Employee satisfaction is integral to maintaining a tight ship.
If you don’t go the extra mile to look after your employees, productivity levels could drop and staff turnover rates may soar.
Is this something you’re willing to accept?
To give you some valuable tips on how to boost employee satisfaction, it’s worth looking at a company renowned for its impeccable treatment of its employees.
Google? Salesforce? Sony? Nope.
According to Glassdoor’s ’50 Best Places to Work 2019’ list, Anglian Water tops the bill!
While it might come as a surprise to most of us, the water utility firm is certainly doing something right.
So, let’s use this opportunity to explore exactly what they’re doing to keep their employees satisfied day in and day out.
Career progression is fully supported
One thing Anglian Water always consider is career progression.
As the business is so big, there are plenty of avenues for their employees to explore.
Upskilling and training are at the forefront of what they try to do.
It can help keep employees engaged and focused on a new challenge.
It’s a matter of promoting development and helping employees acquire new relevant skills that can benefit the company.
What sort of upskilling and training opportunities have you got in place?
Do you regularly give your current employees a chance to apply for senior roles?
Remember, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, so, don’t be afraid to work with what you’ve got.
It’ll boost employee satisfaction and encourage them to work harder to further their careers.
The benefits are refreshingly good
According to reviews on Glassdoor and Employee Benefits, Anglian Water knows how to treat their employees.
For starters, they’ll contribute a generous 8% to match an employee’s 5% contribution into their pension, while offering free private medical insurance (PMI).
Another plus in the wellbeing department is the e-vouchers for eye care, employee counselling and employee assistance programme (EAP) to support mental health and a tidy gym membership discount to boot.
Financial management schemes and masterclasses on debt management and saving are also available to those looking for a bit of guidance on how to look after their wages.
And if that wasn’t enough, Anglian Water offer:
- A company car scheme
- Shared parental leave
- Flexible working hours
- The option of taking a sabbatical/career break
- 23 days holiday in addition to national public holidays – which increases with length of service
- Sports clubs
- Hardship loans
- Staff discounts
- Salary sacrifice arrangement to pay discounted water bills
- Charity volunteer days
Impressive, huh?
Granted, if you’re running a small business, it’s simply not feasible to provide such an extensive array of work benefits.
However, that doesn’t mean you should put the idea on the backburner.
Your best course of action is to write a list and categorise them into ‘big/expensive’ and ‘small/affordable’ perks.
Your staff can then pick their favourites.
Or if you prefer a quicker solution, you can always draw inspiration from these two blogs we recently published:
- ‘What Work Perks Do Employees Really Want?’
- ‘6 Employee Benefits Big Brands Use to Improve Staff Retention’
Running frequent wellbeing days
Another way Anglian Water were able to boost employee satisfaction rates is to focus on their wellbeing strategy.
This covers everything from employee health, right through to safety and workplace happiness.
The water utility firm regularly runs awareness days, events and workshops focusing on mental health, musculoskeletal fitness, financial security and the importance of diversity in the workplace.
Giving their employees access to these kinds of things enriches their experience and reiterates their dedication to maintaining a happy work culture.
Staff are even encouraged to create mini wellbeing gardens at their workplaces to produce a clean, natural space for their minds to thrive in.
Putting these types of initiatives in place or running one-to-one catch-up sessions can make your employees feel valued.
Trust me, it doesn’t take much to keep your employees onside – and Anglian Water have undoubtedly recognised this factor.
Always recognising hard work
Anglian Water’s final way of boosting employee satisfaction involved calling on Xexec, a leading provider of employee benefits.
By using Xexecs’s new online Reward & Recognition Platform, they’re able to give their staff the praise they deserve.
The Head of Rewards at Anglian Water, Sally Purbrick, said: “In the first week alone, we have had over 200 individual awards and 15 team nominations. Xexec’s platform has been a wonderful addition by enabling our colleagues to easily recognise and reward each other’s contributions, making each individual feel like they’re part of the team and appreciated in the workplace.”
The innovative platform lets colleagues and managers send people personalised thank you cards, digital messages, certificates, cash awards, scratch cards, charitable donations, travel awards, tickets and vouchers.
In your business, start thinking about how you can reward your employees and say thank you.
Giving them the plaudits they deserve will motivate them to work harder and remain loyal to the company.
So, what are you waiting for?
Make positive changes to boost your employee satisfaction levels today and you could make a splash in Glassdoor’s 2020 list of best places to work!
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