Good afternoon, 

Last year we ran our first Employee Survey, and we asked you for your views on several areas of the business.  Thanks to your honest and constructive feedback, we have made lots of improvements around the business.  

The major themes raised were regarding Communication, Training and Pay & Benefits.  Following this feedback, here are just some of the changes we made:  

Communication and regular contact: Directly employed plant operators.   

The nature of the operator role means that specific arrangements for communication and welfare were put in place.    

• Ben Keeler contacts our operators every month to check in with them and make sure that they have PPE, updates etc. 
• An operator WhatsApp group is in place to provide direct and quick two-way communication with the office-based team.  

Regular business updates for all employees: 

• We have a monthly update meeting to share the latest news and business developments.  That news should be shared with all direct reports within 3 days.   
• We introduced the quarterly “News Flash!” on the WhatsApp group to introduce new starters and bring you the latest news.  

Ongoing training: 

This was a very strong theme and lots of training has been introduced in response.   

• Ongoing Management Development Programme:  This started in May, and so far, 25 of our supervisors and managers have attended.  
• Operator Training and Guidance:  GPS training was held at Weston in February, and more training is being planned. 
• We are offering NVQ training across the workshops and yard teams, to increase skills and qualifications. 

Working Together across depots and teams: 

• We are ‘One Brand. One Plantforce. One Team’. So, we brought our branding together to demonstrate that.   
• To ensure cross depot collaboration, the functions from all depots meet weekly (Hire Desks, Workshops, Transport).     
• We encourage all teams to have regular get togethers to share best practice and support.     

Sharing our Strategy: 

The management team did a lot of work earlier in the year to develop our strategy for the coming years.   

This was presented to our management team earlier in the year.  Now we need to do more work to share that further so that we are all working together in the same direction.    

Pay & Benefits 

You wanted to know how pay reviews were managed and what benefits are on offer. 

• There is an annual salary review process that looks at every employee and how the business is performing.  Any increases usually take effect from 1st April.   
• We now have a Cycle to Work scheme, to help you buy a new bicycle.  Contact HR if you are interested. 
• Discounted shopping schemes have just been announced by HR.   

Next week, it will be time to take part in this years Employee Survey.  Please make sure to respond – we need your help to make Plantforce the best place to work for everybody. Don’t forget the survey is still anonymous. 

Kind regards 

Claire