Committed and engaged employees are more likely to be motivated to perform to the best of their ability. They are also more likely to stay and develop their careers with us and contribute to the success of the business. Being a good employer is a key part of running a successful business. We recognise that if our people are enthusiastic about working for us, it’s not only good for them, customers will benefit too. Only an engaged workforce can deliver world class customer service.
Communication and consultation
Regular, open communication helps our employees understand what we expect of them. It also helps to raise awareness of initiatives and encourages employees to become more involved in company activities.
We use the intranet, magazines, newsletters and regular briefings to keep employees up to date. We host annual employee conferences and forums where employees can raise concerns to senior management and contribute to the development of effective processes or new projects. We also undertake employee engagement surveys and this year we went beyond surveying employees to build two-way communication channels such as:
- Message boards
- Forums where our people can share their views on the issues affecting them
- Ask the CEO
- Making a Difference Employee Suggestion Scheme
Employee engagement surveys
Understanding how our people feel about their roles, the environment in which they work and their part in the mission and purpose of the business is very important to us; therefore engagement is a key part of our people strategy. We believe engaged employees and agents are more committed, motivated and productive. High levels of engagement mean that our colleagues are less likely to leave, that we experience lower rates of sickness or absenteeism, the customer experience improves, we see higher levels of innovation and we can generate more revenue for the business as we grow into new markets. For this reason we conduct annual employee and agent engagement surveys that are supported by a full communications and education strategy and followed up with action plans at a local level.
The surveys, conducted in partnership with an external leading global specialist, allow us to gain a better understanding of how employees and agents feel about the company. This year we surveyed all employees and agents, achieving an 81% response rate. The results were very encouraging with one of our markets producing ‘World Class’ engagement scores according to the Gallup database and winning the 6th overall position in the CEE region in the Best Employer survey at the same time. Leaders in our business own engagement and will work with their teams on actions that will further improve engagement in the company throughout 2013 and beyond.
'Employee engagement isn't about numbers or scores; rather, it's about people. It's about how all of us, collectively, feel about waking up in the morning and coming to work.
Engagement is the sense of psychological and emotional connection to IPF/Provident. There is a direct correlation between engagement and retention, productivity, and morale. I am committed to being a part of changing our organization.
As our managers have meaningful conversations with their teams, we will identify what our focus over the next year needs to be at an organisation, local business and individual team level and agree actions that will further improve engagement across IPF, making this a great place to work.'
Botond Szirmak, Head of Global Engagement