Human Resource Management International Digest

A journey to awardwinning employee engagement

Anna Powis

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To cite this document:
Anna Powis, (2012),"A journey to award#winning employee engagement", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 20 Iss 5
pp. 31 - 34
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/096707312

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A journey to award-winning employee

engagement
Anna Powis

ainbow Trust Childrens Charity celebrated its 25th anniversary in style by achieving
its ambition to be recognized as a Sunday Times Top 100 organization to work for.
The success was not achieved overnight; it took commitment from the Rainbow
leadership team (RLT) to listen to its employees and be prepared to answer questions.

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Anna Powis is humanresources manager at

Rainbow Trust Childrens
Charity, a Sunday Times
Top 100 employer.

Rainbow Trust provides emotional and practical support for families who have a child with a
life-threatening or terminal illness. Family-support workers provide backing to around 1,200
families a year, from eight bases around the UK.
Rainbow Trust commissioned its first employee survey in 2008. The goal was to understand
what people really thought about working for the organization. Anonymity of response was
crucial to ensure open, honest feedback that could be used as a basis for improvement.
An 82 percent response rate highlighted some excellent practice around brand loyalty and
pride in the organization. It also identified key areas that needed improvement, including
purpose, structure, communication, rewards and benefits and job satisfaction.
To supplement the first employee survey, a focus group met to gain consensus and prioritize
the issues to ensure that the resulting action plan brought positive results.

Employee-engagement initiatives introduced each year

Over the next four years Rainbow Trust sought continuous improvement listening to its
employees via the annual employee survey and committing to an action plan based on the
priorities identified. Each year new initiatives were introduced to improve employee
engagement. These were:
1. Continuous communication
RLT introduced the RLT Briefing, a monthly publication which updated employees with
departmental progress. This was complemented by the Quarterly Update, which brought
together stories from employees around Rainbow Trust. The combination of business and
social news encouraged the culture of a caring but performance-focused organization.
Taking advantage of the predictive-index (PI) survey tool, Rainbow profiled each new
member of staff and fed back the results of individuals work-related behaviors. Employees
shared their feedback with each other to understand personal working styles and to plan
effective team-working.
2. Employee-engagement group
Rainbow Trust introduced the employee-engagement group (EEG) following a major
strategic change. The group, which met regularly throughout the year, consisted of
employees representative of the organization from different functions, locations and levels.

DOI 10.1108/096707312

VOL. 20 NO. 5 2012, pp. 31-34, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 0967-0734

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DIGEST

PAGE 31

 Personal-development action planning (PDAP) was purposely

separate from the performance reviews. These meetings
encouraged open, honest conversations around
competencies, values and career ambition, where difficult
discussions were not avoided and were seen as a positive
development opportunity.

The EEG canvassed views and opinions across Rainbow and provided constructive
feedback to RLT. Information was then relayed back from RLT to the organization via the
EEG, providing a vehicle for two-way communication.
3. Performance-management process
The most ground-breaking initiative that Rainbow
performance-management process (PMP) in 2010.

Trust

launched

was

its

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The organization listened to the results of its survey. It needed to improve in purpose,
structure, communication, reward and benefit and job satisfaction. It also had a clear vision
that one day all terminally-ill children and their families would have access to a Rainbow
carer. It was Rainbows ambition to become a high-performing organization in order to
increase the number of families it supported. It may be a charity but it needed to operate like
any commercial business.
The goal was to introduce a performance-management and performance-related-pay
process which was fair, endorsed Rainbow values, encouraged exceptional performance
and provided recognition to both individuals and teams for exceeding the agreed
performance expectations. Accountability for this rested with all Rainbow Trust employees.
In Rainbows system, all staff are employees, including the chief executive. Introducing PMP
would naturally improve weaker areas and would help to unite Rainbows geographically
dispersed teams to create a sense of joint responsibility.
Rainbow Trust began working with business consultant Gordon Bromley, adopting the
performance-management process that he had developed as managing director at
Tropicana, transforming it from a start-up to a 150 million business in 12 years. The system
was equally applied to all employees and brought about cultural step change for Rainbow.
An innovative approach for the charity sector, the PMP process began each year with the
chief executive presenting the business plan to the entire organization. Demonstrating its
commitment to communication, the floor was then opened to a group-led
question-and-answer session with the chief executive and leadership team. This enabled
employees to ask the questions they wanted, anonymously if they preferred, and to receive
answers. All questions from the day were captured and responded to later if the session ran
on (and it usually did).
The business plan was cascaded throughout Rainbow, beginning with the chief executive
and RLT publishing their objectives. Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and
time-bound (Smart) objectives were then written by individuals to ensure ownership, and
agreed with line managers.
Reviewed annually, employees led their performance reviews, provided supporting
evidence, and rated their own performance on a 1-5 scale where 2 was solid
performance. Line managers then proposed a rating for each of their direct reports to
calibration. Calibration was what made the process fair; after discussion, based on evidence
provided, the calibration committee (RLT and an external facilitator) agreed a Rainbow
performance rating for each employee. This transparent process differentiated performance
each year and ensured clear messaging to all employees.

PAGE 32 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DIGEST VOL. 20 NO. 5 2012

It was important that the process considered individual development needs.

Personal-development action planning (PDAP) was purposely separate from the
performance reviews. These meetings encouraged open, honest conversations around
competencies, values and career ambition, where difficult discussions were not avoided
and were seen as a positive development opportunity.
Performance-related pay, particularly rare for a third-sector organization, was a natural
progression. PMP rewarded employees for the part they played the higher the performer
the higher the reward. Reward was not simply financial; it included performance rating,
additional responsibilities and career development. What was particularly exciting was how
the process provided visibility of every employee to RLT the organization really understood
its team, which supported effective people planning.
When rating performance, Rainbow considered not only what was done but also how it was
done. It was not just about hitting the numbers it was about collaborating with colleagues
and other stakeholders. Meanwhile PDAP focused on employee development and career
planning, which enabled Rainbow to address the age-old problem many organizations of its
size face, that of limited promotion prospects.

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PMP was a key tool in employee engagement at Rainbow Trust because the organization
believed that involved people were motivated people.
Feedback revealed the new approach was hugely successful, with employee surveys
showing a marked increase in understanding of business priorities/purpose and a renewed
sense of trust in managers, colleagues and the organization as a whole.
4. SBI feedback
In an environment where open and honest communication was promoted it was important
that employees were provided with a process to help them to feed back to their colleagues.
The SBI framework supported individuals to describe the situation they observed, the
behavior they witnessed and the impact of that behavior on themselves or a colleague.
Rainbow Trust expected all its employees to adopt this process, regardless of hierarchies. It
was empowering; junior employees fed back to the chief executive, managers addressed
difficult behaviors and colleagues celebrated success.
5. Annual staff conference
To develop the shared sense of ownership and accountability further, RLT decided to
celebrate its 25th year with an annual staff conference. It received 100 percent feedback
from the day and when it asked staff the question: Following the event do you have an
increased sense of involvement and engagement with Rainbow Trust? scored an
impressive 9 out of 10.

Measures of success
In 2011 the survey response rate was 96 percent, confirming that employees believed they
were being listened to and they could effect change. It showed strong results in brand,
purpose, credibility, pride and friendliness and improvement in almost every area.
Rainbow Trust was well placed to apply to the Sunday Times Top 100. Receiving a one-star
Best Companies rating, recognizing a first-class organization to work for, and being placed

Employees are proud to work here and go the extra mile to get
things done. There are high levels of trust in our service, in the
organization and in each other.

VOL. 20 NO. 5 2012 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DIGEST PAGE 33

52nd in the Sunday Times Top 100 not-for-profit organizations list was the culmination of
more than four years of commitment to continuous improvement.
Heather Wood, chief executive, said At Rainbow Trust we recognize our staff as our most
important asset and we are delighted to have gained a place in the top 100 to acknowledge
this especially in our first year of entering.
We believe continuous communication and engagement are critical, particularly with our
geographically dispersed teams. I believe this result highlights the passion our staff have
and their belief in the work we do. I am extremely proud that it is through their responses that
we have gained this recognition.

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Of equal importance is how employees feel about working for Rainbow Trust. Family-support
worker, Zak Miah commented: From my first day at Rainbow Trust to this very day I feel that I
am valued as an employee.
Keywords:
Charities,
Performance,
Employee engagement,
Awards,
Performance management,
Employees

Oonagh Goodman, head of marketing and communications, concluded: Rainbow Trust is a

great place to work because employees are proud to work here and go the extra mile to get
things done. There are high levels of trust in our service, in the organization and in each
other.
Thanks to PMP and other measures, employees now feel that the organization has a clear
sense of direction and believe in its ambition. They understand the business priorities, where
they fit within them, and can see the difference their contribution makes every day.

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PAGE 34 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DIGEST VOL. 20 NO. 5 2012