On 1st May, Endorphin’s Project Manager, Katie-May attended Engage Employee’s 2024 Engagement Summit to learn about different employers’ approaches to internal communications.
The day brought together various companies at The Brewery, London to celebrate all things internal comms! With content stages, interactive roundtables, and topic stages; over 250 speakers from businesses such as Nandos and Virgin had the chance to address how internal communications can support employees with their wellbeing and mental health, among other things.
Below is our summary of highlights and key insights from the day…
Engage for Success
Speakers – Dr Sarah Pass and James Court-Smith, Engage for Success.
Sarah and James revealed the results from the 2023 Engage for Success UK engagement survey, with some very interesting results about the UK’s workforce.
71% of people said that when they think that their managers care about their problems, they are considerably more engaged – demonstrating the importance of strong internal comms to create key relationships between managers and employees.
They also mention that although there is now an increase and preference in hybrid working, the rate of team members working whilst they are ill has also increased because they no longer need to be in the office to do so. This can put a strain on mental health and increase the risk of burnout.
Sarah and James therefore argued for the need to ‘push people issues up the agenda’, putting employees first to avoid burnout and poor mental health.
Forty1
Speakers – Hillary Brown, Managing Director, and Guy Champniss, PHD, Head of Behavioural Science.
Hillary and Guy provided a fascinating insight into what modern workforces are motivated by in 2024 and the importance of finding a balance between intrinsic (motivation that comes from ‘within’) and extrinsic (motivation which is found in external factors) as this can help employees perform to their best potential.
“Motivation at work is critical. It’s the engine of behaviour and decision making […] Motivation is also the catalyst for the success of any organisation.”
Ruby Wax OBE
This year’s headliner, Ruby Wax OBE, talked about employee mental health and expressed the need for businesses to be human. She mentioned the importance of making your business a place where everyone believes they are bringing something to the table and noted that the ones who survive are the ones who cooperate and collaborate in a team.
Virgin
Speakers – People Experience Directors, Alix Ainsley and Charlotte Cherry.
Virgin has implemented a portal to allow their 40 Virgin companies and 70,000-person strong workforce to connect and collaborate. ‘Virgin Family’ allows employees to interact in both formal and informal ways and anyone from the CEO’s team to cabin crew can join in. Their goal is to remove the unhealthy ‘always-on’ work practices and to unlock greater interaction and experiences.
Deliveroo
Speaker – Christina Lewis, Head of Global Rider Experience and Gender Equity ERG Lead.
Christina was extremely inspiring, speaking about the importance of ERG and how crucial it is to represent underrepresented groups in the business through a positive company culture and employee proposition goals. Deliveroo focuses on employee-led international ERGs to tackle issues for their members, such as racial equity, gender equity, Deloveroo (providing visibility to their LGBTQ+ community), wellbeing, family & carers, and disability.
Katie-May summarised her time at the 2024 Engage Employee Summit:
“I had a great time at the Employee Engagement Summit down in London. I loved learning about everything there is to do with employee engagement and how the workplace environment can be used as a tool to boost employee productivity. I particularly enjoyed listening to Alix Ainsley and Charlotte Cherry about how they successfully implemented a new employee portal and I can’t wait to take some of the ideas and things I’ve learned back to our clients at Endorphin.”
Want to learn more how Endorphin can help you improve your business’ own internal communications? Get in touch today and let’s have a chat.