Are you properly investing in your business's most valuable asset - your people? At the recent Great Place to Work UK For All™ Community event, we explored how prioritising workplace culture and inclusion can drive success.
Great Place to Work UK’s For All Community events bring together people leaders from Certified ‘great’ workplaces across various sectors to discuss workplace culture and inclusion, along with effective strategies to enhance them.
In our digital-first world, these gatherings create a valuable space for open and honest conversations, allowing attendees to share their challenges and best practices. They reflect the core values of the Great Place to Work Certification: trust, fairness, respect, and camaraderie.
My many pages of scribbly notes reflect the wealth of insights and actionable takeaways from the event, and so I am pleased to share some key highlights:
The role of proximity leadership
High trust, proximity leadership skills, and psychological safety are key components of a positive workplace culture.
Through an analysis of employee survey data from several countries including the UK, Great Place to Work has identified ten essential proximity leadership skills that successful leaders should embed within their skillset:
- Approachability and active listening
- Openness to suggestions and ideas
- Showing genuine interest in employees as people
- Giving autonomy and demonstrating trust
- Involving employees in decision-making
- Transparency and keeping employees informed
- Setting clear expectations
- Allowing employees to try new things and make mistakes
- Showing appreciation for work and efforts
- Encouraging (and enabling) work-life balance
Interestingly, proximity leadership isn't just about physical presence. It’s an approach that places emphasis on close, personal connections between leaders and their team members – which, in practice, can take several forms.
Physical proximity is perhaps the most obvious: involving being physically present and accessible to employees (for example, by spending time alongside colleagues who work on the front lines, or maintaining an open-door policy for impromptu conversations available to all colleagues).
But emotional closeness is also central to proximity leadership. Here, leaders prioritise getting to know their team on a personal level, showing genuine care for their people's wellbeing, and sharing appropriate personal details of their own to build trust and rapport.
Lastly, proximity leaders may also prioritise operational closeness: such as through regularly checking in on projects at appropriate intervals (without micromanaging); getting involved in day-to-day activities with teammates; or providing hands-on support through mentoring, coaching, and ensuring timely feedback.
Proximity leaders commonly maintain transparent communication and regularly solicit feedback from all levels of the organisation. The goal is to strike a balance between developing this closeness (physically, emotionally, and/or operationally) whilst still maintaining the healthy degree of authority needed to make difficult decisions whenever required.
In doing so, proximity leaders can cultivate stronger relationships with their employees, enhance employee engagement, and create a more collaborative work environment.
According to the survey data, hybrid workforces are the most likely to have high-performing proximity leadership, compared to both remote and in-office settings.
Psychological safety as a driver of innovation and engagement
Creating a workplace where people feel safe to share their ideas is vital for driving innovation and boosting engagement.
One People Director working in the transportation sector was joined by Dr Petrina Carmody, Chief Change Director at Great Place To Work UK, on stage to discuss this. They shared experiences of transforming a challenging workplace culture into one characterised by high trust and visible leadership.
With the business's mission to be ‘Proud of every journey,’ the People Director shared the significant progress they've made in on their journey to enhancing workplace culture, and how the Change & Culture Consulting services offered by Great Place To Work has been a crucial part of their successes.
In 2018, the company conducted its first Trust Index survey, receiving a concerning response rate of only 25%. Upon investigating this low engagement, leaders discovered that employees lacked trust in the confidentiality of the survey, and felt that they were not a ‘great place to work’.
The Trust Index results were lower than anticipated, prompting the newly-appointed CEO to recognise the urgent need for cultural change. With support from Dr Carmody and colleagues, they identified key areas for impactful improvement.
They introduced innovative activities, such as ‘The CEO’s Climb’ up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) to promote cross-departmental connections and empower employees.
Over time, these initiatives led to increased visibility of executives and improved employee engagement. The Trust Index results have steadily improved, with response rates now exceeding 75%! This cultural shift has resulted in tangible benefits, such as decreased sickness rates and attrition, while enhancing recruitment efforts post-Covid.
The company’s journey illustrates how dedicated leadership and a commitment to listening can transform workplace culture, benefiting both employees and organisational performance.
20+ Years as a UK’s Best Workplace™
Berengere Peter, Group Head of People Experience at Admiral Group, shared insights from the company’s incredible achievement of being ranked on the UK’s Best Workplaces™ List for over 20 consecutive years.
Admiral Group has cultivated a culture that values employee satisfaction as much as customer happiness and financial success. Berengere shared that maintaining this positive workplace culture is seen as a top leadership responsibility. The business fosters open communication through initiatives like ‘Tea Parties’, where employees can share feedback directly with leadership.
Their ‘You Said, We Did’ approach ensures that employees see tangible results from their feedback, reinforcing trust and engagement. Berengere stressed the importance of staying proactive, too: Admiral's focus remains on continuous improvement and nurturing pride and purpose among employees. This long-standing commitment to workplace excellence has not only benefited their team, but has also been a key driver of Admiral's business success over the years.
VIDEO | Hear what delegates had to say about this event
Transformational leadership
Sharon Curness, Head of People at Savers Health and Beauty shared how transformational leadership can thrive in the fast-paced retail environment.
She highlighted the importance of maintaining a small company feel despite operating around 520 stores and a head office.
Executives regularly conduct site visits to connect with employees, immersing themselves in daily operations through 'Back to the Floor' visits. This hands-on approach helps leaders understand the challenges staff face and fosters a culture of open communication.
Another example shared was the ‘We Love Ideas’ initiative, encouraging all employees to share their suggestions for improvement. A simple QR code links to a form where staff can submit ideas, and every submission receives a response, reinforcing a sense of involvement and innovation.
Sharon noted that their strategies have significantly boosted employee morale and engagement across their sites. The company's commitment to authenticity is reflected in its motto, "We love you as you are," which resonates with employees and customers.
Leadership buy-in for DEIB initiatives
A panel featuring leaders from Booking.com, DHL Express, and Charlie Bigham's provided valuable insights on securing leadership buy-in for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) initiatives.
Rebekah Drury, Senior HR Manager at Booking.com, explored the importance of understanding what's vital for your business and shaping your approach to gaining leadership buy-in to DEIB around that. Booking.com's mission is to make it easier for everyone to experience the world, and there is a clear link between this mission and the importance of a diverse workforce. Rebekah shared some of the approaches in place at Booking.com via Employee Resource Groups and Hackathons, which enable employees to suggest changes to their products, and get them implemented, with the support of Executive sponsors. Rebekah stressed the need to use real data and insight from your teams to understand their challenges, noting that strategies rarely work with a 'lift and shift' approach from one company to another.
Cindy Muyters, VP EU HR Performance at DHL Express, brought her financial expertise and penchant for numbers and data to the Trust Index analysis. She highlighted the wealth of insights contained within the survey, explaining how exploring and creating an understanding of this data enables structured conversations with executive teams. Cindy also emphasised the importance of maintaining appreciation and engagement programmes, especially during challenging times, to support and reinforce the company culture.
Pam Schmid, People Director at Charlie Bigham's, shared how the company grounded DEIB efforts in tangible business challenges. Through their Trust Index insights, they identified belonging as a key driver of retention. They realised that despite employees being generally happy, a stronger sense of community and connection could significantly improve their retention rates. To address existing language barriers among staff, especially those who speak English as a second language, they launched the ‘English for Inclusivity’ initiative. This programme aims to improve communication and foster a common culture without singling out non-native speakers. By creating a supportive environment for language development, the initiative encouraged social connections among employees. Additionally, Pam shared how they have enhanced overall community engagement through team-building activities, a ‘fun fund’ and financial hardship support. Within just six months, Charlie Bigham's saw significant improvements in turnover rates at the location that faced this challenge.
The For All™ Community event highlighted the importance of prioritising workplace culture. Hopefully, these insights offer some valuable tools to help your business invest in and enhance its workplace environment. By focusing on creating a culture of trust and engagement, you can ensure that your employees feel valued and motivated, ultimately driving better business outcomes.
Empowering workforces through communication
Something Big is passionate about creating fairer, healthier, and happier workforces through inclusive and effective communications. An incredible 96% of their employees say the company is a great place to work – a stark contrast to the UK average of just 54%. Learn more about Something Big's workplace culture and services here.