Royal Northern College of Music: creating harmony through employee voice 

Employee surveys have the power to spark real transformation when organisations listen openly and act with consistency. At the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), leaders wanted to capture employee sentiment, celebrate the College’s strong collaborative culture and respond where staff felt things could improve.

By partnering with People Insight, RNCM turned feedback into meaningful change that strengthened trust, boosted engagement and built momentum across the institution. 

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The most recent RNCM survey showed just how powerful listening can be. With a 69% response rate and an impressive 88% engagement rate, RNCM is sitting fifteen points above the sector benchmark.

Recognition scores are thirteen points higher than elsewhere in the sector, and belief that the College will act on survey results is an incredible twenty-three points above average.  

That level of trust does not come by chance. It’s the result of visible follow-up, consistent communication and a commitment to meaningful change.

And the progress continues, with steady improvements in equality, cooperation and change management over the past two years. 

Based in Manchester, RNCM is one of the world’s leading music conservatoires. It is known for creativity, excellence and innovation, and its smaller size compared with other higher education institutions allows for closer relationships across departments.

Employees value the collaborative atmosphere, flexibility in work arrangements and the College’s commitment to inclusivity. But like many institutions in the sector, it faces challenges around communication, workload and career progression.

These tensions made it even more important to create a survey process that delivered actionable feedback. 

Openness sat at the heart of RNCM’s approach. Survey results weren’t hidden away. They were shared on the intranet with clear updates on ‘what happens next’. Line managers took the conversation into their own teams, shaping local action plans that felt relevant and practical.  

Progress was monitored through dashboards, with trade unions and the Staff Engagement Group brought into the discussion.

The effect was powerful. Employees could see that their voices mattered, that action was happening and that communication would remain a two-way process. 

With more than one hundred actions identified, RNCM needed a structured way to prioritise and track progress. The project team grouped actions into themes and released updates at regular intervals, supported by a ‘You said, we did’ summary.

This approach kept the survey results alive in employees’ minds. It also offered tangible proof that feedback had influenced real decisions.

By breaking down a large set of actions into digestible updates, RNCM avoided overwhelming staff and created space for steady, visible progress. 

A defining feature of RNCM’s process was the level of employee involvement. Teams were invited to discuss their local results and co-create action plans. This created a sense of ownership and demonstrated that the College was not just gathering views but acting on them together.

It also led to measurable improvements, with a nine-point rise in perceptions of cooperation between different parts of the College. For employees, the opportunity to contribute to solutions reinforced the idea that their voice could shape the organisation. 

The College was pleased to see that where bespoke action plans had been created, survey results improved most. Recognition scores rose well above the sector average, while perceptions of change management improved by ten points in two years.

Leaders observed that progress was strongest in areas where communication had been particularly proactive, reinforcing the value of targeted, transparent updates. Seeing engagement scores increase from one survey to the next gave momentum to the College’s approach and boosted confidence across the community. 

Higher education has faced considerable strain in recent years, yet RNCM has maintained a supportive and collaborative culture. Regular and honest communication, visible leadership and social activities that bring employees together have been central.

Forums and conferences have been restructured to encourage interaction and build connections with the executive team. Training for managers on leading through change, resilience sessions for staff and additional guidance on the intranet gave employees practical support.

Together, these efforts helped sustain confidence and positivity even during periods of pressure. 

Looking ahead, RNCM plans to keep survey results active through pulse surveys, ongoing feedback at local level and continuous updates.

Employees value knowing that their voice leads to tangible outcomes, so the College is committed to maintaining that cycle of listening and action.  

Plans include inviting ideas to increase collaboration and embedding these in the College-wide action plan. With Prism now in place, RNCM has an even stronger employee survey platform to interpret employee sentiment and generate actionable insights. 

RNCM’s story shows the impact of transparent communication, inclusive action planning and consistent follow-up.

By committing to actionable surveys and meaningful change, organisations can build employee confidence and strengthen their culture. To see what this could look like in your organisation, get in touch with People Insight to design a higher education staff survey that delivers real, impactful results.