe Morrison, Recruiter, our winner! A scrumptious three-course meal followed, with much chatting across tables and a DJ spinning the decks in preparation for the disco dancing that would soon ensue. Perhaps its best that we don’t mention any names when it comes to the heavy night of dancing!

Company-wide, we were treated to the following day off, giving us all a chance to recharge the batteries after a heavy night and enjoy a long weekend.

Cheers from everyone at EMG!

References

• Kim Cordell. Potential. 2017. Available at: https://www.emg-health.com/omnipresent/potential/. Last accessed: 11^th April 2018.