Leigh Academies Trust Uses UKG Beacon for Everyday Appreciation

Leigh Academies Trust (LAT) is a multi-academy trust that operates 33 schools and employs nearly 4,000 staff across Kent, Medway, and South East London. At LAT, people are viewed as the organisation’s most valuable asset.

“For us, retention is directly linked to better outcomes for students,” says Richard Taylor, Deputy CEO of Operations. “When staff stay longer, they build stronger relationships and contribute to better continuity in learning.”

With a mission focused on developing excellent students who go on to transform the world, retaining and engaging staff is critical to LAT’s long-term success.

Challenges

Before implementing UKG Beacon, staff recognition across LAT was inconsistent and fragmented. While some academies had developed strong local approaches to appreciation, others had little to none.

Internal survey data showed that staff often felt appreciated within their immediate teams, but that recognition didn’t consistently extend to their wider academy or across the Trust.

“Staff was experiencing recognition as a postcode lottery,” Taylor said. “That was contributing to feelings of being undervalued, especially in high-pressure roles. Over time, that could have led to disengagement, weaker culture, and increased turnover.”

Recognition was also identified as one of the three key drivers of retention in LAT’s internal strategy — a conclusion supported by half a million data points and national research from the Education Endowment Foundation.

Solutions

As part of its “Stay and Grow” strategy, LAT set out to prioritise relational trust and culture-building across all schools. To support this goal and deliver consistent, values-led recognition at scale, LAT selected UKG Beacon.

“It needed to be visible, consistent and fair,” said Taylor. “The peer-to-peer element was probably the most important. We wanted something simple that would reach all our people, no matter what role they’re in or where they’re based.”

UKG Beacon was launched Trust-wide in early 2025 and quickly became embedded in LAT’s daily culture. The platform also plays a central role in the Trust’s annual awards evening, where UKG Beacon manages the nomination process.

“We chose UKG Beacon to manage the nomination process for our awards because it was already integrated into our recognition platform,” Taylor said. “Compared to what we’d used in the past, it was much better.”

Results

The launch of UKG Beacon sparked immediate and positive behavioral change across the Trust.

“It’s created a step change in how we talk about recognition,” said Taylor. “It’s now part of our daily rhythm, not just a once-a-year awards event. Staff are sharing more, leaders are engaging in visible appreciation, and we’re seeing higher levels of recognition activity than we expected — especially from support staff and middle leaders.”

Public recognition through UKG Beacon has also increased visibility for previously unsung contributions.

“One great example was a facilities manager receiving dozens of messages after resolving an issue,” added Taylor. “That level of appreciation just wouldn’t have happened before.”

Previously, appreciation was often private or siloed within individual teams. Today, recognition is more connected and consistent across LAT’s 33 academies.

“We call it ‘LAT moments,’” Taylor explained. “It gives us a simple way to recognise colleagues in real time. It’s not the reason people go above and beyond, but it shapes how that effort is seen and valued across the organisation.”

UKG Beacon has become a cultural connector for staff across the Trust. As one team member shared, “It’s like an internal social media platform — you get to know people you wouldn’t have necessarily interacted with before.” Another added, “UKG Beacon brings people together and allows you to celebrate each other in a secure way.”

LAT has also seen measurable engagement gains tied to its awards programme. In 2025, the Trust received 75 more award nominations than the previous year. One award winner noted during the celebration, “It’s made all those years of working before I retired actually feel amazing.”

While it is still early, Taylor says the signs are encouraging.

“We’re tracking retention data, and the picture looks good so far. UKG Beacon has helped us shift recognition from a ‘nice to have’ into a strategic tool.”

When asked if he would recommend UKG Beacon, Taylor was unequivocal: “Yes. The biggest reason is its simplicity. It’s easy to launch, easy to use, and it works.”

He adds that one feature stands out in particular: “The values tagging. It links day-to-day behaviour to what we stand for as an organisation. That’s been powerful in reinforcing our culture and giving leaders a practical way to lead through values.”