Frank Roberts & Sons (FRS), the next-generation bakery brand across the North West, has contracted with Engage Solutions Group (ESG) as it develops further its colleague engagement strategy.
ESG has rolled out its market-leading employee engagement platform across FRS’s two sites and 800 employees, 75% of whom are non-desked with limited access to company systems and email. For the first time, FRS will have the means to connect in real-time with every employee via a smartphone app, which also provides single sign-on access to a wide range of useful tools and content.
As HR Director Stephanie Bateson explains, the project is seen as key to FRS’s commitment to a next-generation engagement strategy.
“Engagement has always had a place in our family business and we recognise that we need to work on it continually to embed it deep within the organisation. In simple terms, we’re always looking to take it to the next level.
Over the last couple of years, FRS has had to cope with a significant degree of change and challenge, and we need constantly to bring everyone together by putting connectivity and community at the heart of what we do. We’re always looking to promote our family values and Engage gives us a brilliantly easy mechanism to champion them across the company.
It’s all very ‘next gen’ too, and at FRS, we love to ‘embrace the new!’ The ability to connect effortlessly and reach out to every colleague in the business is hugely enabling. We can keep everyone fully up to speed with company news and operational updates; encourage greater awareness of the excellent benefits and incentives we offer; help make the working day that little bit easier through automation and better/faster access to support services; and generate far more dynamic feedback and two-way dialogue to keep us attuned and aware.
There are so many practical gains too, for example the ability to swap a manual policy update procedure for an app-enabled one with full audit capability. At a conservative estimate, we saved about £6k on one such exercise alone recently. As we build on our activity, we anticipate that those sort of savings will grow - we’ve already reduced costs with a switch to digital payslips, app-enabling our newsletter has trimmed 20K off our budget, while moving from an annual survey to app-based pulse surveys is saving us a further £10K.
There is only upside for us. Alongside improved employee morale, motivation, and productivity, and a strengthening of company spirit, we’re starting to realise operational efficiencies too. And it fits perfectly with our drive for sustainability as we reduce our reliance on paper. It all adds up to a very compelling argument from an ROI perspective, and allows me to demonstrate real, measurable business benefits.
The Engage team has done a great job in creating a solution that fits so well with the needs of both HR professionals and diverse employee groups. We’re currently mapping out new and innovative people processes to help us win in the market and to enhance our engagement adventure. We are delighted to have Engage supporting us as we invent the uninvented!”
