Valuing our people

We want our people to feel valued, rewarded and free to express themselves.

We place great importance on open formal and informal communication with our people. We seek to hear their views on our business and on issues that affect them through People Forums, monthly Team Talk discussions, one-to-one meetings with their line managers and our annual employee survey, the Great Debate^*.

This Group-wide survey looks at employee perceptions of Carillion and is an opportunity for our people to let us know how they feel. It helps us to understand the drivers of employee morale and motivation.

In 2010, we added the statement, “Carillion’s approach to sustainability encourages me to make positive changes to the way that I work” to the Great Debate survey. Overall, 59% of our people agreed, with a noteworthy 76% agreement in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA).

* The Great Debate survey is sent to everyone in Carillion electronically. Paper surveys are also made available though Team Talk meetings. The results given are percentages of the responses received.

Great Debate 2010 highlights

32% of our people took part in the survey compared to 11% in 2009.
87% of our people in our UK business agreed with the statement, “Health and safety is a top priority where I work”.
82% of our people in MENA feel proud to be part of Carillion (75% across our Group).
81% of the Group believe that Carillion is a customer-focused organisation.
82% of the UK business agreed that “As a team we are encouraged to resolve problems”.
80% of our people in our Canada business agreed with the statement, “In my work group, we are encouraged to continuously improve the way we work”.

We believe our people should be free to express themselves; therefore, we provide information about freedom of association wherever applicable. There are no restrictions on employees joining trade unions, and we build strong relationships with those unions representing our people. In our Group, 20% of employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, excluding MENA where collective bargaining data is not recorded.

Reward and recognition

Carillion rewards employees with an annually reviewed basic salary in line with personal performance and a host of benefits. These range from discounts on supermarket shopping and holidays to gym membership and childcare. Additionally, our Holiday Plus scheme allows employees to buy extra days of holiday entitlement each year.

To recognise and reward people demonstrating outstanding performance that reflects Our Values, we introduced the Carillion Values Awards in 2002. Over 5,000 people have received awards to date – a clear indication of our people’s commitment to Carillion’s success.

To communicate and further embed Our Values within the business, we hold a Values Week every year, with daily themes such as our customers, and equality and diversity.

UK and Caribbean offices join forces for Values Week

To promote the value ‘Collaboration’ during Values Week, some of our people in the UK and the Caribbean participated in the world’s largest coffee morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. Employees and supply chain colleagues donated cakes and raffle prizes.

Engaging our people in sustainability

As we seek to embed sustainability in all our daily activities and achieve our 2020 sustainability strategy, we engage with our people through various internal and external initiatives.

Carillion has a strong reputation for employee volunteering and involvement in local communities. Read more in Communities.

Here are just a few examples of our people engagement activity:

New starters complete a sustainability module as part of their induction.
Our Group-wide Sustainability Week raises awareness and promotes sustainable practices that our people can adopt in their daily activities.
Participating in the global Earth Hour event: across the Group we turned off all non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour. Our people working on the Ikea project in the Middle East switched off all the lights on site to raise awareness of global warming.
Tomorrow’s News (our internal sustainability newsletter) is issued three times a year.
We refreshed our sustainability intranet where our people can access the latest information on our strategy, retrieve policies and read case studies.
Posters are displayed across Carillion offices and sites to raise awareness of sustainability issues. For example, we have a set of posters celebrating our success in The Sunday Times Best Green Company awards, showing examples of our people’s commitment towards our environmental programme and explaining how to get involved.

The ‘S’ Factor

In our UK support services business, we trialled a sustainability awards programme called the ‘S’ Factor. There are different categories such as boys, girls and groups, and each contestant has to submit information about their greatest sustainability achievements. We have a panel of judges and submissions are put to the Carillion people’s vote.

This is an enjoyable way of celebrating our achievements, as well as keeping our people aware and engaged in sustainability initiatives across the business.

The 2010 ‘S‘ Factor winner was our team working at Harplands Hospital, a psychiatric unit, for their work in the community supporting biodiversity. The team converted two unused areas on site into habitats and worked with the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust to create a wildlife garden. By involving the local primary school in the project, the team raised local awareness of the hospital and mental health issues. We are currently setting out an allotment where patients can relax or learn about gardening.

“Working closely with the local Wildlife Trust and neighbourhood schools, we have already created a wildlife garden and are currently making an area for growing flowers and vegetables and keeping bees, which will also provide natural habitats for insects. The children will be invited to help with potting plants in the greenhouse and will learn from the wildlife professionals helping us.”

Eric Ainsworth,
Facilities Manager, Harplands Hospital