How We’re Building a Culture to ‘Thrive’

Today is International HR Day so we caught up with Kate Bates, our Chief People & Culture Officer, to ask her about building a workplace where our people can thrive.

1. You have been in place a few months now, how is it going?

What an incredible and busy five months it has been!

I have really enjoyed meeting all the fantastic and talented employees across the country and have been genuinely bowled over by the passion and care our employees have for this business; it is truly inspiring, and our collaborative approach makes me very excited about what we can achieve in the future.

It is powerful to work with people who put their colleagues and customers at the heart of the way they work. The most important element of my role is to enhance the employee experience to enable our people to deliver the best possible service day-in, day-out. In many of the conversations I have, a key focus is how we can help everyone ’thrive’. ‘Together we Thrive’ is fast becoming our mantra!

2. How do you define culture and why do you believe it is so important?

Culture is about actions and behaviour, helping people bring the best version of themselves to work. Words like values and mission statements are all well and good, but you’ve got to find ways to bring them to life. That is exactly what we are doing with things like our Employee Core Values Awards. Colleagues who demonstrate our values are now being recognised so that others within the business can see how powerful their individual contributions can be when we are all pulling in the same direction.

To me, culture is the seed, but people’s consistent behaviours are the roots that make the tree grow strong. This is why our culture and values are ingrained in our ongoing decision-making; they guide everything we do.

3. How would you describe the culture at Workwell?

Each one of us is unique and therefore our perceptions, behaviours and actions may differ. Culture is the thing that binds us.

One thing we have in common here at Workwell is a genuine commitment to go above and beyond to deliver the best possible service, and this is evident across the teams. It is inspiring to work with so many colleagues who, regardless of their geographical location, have a genuine passion for working together to help our business thrive. Even before I joined Workwell, I was struck by the passion people showed. I support our culture to remain at the top of the People agenda. This will empower our people to constantly demonstrate behaviours aligned to our values as this is good for our colleagues and our customers alike.

Diversity and inclusion are key parts of the culture we want to create. How do we ensure we have a diverse and inclusive workplace?

Equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging (EDIB) are the founding pillars of the People, Organisation and Culture strategy we are about to launch across our group. Through our key values we aim to create an environment and culture for all to thrive. Our philosophy is that the greater our E,D,I&B, the more enhanced our ability to innovate, be agile to change and continually meet our customers’ needs.

4. What is your view on talent attraction to Workwell?

Defining the talent we need within our business is a key priority; we want our people to naturally align with our company values.

The people talent within our business helps us to drive our competitive advantage and therefore retaining and acquiring the best talent is fundamental to an engaged and successful workforce. This is why it is so important for us to ensure we communicate our mission, embed our values into our culture and provide a work environment for all to thrive.

We are looking at how we provide the best environment and listening to what our employees would like in terms of benefits, training and development and career progression.

5. What does International HR Day mean to you?

International HR Day to me is about recognising the important work delivered by our profession. In our roles, we deal with a plethora of challenges and activities; so it’s good to shine a spotlight on what we do.

Today provides the opportunity to reflect on my first five months at Workwell. As the Chief People and Culture Officer, which was a new group role, it has been a whirlwind. In that short time, we have embarked full steam ahead on a continuous journey to enhance the collaboration between the different business areas. We have collated employee feedback and have already made some changes to help enhance our employee experience.

There will be more improvements and changes to come and I hope every adjustment we make provides the best environment for all our employees to thrive.

6. How will the HR department boost our company branding in the future?

The People and Culture function continuously obtains feedback from the employees across the group, ensuring we review our current practices and benefits to align to what our staff want. Our strategy spans the next few years, ensuring improvements and enhancing our employer branding. ‘Together We Thrive’ will be in all we do, helping our employees to thrive and helping our customers, clients and workers to thrive too.

I am proud to be spearheading the People and Culture programme and very excited to continue our journey to help make this a great place to work which will lead to exceptional performance which, as we know, is the key to our continued successful growth.

Further reading

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