New Legislation Brings Engagement & Happiness Into The Boardroom

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The Who, What, Why, How

Are you aware that many UK businesses (possibly including yours) are now subject to new reporting requirements? Affected businesses need to detail in their Directors’ reports how they engage with their people.

It’s vital that you understand how to comply with the new legislation for two reasons. Firstly, your Directors’ run the risk of committing a criminal offence if you don’t. Secondly it represents a huge opportunity to become a more empathetic business that brings employee happiness, culture and engagement into the boardroom.

We’re going to arm you with everything you need to know to be compliant and benefit from the new regulations.

Who Does This Affect?

Just shy of 10,000 UK businesses will be subject to the new reporting legislation. If you’re a UK business that matches 2/3 of the below, you need to act now.

You have:

• More than 250 employees

• A balance sheet exceeding £18m

• Turnover of more than £36m

What You Need to Know & How to Comply

Your Directors’ report needs to include the following information:

• How directors utilised employee interests when making business decisions

• How directors engaged with their people

• What impact has this had on company decisions

Why is This Being Implemented?

In 2016, the government published a green paper on corporate governance reform, exploring three specific aspects: “Executive pay; strengthening the employee”, “Customer and supplier voice” and “Corporate governance in large privately-held businesses.”

Following this consultation the government published its response, outlining the actions which are intended to “improve corporate governance and give workers and investors a stronger voice.” Their aim is to ensure “… our largest companies are more transparent and accountable to their employees and shareholders.“

How a Data-Led Approach Brings Happiness Into The Boardroom

Happy employees are 12 per cent more productive than the norm, and 22 per cent more productive than their unhappy peers. Creating a pleasant workplace full of happy people contributes directly to the bottom line.

Inc.

By implementing a feedback programme, you will have people data and insight into company sentiment. This will help inform new initiatives and action plans to improve all aspects of your business. This data can also be used to help put numbers around “intangible metrics” … like happiness, engagement and culture.

Now you have numbers on these metrics, you’re armed with the tools you need to create a compelling case in the boardroom to put your people and your culture at the top of the agenda – thus bringing happiness into the boardroom!

We Want to Help You

Only 22% of employees strongly agree their leaders have a clear direction for their organisation

Forbes

The best way to gather, analyse and segment the feedback you need is through people analytics surveys and solutions. 

Create a thriving culture

We help companies create a thriving culture using 3 key steps:

• Ensuring you listen to your employees (collecting both quantitative and qualitative data): This is quick and easy to set up in weeks using our tool. We’re firm believers that this needs to be an ongoing dialogue rather than a one-off annual event. 

• Interrogating your data to gain insight and understand the sentiment behind what your people are saying: We use a combination of data science and AI to provide full visibility on the key drivers impacting cultural health, employee engagement and productivity. 

• Looking beyond one data set: Correlating your people engagement data with other key performance indicators e.g. your customer satisfaction and productivity data to understand your wider organisational drivers.

When the results are in and analysed you can use the insights to locate focus areas to direct your people strategy, and bring sustained happiness into the boardroom!

Put Your People at The Heart of Your Business

Alongside Gender Pay Gap reporting, executive pay ratio disclosure and anonymous online employee reviews, this is the latest trigger acting as a powerful agent for change in a world where organisations are now glasshouses. It’s a great opportunity to really bring employee voice into the boardroom, and help your business create a human-led thriving culture.