Reducing headcount in 2009.
During a year of difficult decisions we had a number of important checks and balances in place to ensure that our employees were treated fairly.
We consulted on each business case for headcount reductions with both Unite and our Management Consultative Forum (MCF), having first explored ways of mitigating redundancy. Consultation with the employee representatives involved defining the selection criteria for redundancies. Both the MCF and Unite were involved in every business case to downsize the business as part of our collective consultation process, irrespective of whether their members/constituents are involved.
We tried, as much as possible, to select individuals for redundancy who had indicated to us that their preference was not to remain in the organisation, but we could not guarantee we could necessarily meet each individual’s request.
All employees made redundant are eligible to receive outplacement support to help them through redundancy and move on to another role or help them make a life-style change.
All employees have access to an Employee Assistance Programme, which provides both psychological/emotional support and practical (legal and financial) advice.
Outcomes are often difficult to measure. We have measured four areas
- The total number of Tribunals that resulted from the redundancies was 12 or 1.82%, which we believe is a good indicator that we approached downsizing in the most appropriate way.
- A key indicator of employee engagement and morale is the level of sickness absence. This held steady last year at 3.6%.
- Redundancy pay is enhanced and is between 2.25 and 5 times higher than the statutory minimum.
- Feedback from our outplacement providers shows that 54% of Employees using the service now have a job. 20% are self employed and 4% have either retired or retrained.
- Employee resilience through organizational changes
It was important to us in 2009 that even though difficult decisions were being made,we kept channels of communication open with our employees through our internal "What Matters" programme and our employee survey.
This year we began an interactive programme to understand what employees think we should stop, start and continue doing to make sure we’re making Every Day Matter to our customers, our employees and our business.
- Over 15% of employees attended a face-to-face workshop.
- A pre-paid form was sent to 1,700 employees, including those on maternity leave, our employed sales force and home-based employees so they could take part.
- We received over 12,000 suggestions from employees.
- Responses to feedback and action plans are being issued and planned for each category.
The key measures we take from our employee survey are the Engagement and Leadership Indices. 2009 was a particularly challenging year for our people and, in common with many other organisations, the Engagement Index fell to 65% (-5%) and the Leadership Index fell slightly to 58% (-3%). In addition, headlines from our Employee Survey told us that across our employees.
- 62% said they are satisfied with their job (7% down on last year)
- 70% said they are able to strike the right balance between their work and home life
- 74% believe they work for an ethical company
- 63% of employees responded positively to the question in the employee survey asking whether they are under an acceptable level of pressure in their job (a 1% improvement on the previous year) which we took as positive taking into account the climate last year.
There is significant commitment to improving employee engagement during 2010, with managers from the executive committee down having specific objectives to improve engagement. Also the proportion of managers' objectives that are focused on the people element of their job significantly increased. All areas of the business have analysed the results and action plans are being put in place from overall company to individual team level.
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