1. Applicability and Interpretation
These terms and conditions of participation (“Terms”) apply to your participation in The Productivity Programme (the “Programme”).
In these Terms any reference to “you” or “your” is to a volunteer board member or mentor who has agreed to participate in the Programme on a voluntary basis (“Volunteer”). References to a “Business Representative” or “Participant” are to participants of the Programme.
2. About Us
‘Be the Business Trading Limited’ (“we”, “us”, “our”) is a subsidiary of The Productivity Group, a charitable company limited by guarantee with registered charity number 1173660, company number 10754958 and registered at 10 Queen Street Place, London, England, EC4R 1AG.
3. General Terms
By participating in the Programme, you are accepting these Terms, and you hereby understand and accept the following:
3.1 By participating in the Programme you understand that you are offering guidance and mentoring in a personal capacity and not on behalf of your employer.
3.2 You agree not to make any public statements, whether oral or written regarding your affiliation with a Participant or the Programme without our prior written consent. This includes but is not limited to social media posts, interviews, articles, or anything that may be reasonably construed as a claim or representation made by you, or on your behalf, in relation to advising a Participant in any capacity.
3.3 It is the role of the Volunteer to deliver the Programme in accordance with the product descriptions we provide to you as a minimum, leveraging your experience and case studies where appropriate.
3.4 You will not enter into any form of paid contract or paid arrangement directly with any Participant, and no cash, cash equivalent or gifts shall be exchanged. Should you and a Participant wish to enter into a commercial relationship, you shall inform us immediately and withdraw from the Programme.
3.5 We may terminate this agreement immediately and without notice to you, if in our opinion, you are in breach of these Terms or any of the policies referenced herein.
3.6 The scope of the advice given by you will only ever be of a general nature and you agree to notify and remind Participants that no advice or guidance provided by you is intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional advice.
3.7 You agree you have read and will at all times comply with our Code of Conduct and Volunteer Policy.
3.8 If you witness or experience unprofessional or discriminatory behaviour, you agree to report it to us immediately by emailing programmes@bethebusiness.com. We agree to treat your complaint with the strictest confidence.
3.9 During the Programme, Participants and Volunteers may disclose certain confidential and personal information to each other for the purpose of building up a relationship of support and advice. You agree to treat information related to other participants (including their identity, experiences and case studies) as confidential and not share any personal or confidential information with a third party. You agree to comply with this clause 3.9.
3.9.1 For the purposes of this clause 3.9, a party disclosing information is the “Discloser” and a party receiving the information is the “Recipient”. “Confidential Information” means: all personal information relating to Volunteers or other Participants, know-how, data, information, trade secrets, or materials, in any form whether marked confidential or not, including but not limited to conceptions, inventions, developments, improvements, designs, techniques, technical data, market information, including sales, costs, prices, customers and suppliers, forecasts, marketing and any commercial and financial, technical and business strategic plans already disclosed or to be disclosed to Recipient by Discloser.
3.9.2 The Recipient undertakes:
(i) not to use the confidential information for any purpose except for the purpose of the Services, without obtaining the prior written agreement of the Discloser;
(ii) to keep the confidential information secure and not to disclose it to any third party except for the purpose of the Services and where any third party knows they owe a duty of confidence to the Discloser and are bound by obligations of confidentiality.
3.9.3 The undertakings above do not apply to: (a) any information which is, or in future comes into, the public domain (unless as a result of the breach of these Terms); or (b) to any information which was already known to the Recipient and which was not subject to any obligation of confidence before it was disclosed to the Recipient by the Discloser.
3.9.3 Nothing in these Terms will prevent the Recipient from making any disclosure of the Confidential Information required by law or by any competent authority.
3.9.4 A Recipient will, on request from the Discloser, return all copies and records of the confidential information to the Discloser and will not retain any copies or records of the Confidential Information.
3.9.5 A Recipient shall have no licence, interest or right in respect of any intellectual property rights of the Discloser, except the right to copy the Confidential Information solely for the purpose of the benefitting from the Programme.
4. Liability
By participating in the Programme, you acknowledge that we:
4.1 make no representation or warranties of any kind, express or implied about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability of any Participant, Volunteer, or the Programme.
4.2 are not liable for any false, inaccurate, inappropriate information provided by a Participant or any third party;
4.3 We are not liable to you or any other third party for any loss or damage (including, without limitation, loss of profit, loss of goodwill, loss of business, loss of business opportunity, loss of information or loss of anticipated savings, or any wasted expenditure) arising directly or indirectly (whether or not such losses could be foreseen) from your participation in the Programme.
5. Data Privacy
Your privacy is important to us. In all cases, we will process your information in accordance with our privacy policy.
Information about you may be disclosed to Be the Business team for support in the event that information shared implies that the Discloser is or may be a risk to themselves or other parties.
When joining a board, your name and email address will be shared with other members of your board and you will be invited to join an MSTeams group. All information and documents shared via the MSTeams group will remain available until the board closes.
If you are participating in Inspiring leaders through your employer, Be the Business will share the following data about you with your Employer:
Full name
email address
work phone number
job title
Status (e.g. registered / unmatched / matched)
Engagement with the programmes (Board meetings and reflection sessions attended)
If you want to opt out of this, you can do so by emailing programmes@bethebusiness.com.
6. General
6.1 These Terms are governed by, and are to be construed in accordance with, English law. The English Courts will have exclusive jurisdiction to deal with any dispute which has arisen or may arise out of, or in connection with, these Terms.
6.2 These Terms form the entire agreement between you and us and replace all prior representations, proposals, discussions, and communications, whether oral or in writing.
6.3 The invalidity or unenforceability of any particular provision of these Terms will not affect or limit the validity or enforceability of the remaining terms.
6.4 No waiver of any part of these Terms is binding unless it is in writing and signed by an authorized representative of the waiving party. If we fail to enforce part of these Terms entirely or do not do so in a timely manner, that failure or delay in enforcement will not be considered to be a waiver of that part of the Terms.
Volunteering Policy
Introduction
Be the Business seeks to involve volunteers to:
Provide skills and perspectives to small business leaders to boost UK productivity
Increase our engagement across the business community.
Principles and values
This volunteering policy is underpinned by the following principles:
i. Be the Business will ensure that volunteers are properly integrated into the programme delivery, and that mechanisms are in place for them to contribute to Be the Business’s work;
ii. Be the Business recognises that volunteers have a range of motivations, and will seek to help volunteers meet these, having regard to the objectives of the programme, and through providing training and support for them to carry out their role effectively
iii. Be the Business is proud of its commitment to equal opportunities and seeks to create a diverse and inclusive working environment for staff and volunteers. Volunteers are expected to work with anyone from any background.
iv. We match people into boards and mentoring relationships based on business skills and challenges and expect volunteers to be open to supporting any type or size of business.
Good practice guidelines
1. Preparing for volunteering
Before involving volunteers in any role, Be the Business will ensure that the following are in place to ensure their safety and effectiveness:
a. All volunteers will be provided with a description that explains the role purpose and main duties/responsibilities;
b. The Product Team are responsible for the management of volunteers. They will ensure that volunteers are properly inducted into Be the Business and have access to this policy and other relevant policies. The Volunteer Manager is responsible for ensuring volunteers have a positive experience at BtB
c. Be the Business has public liability insurance that protects volunteers performing the programme objectives whilst in their volunteer role, our insurance does not cover professional advice provided outside the scope of the programme objectives for which volunteers are personally liable.
d. Be the Business does not facilitate face to face meetings - if you choose to meet in person, that is your responsibility. BTB has no responsibility and assumes no responsibility or liability if a face-to-face meeting does take place. As a volunteer, you are expected to be online and follow our meeting guidelines.
2. Involving volunteers: recruitment and selection process
a. Role descriptions
Be the Business will create clear role descriptions for each volunteer opportunity. These will be available to ensure that potential volunteers, staff and the organisation as a whole are clear on the purpose of the role, this will also provide a basis for support and supervision as it outlines the volunteers' tasks and responsibilities.
b. Promotion
Be the Business will ensure that all volunteer opportunities are promoted widely to increase accessibility of a diverse range of interested parties. Our recruitment will include but not be limited to online promotions through LinkedIn, via Partner Channels and direct via employers.
Our recruitment process will be a fair and open procedure, promoting equality of opportunity. For example: Be the Business will only list the skills and requirements on a role description that are necessary for that role;
Our promotional material will clearly explain how a volunteer can get involved. The first step for volunteers is to fill in an application form that asks for personal contact information, and confirms they are eligible to take part in the programme.
Be the Business will make reasonable adjustments to accommodate volunteers
c. Eligibility
All volunteers identified as ‘eligible’ from the application form process will be accepted and then invited to a group onboarding call. It is at this stage the volunteer and the Be the Business team can reconfirm the suitability of the role to the volunteer and identify next steps, which will include matching with a board/mentee.
Once a volunteer is matched, they will be invited to join a board, or they may refuse the opportunity if there is a conflict of interest or other issue arising.
d. Saying no and referring volunteers on
Be the Business recognises that volunteers are an important part of their work and services provided, but also recognise that volunteers placed in roles not suited to their needs or interests can be detrimental to both the service and to the volunteer's motivation and development. If during the application process a volunteer has been identified as not suitable to the role, then Be the Business reserves the right to refuse the offer to volunteer.
3. Managing volunteers
Be the Business is committed to the ongoing support of volunteers to ensure that they are able to carry out their role; the following elements are essential to ‘managing our volunteers’:
a. On-boarding and welcoming
All volunteers will attend an onboarding information call. This will include:
The background of Be the Business.
The volunteer role and how this fits into Be the Business’s mission.
Outline of hours requirements responsibilities and tasks.
Where the volunteering will take place (online), resources available and who they will work with.
Where to get further support, including access to all relevant policies and procedures, such as health and safety, safeguarding etc.
b. Support via the software used to deliver the programme or via email to programmes@bethebusiness.com.
Be the Business will ensure that any mandatory training that is required for the role is clearly explained to the volunteer during their onboarding process. Be the Business will provide any training essential to the role prior to the volunteer undertaking related tasks.
c. Additional Support
Any concerns volunteers have, and any performance concerns the Be the Business team have may require a volunteer to attend an informal discussion. If required, Be the Business can provide supervisory sessions. The Volunteer Manager should keep a record of these meetings, including actions and outcomes.
d. Complaints - if volunteers have any complaints about their participation, either with Be the Business or another participant on the programme, please send an email in the first instance to programmes@bethebusiness.com outlining the parties involved and the complaint or request a callback regarding a complaint.
e. Record keeping
Be the Business uses proprietary and third-party software to manage programme delivery. The programme delivery software will keep an accurate file on each volunteer. Files will include the volunteer’s personal contact information, their application form, welcome call attendance, role description, record of all support meetings and any grievances or complaints. This file will be treated in accordance with the Data Protection Act (2018). More information about how we handle your personal data can be found in our Privacy Notice on the Be the Business website.
f. Recognition
Although volunteers have chosen to give up their time to help Be the Business, we understand that recognition of their contribution is vital in helping them to be part of the productivity movement, see the difference they make and to encourage others to volunteer. Where possible Be the Business will promote the contribution that volunteers make to our work, through internal newsletters, press releases and through our social media.
g. Saying goodbye
Be the Business understands that volunteers discontinue their involvement for several reasons and so have identified steps to take to ensure a process that is smooth and beneficial to both parties. Volunteers may leave because of other commitments, due to issues with the role, or because they have decided they are no longer interested in performing the role. In any case, once made aware, Be the Business will:
i. Arrange a support call with the Volunteer Manager (or other identified party if necessary) to establish the reasons for leaving or the issues arisen;
ii. If the volunteer cannot, or does not wish to be placed elsewhere, thank them for their time, and where necessary explain to the volunteer why they have been asked to leave.
Be the Business are unable to provide references for individual volunteers
4. Policies and Procedures
Be the Business recognises that volunteers are a part of our charitable work and should be protected and bound by Be the Business’s policies and procedures that are designed to keep all interested parties safe and ensure work is carried out to a high and consistent standard. Relevant policies available on request are
Safeguarding
Equal Opportunities
DEI
Terms and conditions
Code of conduct
Insurance
Complaints
Data retention policy
Subject Access requests
Code of Conduct
Be the Business programmes facilitate confidential activity, and all individuals taking part should observe this
All colleagues, Clients and potential Clients are to be treated with dignity and respect
It is the role of the Volunteer to respond to the Client’s needs & requirements and not to impose their own agenda
The Volunteer must always remain professional and not enter any personal relationship with the Client
The position of third parties e.g. line managers and colleagues must be respected by both Volunteer and Client
The Volunteer should not try and intrude into any areas that the Client wants to keep private
The Volunteer shall share knowledge, experience and skills with fellow Volunteers to enhance learning and development
At all times the Volunteer shall respect the core values and principles of Be the Business and maintain the highest levels of professionalism
Version 4
Date: 2 July 2024