25.07.14
Responsible Business Practice Royal Gala Awards
Guest blog by Chris Leech MBE, Business in the Community
The huge positive impact businesses are making to society and the environment were given a glittering showcase at Business in the Community Responsible Business Gala Dinner, held in the Royal Albert Hall in the presence of Business in the Community President HRH The Prince of Wales and his sons TRH The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
The dinner, hosted by comedian David Walliams and Sky Sports presenter Natalie Pinkham, celebrated the 2014 Responsible Business Award winners, who each demonstrate the willingness of business to tackle challenges and make a lasting difference in our communities and to society.
It was encouraging to see the rail sector so well reflected in the 1,400 strong audience of senior business leaders at the gala dinner. Companies including East Coast Trains (shortlisted in for their employee engagement and wellbeing programme ‘Further Together*’), HS2, Network Rail, Virgin Trains, Costain, Carillion, and Skanska (to name but a few) sent senior decision makers to the event – reflecting the growing passion and understanding by business in the rail sector about responsible business and its importance.
HRH The Prince of Wales opened the ceremony by saying that the message at the heart of Business in the Community is very simple: the prosperity of business and society and the whole of the natural environment on which we depend for our ultimate survival are tied together. One cannot succeed without the other. For the three of them to flourish we must create a more circular and genuinely sustainable economy.
In his heartfelt speech, HRH also highlighted the challenges facing ex-servicemen and women transitioning into civilian life and seeking work.
HRH The Prince of Wales said: “In this extraordinary venue, which hosts the annual Festival of Remembrance, it is easy to remember the bravery of our servicemen and women, and to understand how much they can offer to prospective employers in civilian life. Loyalty, integrity, teamwork and the ability to work calmly and with discipline and good humour under intense pressure are qualities that any business must surely value highly. But the transition is by no means easy, and we should not pretend it is even for the able-bodied. For those who have been injured, of course, the difficulties are greater still.”
This is a message particularly relevant to the rail sector, which is making great strides to engage ex-servicemen and women. This is because there is a direct correlation between the knowledge and skills needed within the rail sector, and the talents of returning ex-servicemen. Furthermore, the rail industry was built on the same principles as the British Army.
Signs are encouraging and we are now seeing more and more rail and infrastructure companies looking beyond their supply chains and sector to build partnerships and programmes that will reduce social exclusion and bring new talent into their businesses.
Of course, we should definitely celebrate that unemployment has fallen by 383,000 since last year. But businesses must not forget the individuals who, without support to overcome the barriers they face, may not succeed in accessing sustained employment.
One company that has embraced this approach is Linbrook Services, which delivers comprehensive engineering solutions to the rail sector. Under the leadership of managing director Lee Hallam, who himself is an ex-Marine, Linbrook has recruited 65% of its workforce from the Armed Forces, including operatives and contingency staff.
Hallam described these employees as “playing a huge part in consistently delivering a high level of service excellence to customers” and “a genuine asset to our business”.
Continuing the military theme, the Prince also praised 2013 Responsible Business of the Year Jaguar Land Rover for its support for the Invictus Games, of which his son Prince Harry is a champion. The Games will celebrate and showcase the sporting achievements of wounded ex-servicemen and women at the Olympic Park in September.
Business in the Community is one of the Prince’s Charities. It campaigns for responsible business by challenging and supporting thousands of businesses to address societal and environmental issues, create a fairer society and a more sustainable future.
This agenda has never been more crucial for the rail sector, which, as it embarks on expansion not seen since the Victorian era, will need to ensure that it is both responsible and accountable. Over the past 18 months we have been working closely with companies in the rail sector to embed sustainability into their operations. These activities include supporting Network Rail to embed sustainability into CP5; helping to shape the industry’s first ‘Sustainability Charter’ in collaboration with Network Rail’s supply chain, and, more recently, supporting the RSSB and the Department for Transport in incorporating sustainability requirements into new franchise agreements for train operating companies.
I look forward to continuing to work with companies in the sector in the coming months as we together play our part to shape a new contract between business and society.
Chris Leech MBE, lead corporate advisor for transport, Business in the Community
(Photos copyright Alastair Fyfe and Benedict Johnson / Business in the Community)
Case study – East Coast Further Together programme
Shortlisted, Bupa Workwell Engagement and Wellbeing Category, Responsible Business Awards 2014.
East Coast inherited a demotivated and disengaged workforce, which it has reinvigorated through its Further Together programme, completely transforming the company’s fortunes in the process.
East Coast: Further Together, is a long-term employee engagement and wellbeing programme, which played a critical role in the remarkable turnaround of East Coast Trains. In 2009, the vastly underperforming business was rescued by the government through re-nationalisation, after the previous operator abandoned its franchise.
East Coast: Further Together set out to tackle low engagement levels, low morale, mediocre performance and a poor reputation. It has helped transform the UK’s biggest train operator from a failure into an award-winning success. Led by the new management team, it focused on turning a demotivated workforce, with low engagement levels and high absence rates, into a happy and reinvigorated one. This was achieved through a complete culture change.
Employees were at the heart of the strategy, because everything that East Coast does is delivered by the people who work on the front line. In order to achieve success a complete shift in the mindset and behaviours of the workforce was a major priority: improving employee engagement and wellbeing was the only option to overcoming the cynicism. Reinvigorating the organisation’s people, their pride, energy and passion was the only way to improve performance and build business resilience.
First, it was vital to restore faith in the company’s leaders and ensure they were capable and confident in their roles. All 300 managers and 150 team leaders attended the Authentic Leadership programme, a two-day course based on building high performing teams.
The company also had to connect its employees to its business goals. This was achieved by developing an internal employee brand, aligned it to a clearly defined customer-facing brand, a first within its sector. The company engaged its entire workforce in this process, through the Company Spirit initiative.
The Company Spirit was developed and defined by staff from across all areas of East Coast. Sharing stories from their roots, their own experiences as customers and what they wanted East Coast to be. This process laid the foundation for as shared vision: ‘Providing the best possible journey experience for East Coast Customers and being a great place to work’ and four People Promises, which clearly define the companies values, what employees can expect of the company, and what it expects of them.
The People Promises are supported by training (including a Future Leaders development programme) and are reviewed and measured through values-based appraisals, one-to-ones and the annual employee engagement survey.
The safety of customers and employees remains the top priority. Progress over the last year has continued, with improvements in many of the operational and occupational targets. For example employee accidents have reduced by 20% during the year to 2013.
Social impacts
• A year-on-year improvement in engagement scores. 2013 saw a record response rate (78%) and a 73% employee engagement rate, the best among all UK train operators.
• The average number of sickness absence days per employee reduced from 11.4 to less than 8.6 days, saving the business £1.89m.
• Recognition as a great place to work, with 37 industry awards in last year and being one of Britain’s Top Employers three years running.
Business impacts
• Improved customer service has seen East Coast achieve best customer satisfaction results since 1993.
• A 25% growth in passenger numbers to become Britain’s busiest train operator, with average loads per train exceeding 225 customers, 36% ahead of the next busiest operator.
• A 4.2% increase in total sales and a 6.6% increase in operating profit with £208.7m returned to the taxpayer in premium and dividend payments.
Karen Boswell, East Coast managing director, said: “We’ve made remarkable progress with the turnaround of the business – at the heart of delivering this change successfully was reinvigorating our people, their pride, energy and passion; and restoring real meaning to people whose morale had become dampened over years with changed ownership, uncertainty and cutbacks.
“A key part of our vision is to make East Coast a great place to work. The success of this long-term programme ensures the legacy we will hand over to the new owner in 2015 is that of a high-performing organisation, recognised for promoting – and investing in – the engagement and wellbeing of its employees.”
(East Coast image: Alvey & Towers)