A Business Engagement Officer is the face of FOR Cardiff. They were introduced in 2018 to enhance relationships with FOR Cardiff member businesses and to ensure that FOR Cardiff delivers excellent standards of service.
The team work closely with businesses in Cardiff city centre to facilitate opportunities, share information, and provide industry-specific benefits.
In our second term, the Business Engagement team have become more sector focused, with each officer specialising in a specific sector such as retail, office, or hospitality.
But what do the business engagement officers do day to day?
Engaging with Businesses
New Businesses
The key is in the name, business “engagement”. One of the key roles of a Business Engagement Officer is to engage with member businesses who are unaware of FOR Cardiff – our projects, and our services.
Our Business Engagement Officers are key to ensuring that businesses are aware of everything FOR Cardiff has to offer, from benefits such as funded training, The Card and cleansing services, to current projects like Safe Places. They’re also responsible for making sure businesses’ opinions are heard and their feedback is relayed to the wider FOR Cardiff team.
Our hospitality Business Engagement Officer, Mathew, explains what happens during a typical introductory meeting:
“Initially we run through all the initiatives FOR Cardiff has to offer, identifying those which would benefit the specific business the most, whether it be free training, cleansing, CityNet Radio or the FOR Cardiff staff incentive card (The Card). We then learn more about the business itself to see how they operate and how we can help.”
Maintaining Relationships
As well as meeting with new businesses, the team are responsible for maintaining positive relationships. These ongoing relationships and open conversations ensure that projects are continually informed by our members’ opinions and needs.
For example, feedback from the engagement officers’ meetings highlighted that issues such as mental health and environmental awareness have become increasingly important to businesses and their employees. Following on from this feedback, FOR Cardiff has introduced mental health awareness training and are committed to increasing green initiatives over the next five years.
Engagement Projects
Another important aspect of the role is assisting with projects that require engagement from businesses. A great example of this is “FOR You Week”, a dedicated week supporting employee wellbeing, working in partnership with businesses to host events, offers and webinars for members across the city centre.
The Business Engagement Officers played a key role in encouraging partnership working between businesses, engaging with those who wanted to participate and coming up with unique event ideas.
Attending Influential Networking Events
Our engagement team also have the chance to attend a variety of networking events to meet with businesses and partnership organisations. Our event schedule has ranged from rugby networking breakfasts to Cardiff business lunches, and more recently, our Women’s Safety Network event.
These events are a great opportunity to really connect with businesses and meet new people, whilst all working towards a common goal of ensuring Cardiff is a thriving place to live and work.
Get in Touch
If you are a FOR Cardiff member, we would love to speak to you about how our engagement team can support you, your team and your business. Please contact us by emailing info@forcardiff.com or by giving us a call on 02920 314770.