The Parently Way

How important is it that employees share our sustainable principles and how do you go about inspiring greater understanding of why it is important without it being judgey?

We do actively encourage our employees to think about sustainability issues simply through information sharing, giving various related business updates, as well as sharing practical ideas such as sustainable swaps for everyday life, but we do also respect individual choices and preferences. We don’t ask for any kind of commitment from anyone. It is clearly a fundamental of our business and our culture however, and there is more to do going forward to inspire those life swaps and sustainable choices, but we definitely don’t judge people about how they choose to live their lives relating to sustainability, only support and encourage.

What insights did the employee satisfaction survey reveal – as a business how can we do better by our workforce?

The engagement survey results were very strong overall again this year carried out in July. This year compared to last year there was a 15% increase in our engagement scores for Learning and Development. This was a great reflection of deliberate actions to embed a learning mindset into our culture, really encourage people to learn new skills and new ways of working and increasing their knowledge. We saw an even higher number of employees feeling team connection since the same time the previous year, a jump from 85% to 97%, reflecting the excellent work of all the managers and the ongoing support they receive. We saw a sustained high level of engagement with our purpose as a business. We saw 90% last year and 92% of employees this year feeling their job is important because they understand the purpose of the overall business aims and objectives.

An area we are working to improve on which isn’t currently in any survey or business measure, is our ability to be confident we have a diverse workforce and we are inclusive and celebrate people’s differences. We have already taken steps to implement a diversity and inclusion policy and take stock of where we are now and where we want to be.

A snapshot of the future, what will our workforce look like and how will our environment flex to accommodate the changing needs of our employees

What we have experienced this last year has given us great insight and experience in to how flexible, adaptable and productive our teams, who have this option, can be, whether working at home or on site or a bit of both. With trust from their manager and the continuous emphasis on connection, purpose and being part of something bigger, I can’t see this way of working changing anytime soon.

What we hope to keep developing is how our managers manage this new blended approach to treat people as individuals with different needs, requests and circumstances, whilst ensuring a fairness within their teams alongside output.

We have had to flex the workplace to incorporate hot desks which allow covid safe spaces for people to come in to and immediately connect up and get going, whilst also providing collaborative space is available for those who may only come in as a team one day a week. This is something we will keep evolving as we see how much space is used, how often and whether the needs will change again.

I’m always blown away by the kindness gestures going on all over the place all through the year! The Parently Way

Here’s a list of some of the nice things we do for our employees.

Health care – cash plan with simply health covering e.g. teeth, eyes, physio, counselling, 24hr GP service

Family friendly approach to hours/work locations

Time to volunteer and give back each year

Freebies related to the quarterly theme – e.g. water bottles, food, drinks, pedometers

Xmas gift boxes last year through covid

We offer a Cycle scheme

Generous budget for L&D across the business

Kudos gift vouchers every quarter to those who have gone above and beyond and been voted for

Wellness sessions from nutrition to mindfulness