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Owners and directors Julie Inglis and Fraser Ferguson set up KubeNet nine years ago. Julie says, “In that time the company has grown significantly and it has also changed a great deal. Initially we were seen as a traditional telecoms company, but we developed rapidly to provide more and more data-led services.”

KubeNet offer voice, data, connectivity and hosted services to companies in the UK and globally, with many major clients in Scotland and further afield.

“The rapid rate of growth meant that we needed to catch up with ourselves – particularly in the areas of communications and staff development - if we were going to sustain what we’d achieved and grow further.”

The company explain how workplace innovation practices helped KubeNet to identify areas for improvement and capitalise on company growth.

Identifying the challenges

“Twelve months ago we were delivering excellent services to some of Scotland’s top businesses, but to be honest we were doing a rather terrible job of telling people about it”, says Julie. “We knew that if we were to grow as planned, we needed to tackle this.”

“We were realising that our existing customers were frequently not aware of the full range of services we offered. They were failing to benefit and we were missing out on important sales.”

Developing KubeNet people

In order to tackle this, KubeNet decided to sharpen its focus on staff development throughout the company.

In the UK, only 25% of UK employees feel they have the scope to learn and problem-solve in their jobs compared to an EU average of 39%. By empowering staff to be more independent in the workplace, businesses could benefit from higher levels of innovation and productivity.

“Here’s a thing that not many businesses can say. Pretty much everyone at KubeNet is working towards some kind of qualification”, says Julie. “Actually I can’t think of anyone who isn’t.”

“We are incredibly proud of the team here and we know that the success of the business depends on them. That’s why we think it is so important to ensure that everyone has the right support, skills and qualifications.

“It’s interesting the impact that employing the Modern Apprentices has had. Supporting and mentoring them has meant that other people have been thinking about their own personal development. Learning and developing new skills is an absolutely crucial element to the business.”

Specific qualifications that KubeNet staff are working towards include Cisco certification, firewall management, threat defence and cyber essentials. They are also looking at project management and achieving Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) qualifications. 

Innovating for the future

“Our business has evolved greatly over the last five years and we have had to make significant changes to ensure the continued success of the business”, Julie says.“Our people are at the heart of everything we do and our investment in them will continue.”

Measures KubeNet decided to introduce include:

  • A major business evaluation exercise, using client and staff feedback to develop clear messages about what the business offers.
  • A strong new identity was launched in January 2017.
  • Documenting every single process in the business in order to become fully ITIL compliant
  • A new IT Service Management system, providing a recognised industry standard for clients
  • Hiring a new finance manager, whose role includes mentoring other team members and progressing individuals on their personal development
  • Offering new products and services as part of the Next Generation Network. They now offer Hosted and Managed Firewall services to clients.
  • Paying the national living wage. KubeNet are part of the Poverty Alliance.
  • Beginning a five-year sponsorship with the Citizens Theatre in 2015, providing connectivity and secure Wi-Fi services.

New thinking brings business growth

The KubeNet story highlights the connection between making positive changes in the workplace and business growth. The company recognised that in order to grow, it needed to improve its branding, gain accreditations and accelerate staff development. 

Workplace innovation concepts can be anything from listening to employees’ ideas and putting them into practice, to offering fair work practices that reduce employee stress and enhance job satisfaction.