Being a Responsible Employer.
“We realise that as an employer we need to provide clear connections between
our strategic objectives and employees' personal objectives so that individuals
can see how they fit into the bigger picture. We also see an increasing need to
provide a working environment which appeals both to our employees' financial and
emotional needs.”
Elaine MacLean
Group HR Director, Chair, Group Environment and Health and Safety Committees
Strategy
There are four key areas of focus for 2011 to ensure that we manage our business
correctly and that our people are engaged and performing to the best of their ability.
Responding to employee issues
The following are the key issues we face for employees, and our responses to those issues:
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Maintaining and building employee engagement scores.
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The level of employee engagement has been determined by analysis of the ‘What
Matters?’ employee survey. The employee engagement score rose in 2010
from 65% to 74%.
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Differentiate reward for good and poor performance to break out of present performance
levels.
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During 2010 we have extended the use of performance ratings to all employees. The
ratings ensure a clear link between performance and reward.The ratings also enable
us to work with employees to improve performance when required. We have introduced
a Performance Improvement Process, to be used where appropriate.
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Succession-planning and understanding the talent required for the organisation to
meet the changing external market.
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Talent reviews are completed to ensure succession plans for critical roles are in
place and that we proactively manage the careers of our key resources. This is completed
at divisional level and then feeds in to a group-wide talent review of the Leadership
Group.
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How to ensure line of sight between strategy and delivery in the organisation.
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The objectives of the Leadership Group are reviewed to ensure they align to the
strategy of the organisation and their reward is linked to achievement of the
objectives.
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How are we communicating the strategy of the organisation ahead of the objective-setting
process?
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Objectives are set and agreed between the employee and the line manager at the start
of the year and then tracked through regular one-to-one meetings throughout the
year.
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How are we ensuring we are embedding the culture we require?
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We have developed a set of behaviours that articulate the culture we want. This
year these will be integrated into the performance management process for managers
and other HR processes, such as leadership development.
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Governance Structure
Our Resources Board reports into our Group Board and monitors key employee trends
and governance policy. We have specialist committees such as the Health and Safety
Committee and the Equalities Committee, which monitor and make progress on key people
issues across the business.
The key HR Processes that take place in a typical year are outlined here.
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Process
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Outputs
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Timing
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Annual Performance Reviews
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Salary and bonus reviews explicitly linked to performance for managers at Group and business unit level
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January-March.
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Annual Talent Reviews
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Succession management reviews at Group level
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Annually.
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Annual Development Reviews
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Annual Development Reviews for employees
Review and agreement on personal development
plans
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July-September.
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Annual Human Capital Reviews
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Annual Human Capital review for Nominations Committee of board
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Annually.
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Shaping our People Strategy
We use various mechanisms to keep abreast of people issues within the business.
- An Employee satisfaction survey is carried out on an annual basis and we analyse the survey to identify employee risks and drive action plans at both a local and corporate level. In particular we analyse the responses which make up the overall engagement index. We also analyse the responses to questions around bullying and harassment, equality and diversity, training and development and engagement with Unite and MCF.
- As a check and balance we meet with our Union and Management Consultative Forum
on a monthly basis and employee risks are raised formally from both sides. In addition
to these meetings, a separate consultation framework is in place to consult with
Unite and the MCF on business restructures.
- An annual Strategic Planning day is held at which Human Capital is discussed to
identify risks. This year, members of our Executive Committee attended as well as
EDs and NEDs.
Benchmarking our Performance
We have a relationship with the following organisations, allowing us to benchmark ourselves against others and to inform our decision-making on employee related issues:
- Opportunity Now (gender).
- Employers Forum on Disability.
- Employee Relations Networking Forum (banks and building societies).
- The Financial Skills Partnership.
- CII Life and Pensions Faculty.
- Corporate Leadership Council.
Employee Views
In 2010 there was improvement in employee engagement, as measured by the Employee Survey. The 2010 survey was renamed the ‘What Matters?’ survey in order to link employee feedback with our ‘Every Day Matters’ brand. This link with the brand is fundamental to demonstrate that what we think, feel and do as employees impacts on our success as a business and, ultimately, on our customers.
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2010
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2009
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2007
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Employee Engagement Index Scores
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74
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65
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73
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Participation in the Employee Survey
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85
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79
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72
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Percentage of Employees that understand the Group strategy
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71
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50
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63
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Percentage of Employees who think they work for an Ethical Company
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79
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73
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–
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Our Engagement Index score increased from 65% to 74%. This is our highest-level engagement score and is very encouraging considering the major change programme the business went through in 2009.