People Insight developed and ran a category in the Employee Engagement Awards called the Employee Choice Award, which put judging in the hands of employees. This was conducted via a survey which measured how well employers support, develop, involve and recognise their people.
In the case of highly commended Visualsoft, they demonstrated an understanding of employee motivation and constant innovation in engagement to encourage an atmosphere of trust. This is an interview with Emma Hart, HR Manager at Visualsoft.
Jamie Lawrence, Editor, HRZone: If you had to pick one reason why you were highly commended for the People’s Choice Award, what do you think it was?
Emma Hart, HR Manager, Visualsoft: I would say it's all down to our understanding of what motivates people – we understand people's work/life balance and actively promote and educate our employees about how to get the balance right for their own and the company's benefit.
It's all about creating a culture of trust in the workplace, which helps to naturally drive motivation levels.
Jamie Lawrence, Editor, HRZone: How does your reported average growth rate of 300% impact how you go about your engagement strategy?
Emma Hart, HR Manager, Visualsoft: It is challenging to make sure that we keep our high level of engagement while growing at the speed that we are, but it's communicated and lead from the top down so we can make sure that our engagement strategy is embedded within the company and becomes part of our DNA.
We constantly review and make changes to improve what we do and this helps to maintain and even increase our employee engagement levels.
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Profile: Emma Hart
"My name is Emma Hart, HR Manager at Visualsoft.
I am CIPD qualified with over 8 years experience in HR. I have dealt with all aspects of Human Resource Management but most recently I introduced a number of Employee Wellbeing initiatives including; unlimited paid holidays, flexible working, free fruit, breakfasts, health supplements and relaxation areas allowing staff to work remotely.
I am a firm believer that employees are important, valuable assets and Employee Wellbeing is vital to the business' success. Our main goals were to improve employee motivation, increase employee engagement levels, and also maintain high levels of customer service."
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Jamie Lawrence, Editor, HRZone: Can you describe how you have embedded a culture of engagement within the company?
Emma Hart, HR Manager, Visualsoft: I think for Visualsoft, it has come quite naturally following on from the changes and benefits we have introduced.
The main changes started following a company MBO almost two years ago where we were given more trust and responsibility across the company.
It gives us the opportunity to bring in some really unique initiatives to create, improve and embed the culture of engagement within the company.
We're quite a social company – we have free breakfasts, breakout areas, pool tables and access to a gym – so our employees want to come to work to see their friends and take advantage of these perks.
Our current focus on our employee engagement strategy is to empower and educate managers within the company.
It always helps that everyone enjoys the work that they do too!
Jamie Lawrence, Editor, HRZone: In what way does your staff benefits package link to your engagement strategy?
Emma Hart, HR Manager, Visualsoft: A lot of what we are doing at Visualsoft within our staff benefits package has been implemented to make sure that we have and keep engaged employees.
We understand that by having a happy workforce, our employees are more engaged and productive and this has been reinforced by the weekly engagement surveys we send to our employees.
We understand that by having a happy workforce, our employees are more engaged and productive
It's for this reason that benefits such as free breakfasts, unlimited paid holidays and flexible working link so well to our mission of having happy, engaged staff.
Jamie Lawrence, Editor, HRZone: What is your current focus for your employee engagement strategy?
Emma Hart, HR Manager, Visualsoft: Our current focus on our employee engagement strategy is to empower and educate managers within the company so that the message we use is consistent and equal throughout the company.
This will help with our goal of making our engagement strategy a key part of the DNA at Visualsoft.
