Strong employee engagement is one of the key elements for high-functioning and productive teams. Employee engagement is best described as a feeling of commitment and enthusiasm for one’s work that leads to a willingness to give extra effort. If your employees are engaged, they are likely passionate, loyal and find personal meaning from their work. They are dedicated to the organization and committed to the company’s success.
Studies show that a highly engaged workforce tends to have lower absenteeism and turnover, fewer safety incidents, higher productivity and customer satisfaction. It’s easy to see why employee engagement should be a priority for organizations.
For us, this has definitely been an ongoing journey that centers around a well-communicated commitment to improve. We have made a conscious decision to measure our progress and then invest in “moving the needle” to increase engagement levels.
A Commitment to Measurement
We launched a nationwide employee survey process three years ago and have been using the results to help prioritize initiatives to continuously improve and increase engagement over time. When the data was analyzed, the results were extremely helpful to identify opportunities we could prioritize and address. We also conducted follow-up focus groups across our organization to help gain context around some of the feedback and to brainstorm action plans.
Turning Data into Action
One key opportunity that emerged was to ensure employees felt connected to what was going on at the company. As a result, we focused on several initiatives over the past few years to help employees feel more connected, informed and valued. Just a few of the actions we took are included below…
Providing Information and Connection
• Started hosting regular monthly webcasts led by the CEO and other leaders to provide business updates • Created a dedicated space on the company Intranet to highlight news, information, FAQs, and employee achievements
• Rolled out the Transdev Connect mobile app that enables frontline employees to better communicate with their supervisors and manage their daily task via their phone. It also provides access to company news and stories directly on their phones.
Recognizing and Valuing Employees
• Launched an employee recognition program to highlight and value employees who exemplify Transdev’s spirit. We celebrate their stories and contributions internally and externally
• Recognition took on even more meaning during 2020 as we acknowledged our teams during the response to the pandemic. We went out of our way to thank and celebrate our frontline and other employees
• Renewed commitment to learning and development with several new key career development programs
• Currently developing a campaign for employees to feel valued, empowered and connected to our company purpose
• Established a national Diversity & Inclusion Council. Each year, the committee develops a road map of recommendations and activities for senior leadership and other managers to support and help execute.
• Launched our Employee HUB website for all our frontline employees without Transdev emails to share news and information
Our Journey Continues
A unique challenge for Transdev is that our employee population is large and geographically spread out across the company. It also is split between those employees who have access to a company email and our frontline employees who do not. Most recently, we expanded our employee engagement survey to our frontline employees in several pilot locations. This was well-received. We will continue to work with our clients to identify the most effective methods to administer the survey to more of our frontline employees, allowing us to create a more complete picture of our employee engagement.
Our commitment to continuously listen and improve remains strong and we are excited to evolve our progress over the years ahead.
-------------------------------Mitun Seguin, vice president, Marketing and Communications, Transdev U.S.
