What makes a good employer? Is it the big things? Is it the little things? Is it subjective or is it universal? Is it a policy or a feeling?
We were recently shortlisted for the Best Employer category at the OT Excellence Awards. And it’s been making us think about what it takes to be THE best employer…
This is our first time entering the OT Excellence Awards. They are a big deal for us because they represent the BEST of OT providers across the UK – including some much larger organisations. We worked incredibly hard on our submissions and were over the moon to be shortlisted for not just one but four different awards. This confirmed to us what we’d believed – that by taking the time to do things differently we are making things better for our employees and people who draw on our services.
And while it would be amazing to see that officially recognised, being the best employer for our employees is an even bigger deal. So we wanted to share some of the things we’re doing differently to try and achieve this…
Co-Production
What is it?
You may not realise it but this is an ‘opinion piece’ with a difference: most of the opinion pieces you read on LinkedIn will have been written by (or at least approved by) management.
At Enabled Living there is no hierarchy when it comes to opinions. Everything we do is in consultation with everyone in our organisation and, most importantly, the people who draw on our services. ‘Co-Production’ is the term for this, or, in other words, we ‘co-produce’ our services with the people who will draw on them.
Why is it important?
Co-Production is important because it is the only way to make things better for the people who draw on our services.
Providers could come up with what sounds like the best service in the world but if it doesn’t work for the people who are going to be drawing on it – then it doesn’t work full stop. So much of what we do is about how we make people feel. Co-Production also gives us an opportunity to understand this better.
We are campaigners for social equality and justice here at Enabled Living and Co-Production amplifies the voices of people who are often not heard in society but often have the most important things to say.
Values Based Recruitment
What is it?
Values Based Recruitment is the process of recruiting people based on their values by asking them values-based questions, sometimes, engaging them in role play and continuing this throughout their career with us with values-based appraisals and reviews.
The purpose of this is to ensure that we are all ‘singing from the same song sheet’ from the very beginning. And, of course, our ‘Co-Production’ team is involved at all stages to ensure that our new recruits share the values of the people who draw on our services
Why is it important?
A team that is motivated by the same values will all be pulling in the same direction. There are no conflicting agendas. They are more likely to empathise with each other and work together better. They are likely to get on really well both in and outside of work. These are the ‘dream teams’: the ones that really believe in what they are doing and support each other to achieve shared outcomes.
The Little/Big Things
What are they?
Let’s start with the big things: We are proud Real Living Wage campaigners. This means that we are committed to paying our workers a Real London Living Wage as minimum (calculated by The Living Wage Foundation based on the actual cost of living, as opposed to the Government’s current minimum wage which isn’t based on inflation).
But we don’t think this is enough in itself to help working families facing poverty so we also campaign for a Real Living Wage online, in the press, at business events and, on occasion, at Parliament Square.
Our work is high-pressured and can be demanding – especially when we all believe so passionately in what we are doing. Rates of burn-out in the health and social care sector are alarming.
We know that it is not enough to simply remind our team to look after themselves, so we challenge them to do it. During the pandemic, we began wellbeing challenges to keep out spirits up, keep us well and keep us connected. The challenges were so beneficial and enjoyable that they’ve become a regular thing. Most recently, we challenged ourselves to virtually cycle, walk and swim “to Paris” for the Olympics. We are immensely proud of our Wellbeing Award from the FSB.
We have a Pirkx app which gives our team access to savings on shopping, cash back, days out, counselling and health apps.
And it’s the little things too – none of us have to work on our birthdays and our kitchen is always stocked with healthy food we can help ourselves to.
Why are they important?
The better we feel and the happier we are, the better we work. Yes of course. But it’s about more than just ‘productivity’, it’s about ethics, morals and treating people as people not commodities.
The results – and why they are important
This all sounds great, doesn’t it. But is it actually making a difference? We’re incredibly proud to say that it is! We are bucking national trends. It is notoriously difficult to recruit and retain within our sector. Unlike providers across the UK, we are filling all our vacancies almost immediately. This tells us that we are getting things right when it comes to being the sort of employer people want to work for. But how do we prove that people are actually happy working here? Well, we could tell you that our retention rate is 98% because one person retired.
There’s still so much we want to do to be a better employer. The concept of supporting people to be happy in their work is a bizarrely recent one. We don’t have all the answers but we want to listen and learn. This article is really to stimulate further discussion: we’d love to hear what you think makes the best employers. So, over to you…