Retailers acclaimed as leading employers
New Government guidance showcases retailers that have boosted business success through effective employee engagement .
Sainsbury’s and John Lewis Partnership have been highlighted as leading employers by a Government campaign to promote more effective employee engagement.
The retailers are featured in new guidance launched today by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The practical guidance – published on www.businesslink.gov.uk/employeeengagement – will help employers improve the way they engage their employees. It has been developed with input from a range of business leaders, employers and employee engagement practitioners.
Evidence shows that effective employee engagement is a route to business success and is a very practical way of strengthening business productivity, innovation, competitiveness, attendance rate and voluntary turnover.
The new guidance highlights how Sainsbury’s has implemented initiatives such as the Tell Justin scheme which encourages colleagues to put forward their suggestions on how to improve the business. Over 25,500 suggestions have been received, with suggestions ranging from the simplification of store processes to improvements in customer service. Many of these have been implemented.
At the John Lewis Partnership, a number of long standing mechanisms are in place to ensure that employees have their say. These include a partnership council, local forums in every Waitrose and John Lewis shop and an in-house magazine called The Gazette, where employees can pose questions to senior management. This is an extremely effective way of promoting employee voice with an average of 14 letters a week received, all of which receive a management response.
David MacLeod, employee engagement adviser to BIS, said:
“The body of research on engagement is compelling: it shows how engaged employees are far more committed and productive than disengaged ones. With Britain emerging from one of the toughest economic periods in living history, it is now more important than ever that organisations realise the full potential of their people.
“Sainsbury’s and the John Lewis Partnership are both fantastic examples of how effective employee engagement can deliver business success. The new, practical guidance now available on Business Link will help other employers to follow their lead and reap the benefits for them and their people.”
