Employee Engagement Examples of Excellence

Blue Light organisations are facing unprecedented demand, widespread strikes and uniquely challenging recruitment and retention challenges. This is in addition to being a disparate workforce often viewed as ‘cynical’ or less inclined to trust corporate communications. Focusing on employee listening and employee experience has never felt more urgent and necessary.

At the 2023 Future of Work Conference, May Holloway, Head of Internal Communications at British Transport Police explains how amidst a challenging backdrop, they bucked the trend of disengagement in the public sector - achieving increased channel engagement across all channels – most beating industry and public sector benchmarks – responses to employee survey are c.25% higher than 3 years ago and campaigns are surpassing stretch outcomes.

As we become more reliant on technology to bridge the communication gap between our people, leadership and customers, this conversation looks at the impact this is having in the workplace, and why it’s more important than ever to build connections that really matter.

At the 2023 Future of Work Conference, Chris Lees, Senior Manager , Brand & Communications at Liberty Global touched on his experience across internal communications and employee engagement, as well as the role brand plays in creating a unified workplace culture of the future.

From the 2023 Future of Work Conference, hear Hayley’s career journey through Hospitality, Retail, FMCG, and latterly in Sport. The challenges, the best bits and what draws them all together, creating conditions for people to be successful in work.

Finding her place in small medium size businesses, with lean resource and budgets, Hayley looked at the lessons she’s learned as a People leader, the challenges and proudest impact moments, alongside what the future could hold and how we can start laying the foundations.

Listen to this 30-minute fireside chat from the 2023 Future of Work Conference as Jo Moffatt interviewed Fortnum & Mason’s Sam Bleazard, on how you can take steps to start creating a more unified workplace culture.

Looking at authentic human storytelling and the employee experience in a post pandemic world - how do you develop your Employer Brand to build pride, retain your people but also attract new talent?

As a focus on storytelling and fast-moving content sharpened significantly during the pandemic, Jo and Sam discussed what this now means for communications professionals.

What’s the story you’re not telling, or your organisation isn’t telling? How do your people view your Brand, do they have any pre-conceived ideas, and what difference can you make? What’s the X-Factor, or the magic ingredient within your organisation that pulls your people together in the most powerful way?

Creating a unified culture requires commitment, tenacity and belief at all levels – but communication professionals have a role to play in an ever-changing world to lead by example. Jo and Sam explored the principles of authentic storytelling (at its most powerful), being respectful to your organisation, and also explore some practical steps to building a culture from the inside, and on the ground.

At the 2023 Future of Work conference David Macleod OBE, C-Chair at Engage for Success outlined the key forces shaping the nature of work - the external pressures increasingly bearing down on organisations and changing employee expectations of work.

He outlined the four key enablers of high levels of employee engagement which will help organisations to cope with, and indeed capitalise on, these forces.

Success in the future will require organisations to give much greater priority to employee engagement and people issues. Organisations will need to integrate far more closely their ‘hard’ impersonal strategic priorities with their people plan.

In this interesting podcast episode, our host and CX industry specialist Dave D'Arcy is joined by Keynote Speaker, Future of Work & Human Design Consultant, Lena Thompson. Together they delved deeper into the importance of culture in the work environment and how to approach different human design types.

They discussed:

• How can organisations foster a culture of innovation and adaptability in a rapidly changing work environment?
• What is spirituality, and why is it important in an organisation?
• What is Human Design, and how can it be a tool for self-discovery and personal development?
• How can understanding one's Human Design type influence career choices and job satisfaction in a rapidly changing work environment?
• How did you first discover Human Design, and how has it influenced your own journey?

Trigger Warning: This podcast episode discusses some experiences with suicide, self-harm and violence.

In this eye-opening podcast episode, our host and CX Industry expert, Dave D' Arcy is joined by Co-Founder of Rise of Happiness and ex-police officer, Rob Hosking. Together they discussed the importance for caring and paying attention to your employees' mental health, regardless of the field you work in.

The topics included:

• The lack of support you get as a police officer amid the sheer amount of trauma that you witness.

(Interesting fact: During their careers, each police officer is likely to encounter between 400 to 600 traumatic events. Most citizens will experience between three or four in their lifetime)

• The effects the job had on mental health

• What changed, what was the turning point.

• How I went from catching “bad guys” to TEDx speaker

Today our podcast host and CX industry expert, Dave D’Arcy is joined by executive career coach Maya Grossman.

Maya shares her tips and tricks on how to level up your career, she discusses:

• Why is it so hard to break into leadership roles?

• What are the main obstacles that hold people back?

• How can ambitious professionals start tackling those challenges?

• What is something that our listeners can start doing today to break into executive roles?

• You hear the term "executive presence" a lot. What does it actually mean, and how can someone acquire those skills?

• If you can give our listeners who are aspiring to get into the executive suite one piece of advice, what would it be?

In this Podcast Dave D'Arcy catches up with Fiona Passantino discussing the effect AI has on the workplace of today and the future.

Fiona delves deeper into explaining what AI is and how to understand it, as revelations have shown that many people don't fully understand it.

In our latest podcast episode, our Guest Editor Nicholas Brice had the pleasure of sitting down with Serenity in Leadership’s Thom Dennis.

Listen now and uncover Thom’s thoughts on:

• How we can get men talking about the things they don’t want to talk about.

• Why Purpose Beyond Profit is so important.

• Whether CQ (cultural intelligence) could be the new EQ.

• Why we should focus on the majority and what they call “normal”.

• How to crack the code to create a healthy business culture.

• The solution to bullying and harassment if they are systemic.

During this session, we will be sharing some of our most recently commissioned YouGov data on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the UK workplace. Alongside the data, we will be exploring ways in which we can mitigate bias and remove barriers to meaningful employment.

At the 2023 Employee Engagement Summit Dave Nixon, Employee Experience Expert at LumApps shared very fascinating information on the 5 trends within the industry at the moment that could change the way you engage employees!

Although pay equity legislation has existed for over 50 years both in the UK and the US, inequities still exist. One way to address gaps in both pay and perception is by creating transparency frameworks. These initiatives are driven by new legal requirements requiring companies across the US and Europe to disclose pay ranges when they advertise new roles, as well as the development of tech platforms that allow employees to anonymously discuss pay (For example, Glassdoor & BuiltIn). Join this talk to hear more about the links between pay equity and pay transparency, and learn ways to reduce risk, improve talent engagement, and ensure pay equity as we work towards a fair and transparent future of work.

“Your leadership purpose is who you are and what makes you distinctive. Its not what you do, it is how you do your job and why” (Craig &Snook)

There is a clear business case that where employees feel they can bring their whole selves to work and live their personal purpose, they are more engaged, committed and impactful and this is ever growing, as we reset our ways of working and values post COVID.

Our personal leadership purpose is the key to enabling us all to authentically navigate our ever increasingly complex environment whilst bring greater impact, focus and wellbeing to both ourselves and those around us. But developing and living your leadership purpose is an evolutionary journey – it can take years and takes committed actions every day

This chat will explore why leadership purpose is important and how you can develop and live your purpose.

Speaker: Sonia Gupta, Diageo

Purpose must drive your employee engagement and be truly embedded throughout your culture if you want to meaningfully and authentically engage your talent. Hear how 74,000 partners were put at the heart of developing and embedding John Lewis Partnership's renewed purpose and the benefits it unlocked for attracting, retaining and motivating talent. Speakers: Becky Willan & Becky Wollam

SCARF stands for Safe, Compassionate, Accountable, Reflective and Fair and it’s the name of our Culture and Climate programme here at Central North West London. During the session I will talk about why and how we developed and implemented the work on SCARF and our ongoing journey. The session will detail some of the specific changes and the impacts that they have had across the organisation, on our culture and on staff experience. The session will major on why a focus on company culture and climate is at the heart of staff experience, staff engagement and staff retention. For most employees where they work and the values a company are just as important, if not more important, as the job they are employed to do. Many of the retention challenges organisations face are down to culture – we often leave a manager or a team not a job. Hear in this session how job satisfaction can be increased through creating an environment where staff are respected, included, feel safe to speak up, are encouraged to learn from mistakes and are treated fairly.

Speaker: Charlotte Bailey, NHS

Specsavers, the world-leading opticians, are famous for their impressive workplace culture. Their success is not driven by management alone - but by frontline employees; the heart of Specsavers' business operations. Over 70% of Specsavers' employees (at 470 stores and six support offices) across Northern Europe regularly engage with digital communications, operations, learning initiatives and workplace socials. This statistic bucks industry trends for both frontline workers and the retail sector. Join our presentation to learn how Specsavers empowered their employees to engage with company activities on their own terms; via their workplace app, GreenPoint. Speaker: Tiina Masar Binder, Specsavers

The digital skills landscape is rapidly evolving, and businesses need to stay ahead of the curve to future-proof their workforce. During this session, Frances Quirke will discuss several strategies that organizations can implement to upskill their employees to ensure they have the necessary digital skills for the future and for the organization to remain competitive.

People-centric organisations have both employees and customers at their heart. Those organisations who put their people at the forefront of everything they do see their employees as valued partners who choose to contribute their time and talents to benefit the organisation, fueling viability in a competitive market. Those in attendance at today's conference will play a huge part in creating a culture with people at the heart, so don't miss out on this panel discussion where you'll be witness to practical tips and real-life examples of how to embrace a people-centric culture. Speakers: Natalie Spencer, Elise Sallis, & Sacha Harvey, HSBC, Wolters Kluwer, & Lucky Saint

Nikki Humphrey, Chief People Officer at Virgin Group, will discuss how companies can foster a true sense of belonging for employees. Virgin Group is driven by its united purpose: changing business for good. Nikki will explain why and how putting purpose at the heart of everything Virgin Group does leads to ground-breaking results for its people, and the way that this unites employees worldwide. This approach includes embedding three traits - Be Brave, Be Human, and Be Visionary - as part of the company’s Purpose and Vision strategy. During her presentation Nikki will focus on the trait “Be Human” and how companies can create a community and a place of belonging by being inclusive, valuing diversity, and trusting their people. The speech will highlight the importance of putting colleagues at the heart of company initiatives; it will encourage companies to break down the barriers that might prevent people from bringing their true selves to work, and to strive to create a community of belonging where everyone feels safe, secure, and supported.

During this thought-provoking podcast, Nick Brice, CEO at Soul Corporations, and Lynn Erasmus, founder of SYMBL CIC (Social Young and Multinational Business Leaders CIC) social enterprise, delve into the transformative power of curiosity. By cultivating this skill on a daily basis, they explain how we can become more innovative, productive, and adaptable.

They also explore the concept of belonging and offer insights on how to create unity and inclusion for marginalised individuals through the Third Culture Individual concept.

Additionally, the podcast sheds light on how we perceive uncertainty and the role of fear in decision-making, and how recognizing our own biases can help us move from fear to curiosity.

Finally, the podcast discusses the importance of Cultural Intelligence in becoming a more innovative, inclusive, and sustainable leader on a global scale, as well as how the Ten Commandments can guide us with confidence through times of change.

In this captivating podcast, Nick Brice, CEO at Soul Corporations, and Joanne Lockwood, Inclusive Culture Expert at See Change Happen, delve into the topic of inclusive conversations, specifically focusing on how to encourage CIS Men to participate. They also discuss the importance of allyship beyond social media hashtags and shed light on why pronouns matter so much in creating a more inclusive environment.

Did you know that nearly 1 in 2 people feel more self-doubt than self-love?

Partnering with the market research leader Ipsos, the cosmetics company The Body Shop conducted a survey to find out how people around the world rate their self-worth, happiness, and wellbeing. The results they discovered were shocking and heart-breaking, revealing a self-love crisis that needed to be addressed.

In a podcast with the Managing Director of Woodreed Jo Moffatt, The Body Shop’s Global Internal Engagement, Campaigns and Communications Specialist Anaïs Nebel discussed the results of the Self Love Index and how the company set out to unify people.

Using music to promote self-love

According to Nebel, the survey’s findings reaffirmed how vital it is for businesses – especially those in the beauty industry – to talk about and promote self-love. With this in mind, The Body Shop decided to launch a self-love campaign and do something that had never been done before. Explaining how she came up with the idea to write and produce a self-love anthem, Nebel shared:

“I thought, what if we created a song that was designed to empower you through its lyrics and melody? What if you had a song that truly resonated with you, so that the more you listened to it, the more empowered you’d feel?” 

Taking the first step to create its anthem, The Body Shop sent out a survey to employees, asking them three questions relating to self-love and empowerment. After receiving their responses, the team behind the campaign found the common themes and used them as inspiration for the song’s lyrics. Some of these themes included the feeling of not being enough, being proud of overcoming illnesses and wanting to move away from negative body images. 

It is interesting to note that the self-love anthem featured people’s answers word-for-word and even included real voice messages sent by employees from around the world. Discussing people’s reactions to this, Nebel revealed that some employees had tears in their eyes as they recognised their words in the song’s lyrics and heard the voices of their colleagues. 

When asked what advice The Body Shop could give to other businesses who wish to make a difference, Nebel responded: “It’s about understanding what your community needs and is looking for, genuinely listening to them and then taking a risk because good ideas are always crazy until they’re not.”

Thanks to this campaign, The Body Shop was a highly commended finalist in the Engage Awards’ Best Use of Innovation in Employee Engagement category.

With a globally distributed and diverse workforce, communicating with employees at Bayer has proven to be increasingly difficult. While channels like email and intranet remain a constant source of news for employees, without data it’s difficult to gauge the performance of these channels. In this session you’ll learn how Bayer has used data collected with PoliteMail to better evaluate the performance of their internal email campaigns and deliver engaging content employees will read.

With data and key insights from PoliteMail’s 2022 Benchmark Report & Analysis of over two billion emails you’ll learn how to best optimize your internal emails for maximum readership.

We’ll take a dive into Bayer’s robust communication strategy and learn:

•        What makes an email more likely to be opened and read

•        How targeting your audience can lead to increased email readership

•        How much email is too much? Is there a sweet spot?

•        Metrics that matter to executives, proving the worth of internal communications

•        How to apply these findings to improve your overall internal communication strategy

Fireside Chat with Nicole Dempster, Head of Internal Communication and Engagement at Financial Ombudsman Service

The award winning Northumbrian Water approach to health and wellbeing, Living Well, was developed in a unique way using a blend of internal marketing and human insight. Facing a critical health challenge, with a backdrop of Covid and increased demand on supply, the organisation needed to meet the wellbeing needs of a varied workforce, reaching all colleagues.   Collaboration and strong partnerships between the Corporate Communications and HR function allows for people projects to achieve maximum benefit and impact. This session will share examples of how and where the professions could collaborate and provides insight in to a successful project that improved colleague wellbeing and connectivity during the pandemic.

The connection between the way we engage and communicate with our people and the success of the organisation is well documented, yet some leaders still don’t make this connection and place internal comms low in their priorities. Leaders who do not embrace internal comms, frankly, don't deserve to call themselves a leader.  So how can comms professionals engage with their leaders and convince them to put to the top of their busy schedules an informative, engaging and exciting internal comms strategy, which makes their people feel included and encourages feedback.  The presentation will give practical advice on how to inspire leaders to be part of the comms process, be proactive and not simply just a last-minute commitment. How do you understand the leader’s vision and how can we present ROI which delivers the business case for their undivided attention.

Five Guys' workforce is spread across Europe, meaning a constant struggle to get key information to every team member. Five Guys relied on traditional methods of communications which meant messaging was lost and it caused confusion. ‘Chatty Patty’, their internal comms app changed all of this. Hosted by Oak Engage and built from the ground up, it allows Five Guys to communicate with their large deskless workforce quickly, recognise and reward employees and bring together training materials, rotas and payslips in one secure place. It has changed the way they work and is an essential part of the business. Join Oak Engage and Bastian Bauermeister for a discussion on the journey of Chatty Patty, how they have improved employee engagement and designed an app that is built for Five Guys by Five Guys.