Looking back at the Great Place to Work onsite events of 2016

One of the most valuable aspects of the Great Place to Work programme is the knowledge that resides within the network. This is highlighted each year in the onsite events which bring insights from organisations of all sizes about their experiences on the Great Place to Work journey.

The first event of 2016 took place at AbbVie's manufacturing site in Ballytivnan in March. AbbVie outlined the challenges faced in having to develop its own culture following the break from Abbott.

The company used feedback from its employee survey to create a number of internal Great Place to Work teams, each focused on a specific area of cultural change. This approach helped in the development of a culture driven by employees rather than the leadership team, and fostered ownership at all levels of the organisation.

April introduced the “Riot Manifesto”. Attendees at the event in the Dublin office of Riot Games heard about its emphasis on “hiring for fit” through an extremely methodical process and its commitment to protecting a culture that remains centred on a passionate focus to constantly improving the player experience. This is reflected in a culture that values continual skill development.

May's delivery arrived at the DHL Express depot in Dublin Airport to hear about the company's Focus Strategy which aims to create a customer-centric culture through an engaged and motivated employee base. This has led to a steady rise in employee engagement levels over a six-year period, and also to recognition as one of Ireland's Best Workplaces.

The Contact Centre saw a transformation from a department facing huge challenges of attraction and retention to a key talent pipeline for the entire organisation.

Methodology

Laya Healthcare

outlined its experience connecting the Great Place to Work methodology to its performance management system, using it to tackle the specific challenge of managing underperformance.

May saw a special event at Leinster Rugby's UCD training facility highlighting the importance of a relentless focus on developing high performance.

With speakers from Great Place to Work, Core Media, the Institute of Sport, and Leinster Rugby, the event was a cross-disciplinary approach to the nature of embedding a culture of high performance throughout an organisation, and an opportunity to hear innovative ideas from atypical sources.

In June, Facebook Ireland opened its doors to share its unique approach to culture creation. That culture is reflected in how the company arranges its internal structure, and its desire for colleagues to bring "themselves" to work.

Lidl’s October onsite event highlighted how its market share and customer service numbers had correlated with increased trust and engagement among employees.

When pressed on whether this meant that Lidl had "gone soft", the company argued the very opposite: that the methodology of the Great Place to Work model is a hard and robust framework that is of crucial importance to its business performance. With a focus on "keeping it simple" and an awareness of the importance of involving employees in the communication process, the #WeAreLidl strategy is a key component of its continuing market success.

Office neighbours

The final onsite event of the year was a double-header, with office neighbours Dun & Bradstreet and

Mars

Ireland giving insights into their experiences as Irish operations of wider multinational organisations, and how they develop an authentic local culture.

Dun & Bradstreet spoke of its drive to create local values by “crowdsourcing their culture”. The internal Evolve Team ensures representation from throughout the entire organisation, and provides an equal voice to all areas of the company.

Mars Ireland gave an overview of the importance of pride in its journey to becoming a Great Place to Work. Rather than implement a top-down programme, the company wanted to focus on what employees said. These colleague testimonials were used to develop an internal video that highlights what makes the organisation unique at a local level rather than a project imported from an overseas HQ.

To find out more about the line-up of events planned for 2017 visit greatplacetowork.ie