Heywood Pension Tech

Inspiring growth and innovation

Most companies have a learning and development programme. But no one does it quite like Heywood. Our Hive Days were established in 2016 by our people, for our people. Held on a monthly basis, they connect the whole business to work and grow together.

Hive Days are hosted virtually and in person. Everyone is invited, and everyone contributes. From new graduates to board members, our people's diverse backgrounds and skillsets enable us to capture and share knowledge. The focus is on personal development and enhancing our work practices. And the results are truly outstanding.

What happens on Hive Days?

Our Hive Day sessions are categorised into four core themes: Essential Skills, Culture, Business, and Technology. They may be discussions. They may be presentations. They may be hands-on, collaborative exercises involving the whole company. But the one thing they all have in common? They inspire action.

Hive Days are always educational but aren’t always strictly work-related. Our recent events included these informative sessions.

React vs Angular: a battle of the JavaScript frameworks
Following a two-week sprint to explore and compare these frameworks, members of the development team shared their findings with the business and their recommendations for the foundation of our future web applications.
Cocktail Masterclass
This hands-on session taught attendees how to serve classic and non-alcoholic beverages to impress guests. It was held at the end of a productive Hive, providing a relaxed environment for everyone to get to know each other.
How to plan and lead a creative retro
Retro meetings are traditionally held by Scrum Masters, but they don’t have to be. This session shared what a developer learned at a tech meetup and how they implemented this in their very own creative retro workshop.
Sleep is not to be slept on
We spend 36% of our lives sleeping, and a good, healthy sleep can have life-changing benefits for both the body and mind. This fascinating session covered the importance of practising good sleep hygiene.
From code to customer
This session looked into the process of how we deploy our products, those involved, the tech used and how it all fits together. It was pitched at a level where everyone in the business could gain a valuable understanding.

What our people think about Hive

Let’s hear what our people have to say about Heywood Hive Days.

Find out more about life at Heywood

Other organisations I have worked for said they would give everyone one day per month for personal development. However, Heywood is the first one to really commit to it.”

Leigh Tarver
Agile Lead

Hive has allowed me to really focus on the aspects of my role that I need to improve on, and is a very useful gateway to meet more people within the organisation. I find having a Hive Day a month provides the perfect balance of day-to-day work and personal development.”

Asadullah Haider
Developer

Delivering a Hive session helps reinforce my understanding and knowledge of a subject, as well as sharing it with others. It also helps me build relationships and develop a greater connection with others around the business.”

Scott Donovan
Scrum Master

Hive is a great asset to the company and has allowed me to upskill in many different areas, as well as keep up with developments in other parts of the business. It is also great to have some time available each month to study for qualifications related to my role.”

Claudia Davey
Senior Test Analyst

Having a day once a month where developers can get together and tackle intriguing problems not only helps to push our products forward. It also inspires developers to think outside the box while learning to collaborate with people outside their team.”

Chris Clarke
Senior Developer

Hive Day has been a really useful opportunity to prioritise the learning for my exams. It has been a great resource to me!”

Ben Tucker
Scrum Master