‘We listen, we care…’

The Sheffield-based Pay Services team changed their approach to employee engagement around three years ago, resulting in a much more positive approach and a happier place to work. 

Service team leader, Craig Fox said: ‘Our engagement initiatives are driven by the Employee Opinion Forum, which is made up of reps from each of our 11 teams. A few years ago, we found that our monthly meetings sometimes became a forum for complaining, especially about things we couldn’t fix. We decided to change direction.

‘We asked for reps who genuinely wanted to take part. We asked them to bring three “positives” from their team and decided to focus on areas we could influence as well as just having fun. The Forum isn’t exclusive; reps can bring a colleague to see what’s being discussed, and each meeting ends with a chance to put forward ideas and suggestions.’

Pay Services have even evolved their own ‘Employee Opinion motto’ – ‘We listen, we care, we encourage changes to make a positive difference. It’s your voice, your opinion. It matters so make it heard.’

Craig says they now have a really positive network of engagement and have successfully achieved everything on their action plan this year. Here are just some of the things they have been doing in response to colleague feedback:  

• A ‘Wellness Board,’ which includes employee benefits and signposts to support for a wide range of wellbeing initiatives.
• Wellbeing initiatives, including mindfulness sessions, diabetes awareness, healthy eating/drinking advice.
• A successful and popular book swap initiative.
• ‘Skills exchange sessions’ across Pay Services to address gaps in key areas of learning   
• A number of volunteering and fundraising events, which have raised £97,000 for a wide range of charities over the last five years.
• An Easter Egg collection and drop off at the local Sheffield children’s hospital.       

Customer service advisor, Ben Elliott, gave his perspective: ‘Our Employee Voice Forum brings Pay Services together so that we can share any issues, no matter how small, and hopefully make a big difference.

‘The fact that we have a rep from each team means that everyone’s voice can be heard. I think from the results we’ve had, you can see that it’s working.’

Have you been taking action? 

This year, our Employee Survey is moving online and will be delivered in partnership with our new survey provider, Qualtrics. Press play to hear from our chief HR officer, Sally Ashford.

We’re looking for other teams who have been acting on feedback from last year’s Employee Survey and making changes in their workplace. If you’re happy to share your story, please email groupcommunications@royalmail.com.