Employee Engagement - best practice examples
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Employee Engagement – best practice examples
Premier Inn — Sun Microsystems — BSkyB — L&Q — Kings Lynn &
Norfolk Borough Council — J Sainsbury — Centrica — Timberland —
SouthWest Airlines — Nationwide — Camelot — KPMG — W L Gore &
Associates — AXA
Premier Inn
Premier Inn has a firm belief that people hold the key to its success and there is focus on
employees right across the organisation. The WINcard, its scorecard business
performance measurement tool, targets three key stakeholders, people, guests and
investors and performance targets are set and monitored; also employees are rewarded
and incentivised against these. Reward and recognition of employees takes place as part
of a recognition scheme which includes an annual conference with award presentations
based on team, hotel and individual achievements. Employee engagement is monitored
as part of the WINcard. An engagement survey is held annually, with a summary of the
results circulated to every employee. From individual plans, a company action plan is
circulated to all employees. The company believes it “provides employees with great
places to work in and a great product to work with.”
Premier Inn aims to provide a positive, flexible working environment to help employees
combine work and family responsibilities. A dedicated Talent Planning team aims to
support and develop individuals from within.
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Sun Microsystems
Managers of virtual high‐tech teams face particular engagement challenges. Fostering
employee engagement needs special attention in a dispersed global environment with
flexible working practices, which potentially can cause disconnection, isolation and
disengagement. At Sun Microsystems, now part of Oracle, the CEO interacts with
employees through a forum on the intranet, which helps employees keep in touch with
the corporate goals and direction where feedback and opinions can be expressed to the
top team. Technology directions are debated through a blog. Business Unit Heads and
Executive Vice presidents hold regular ‘town hall’ meetings with employees. Various
forums, communication media and events maintain information and dialogue including
contact with employees’ families.
TopBSkyB
At BSkyB, the satellite broadcaster has taken steps to encourage involvement and
discussion. Sky Forum, an elected body of about 70 employees, puts forward staff
views and ideas at regular meetings with the chief executive. A "Joining In" scheme
encourages employees to volunteer for community or arts work. The company
promotes well‐being through a programme fostering a healthy lifestyle, called
"Keeping Karma". An annual survey of employees keeps in touch with key employee
issues.
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London and Quadrant Housing Association (L&Q)
London and Quadrant Housing Association (known as L&Q) has had to devise business
strategies to deal with the harsh realities of reduced rents, increased interest rates and
very significantly reduced government grant. Leadership and culture change was
recognised as a major factor in organisational delivery. To develop leadership at all
levels in the organisation and to encourage collaborative learning and working was seen
as a core element in meeting L&Q’s strategic vision.
Based on the principles of collaborative learning, an L & Q Leadership Academy
provided an opportunity for leaders to work together to develop the leadership
capacity to deliver the 5 Year Corporate Plan and key future strategic initiatives, and to
increasingly build a culture of shared leadership.
By taking part in the L & Q Leadership Academy, participants have been able to develop
their own skills in learning and develop their capacity to lead the learning of others
both in formal collaborative learning groups and in their day to day leadership roles.
The Executive group collectively summed up their learning process:
“The outcome of our journey so far has been very significant, described as shifting
tectonic plates, a fundamental change”.
TopKing’s Lynn and Norfolk Borough Council
King’s Lynn and Norfolk Borough Council ran a campaign to address poor morale, which
was reflected in low scores in its staff survey, and overhaul the poor reputation of the
council internally and externally. A staff‐led programme of change was instituted,
founded on two‐way feedback. The initiative involved setting up focus groups to get to
the root of the issues, devising an online question‐and‐answer forum fronted by the
senior management team, weekly team‐management updates alongside staff briefing
notes and face‐to‐face core briefings and team meetings, a re‐launched staff newsletter
with an editorial board involving service areas and staff, plus an annual 'It’s All About
You' staff recognition event, with a revamped induction involving the chief executive.
The campaign achieved a significant uplift in scores from the 2007 staff survey 85 per
cent agreed they were proud to work for the council. This was also mirrored in
dramatically improved resident’s satisfaction ratings.
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J Sainsbury
J Sainsbury puts a priority on employee communication. CEO Justin King writes a
monthly letter to employees on progress and business plans. It has an active suggestion
scheme process‐to date there have been 30,000 suggestions. Weekly visits by
executives to the shop floor, listening to colleagues and finding ways to put their ideas
into practice are examples of a listening approach. To track ongoing colleague
engagement, the business uses its rolling annual survey 'Talk back' combined with a
monthly online survey, the 'Colleague Panel'.
In parallel, engagement with customers is a priority through monthly surveys, regular
feedback from its loyalty card customer base and weekly checks for ‘what’s on the
customer’s mind’. Since 2010 it also publishes quarterly reports on social issues.
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Centrica
Centica tracks customer and employee feedback regularly and takes action on the
results. Customer 'net promoter' scores come in weekly or monthly, letting each team
see customers' opinions on service they provide. Employees receive feedback through a
formal half‐yearly appraisal which links to performance bonuses. Centrica runs an annual
company‐wide employee survey. An engagement team follows up particular employee
issues. For example, feedback was given that there were few “thank you’s” for a job well
done. Actions were taken and the score a year later showed substantial improvements.
There is now a longer‐term strategy for integrating employee engagement into the
customer focus of the organisation, thereby putting a business value on employee
engagement.
TopTimberland
Leisure wear company Timberland believes “Making a Difference is Our Job”. According
to its website, it has a mission to equip people to make a difference in their world. It
sees working at Timberland is really about bringing four simple ideas alive:
People. It’s about carving your own path. And leaving your own footprint.
Values. Humanity. Humility. Integrity. Excellence. These are the four core values
that we inject into everything we do, every day.
Purpose. Creating positive change in our company, community and
environment. Any way you can.
Passion. Being relentless and driven. And without boundaries.
Its People Philosophy is that “Timberland is only as good as the people who work here.
Whether we’re creating a new product, opening a store, or serving the community, we
do it better when we do it together. If one person can make a difference, together we
can change the world – and that’s a great return on our investment. “It sees that
employees can expect “opportunities to learn and engage. And a work environment
that’s positive, inclusive and inspiring. Each and every day.” In return it expects
“commitment to apply your passion and talents, while making a positive impact on the
Company, the community, and yourself.” The Timberland Company gives its employees
paid leave to work as volunteers for a national youth community service organization.
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SouthWest Airlines
Often quoted as a pinnacle of great customer service, SouthWest Airlines is an organisation
that puts the employee at the heart of its organisation. Stringent recruitment and selection
processes mean that involve the customer mean that it recruits people with the right
attitude and approach who take pride in serving the customer. SouthWest’s values of
‘family’ and ‘fun’ put great emphasis on involving their employees and creating a
stimulating place to work. This pays off in the commitment and dedication of its staff.
SouthWest is continually voted number one for customer service in US.
TopNationwide
An organisation noted for its high levels of customer service, Nationwide has created an
initiative called Pride, to promote engagement. Of his employees the Managing Director
comments “I want them to feel proud and committed to working for this organisation”.
"In getting that right, the passion for Nationwide is shared with our customers. They like
us for doing that and are then advocates for the organisation and do more business with
us, and our results improve."
People initiatives are a key part of a five 'Ps' strategy ‐ products, processes, people, pride
and performance. “If you can get the first four right, you don't have to worry about
performance”, he says. "And the people equation is the vital, vital ingredient in that mix."
Nationwide has developed an effective way of allowing senior managers to listen to the
concerns of its employees. On a regular basis large groups of staff come together with a
panel of two to four senior managers. The session, called “Talkback”, encourages
employees to talk and debate with their managers on current issues and future plans.
There is no agenda and everyone is encouraged to speak out and freely air their views.
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Camelot
Lottery organiser Camelot has measurably improved its customer satisfaction; and
engaging and consulting with its people has been an important element of that.
Consultation contributes to strategic decisions and influences the development of work
programmes. Engagement mechanisms include:
A weekly cascade of business information
Intranet and company‐wide email
A confidential annual staff survey
Staff Consultative Forum
Feedback has led to senior manager road shows to improve contact with employees
around the UK and regular 'speakeasies' where staff can raise issues confidentially with
directors.
TopKPMG
KPMG measures and acts upon engagement levels. "For us, employee engagement is
what it's all about," said Nicola Greenway, senior manager, UK people management at
KPMG. "It's the link between our people strategy and retention of top talent."
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WL Gore & Associates
WL Gore & Associates (Gore‐Tex) has become a regular‐three times‐winner of
the Sunday Times' Best Companies to Work For' award. It takes a very positive,
employee‐centred view of company performance. Employees are all termed associates,
and teamwork is so important that colleagues' rating of each other is a contributor to
pay.
A senior manager highlighted the unique company culture: "It's belief in the individual.
We try to let people do things they are good at as opposed to forcing them into things
they are not good at. A lot of why we have been successful is down to the way we treat
people and how people react to that. It works for us and makes us a good place to work,
and a very productive place to work."
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AXA
Insurer AXA sought to rebrand itself with a new strap line "Redefining standards". The
company aimed to remove the impression which market research told the company, that
it was seen as cold and impersonal, that it needed to become an insurer of choice and
tackle the general decline in trust in financial institutions that had been arisen from the
financial crisis. A traditional approach would have been simply to spend money on
marketing and advertising, and indeed a substantial sum £4million, was allocated to do
so. However, importantly, changes went on within the company which meant that the
process was much more effective. AXA set up a branding task force made up of functions
right across the business and not just marketing, canvassing executives, customers and
employees. Three attributes emerged, that the company must be “available”, “attentive”
and “reliable”. The next step was the identification of exactly what behaviours and
competencies were needed to achieve these, both from managers and from people
dealing with the customer on front‐line. The resulting high levels of engagement were
much more effective because it led to increased levels of commitment and
understanding. One of the implications that came out was the employee expectation
that managers needed to be role models of the new values. A lot of time and effort has
therefore gone into leadership programmes and also into performance management,
action plans and monitoring based around new competencies. The customer is noticing
an improvement, according to customer satisfaction ratings.
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