We're winners - Best Overall People Appreciation Strategy Award 2024
We’re delighted to announce that we have won the Best Overall People Appreciation Strategy at the Reward Gateway | Edenred Appreciation Awards 2024.
Building an Exceptional Employee Experience
We are committed to creating an exceptional employee experience for our diverse and talented team. With roles ranging from plumbers and engineers to environmentalists, regulatory economists, and contact centre advisers, we work together to deliver high-quality drinking water with innovation, passion, and pride.
We wanted to create an industry-leading people appreciation strategy that offered something for everyone. Here’s how we made it happen.
Listening and Learning
We began by implementing a new people survey tool to listen to our team and understand what truly matters to them. This tool provided timely insights, enabling us to act quickly and effectively.
To bring our strategy to life, we hit the road, visiting all our sites and meeting over 850 team members face-to-face.
Embracing Our Heritage: Simplifying Purpose and Values
We celebrated our unique geography by showcasing a 174-year history timeline that highlighted how our purpose has remained the same: to deliver high-quality drinking water to our customers. This story resonated deeply with our people, giving new meaning to our purpose, vision, and values.
Celebrating Success: Peer-Nominated Awards
To reinforce our new values, we introduced peer-nominated awards. In just five months, we received 150 nominations! Winners are surprised with a call from our CEO, a voucher, and a badge and certificate to celebrate their contribution.
The Power of “Thank You”
A little appreciation can go a long way. We created fun thank-you cards and encouraged managers to send at least four each month. These simple gestures have made a significant impact in fostering a culture of gratitude.
Prioritising Wellbeing
We recognise that happy, healthy employees are the foundation of success. To support this, we established a Wellbeing Committee focused on health initiatives, including:
- Gym discounts and Body Coach app subscriptions, complete with a personal video message from Joe Wicks for “Affinity Water legends.”
- Group workouts in car parks and branded thermos cups with soup and breakfast menus for our community teams.
- A company-wide dodgeball tournament, where 200 colleagues dodged, dipped, and dived to raise money for charity.
Taking a personal approach to employee appreciation has transformed our workplace culture. From small thank-you gestures to large-scale wellbeing initiatives, these efforts have significantly boosted employee engagement and reinforced our shared values.
By celebrating what makes us unique, we are building a workplace where everyone feels valued and inspired to give their best every day.
