In April 2020, UK mutual insurer NFU Mutual was named as one of only 40 companies across the globe to be recognised as a ‘Gallup Exceptional Workplace’. The award is given only to organisations that prove they achieve exceptional performance through a highly engaged workforce. Gallup’s panel of expert judges recognised that NFU Mutual creates a culture of engagement, both within teams and across the whole organisation.
Having an engaged workforce has numerous benefits for a company, including higher productivity and profitability, and lower absenteeism and staff turnover. According to Gallup, just 15% of employees worldwide would class themselves as being engaged . The engagement level among Gallup’s ‘Exceptional Workplace’ Award winners is 70%.
NFU Mutual and other Exceptional Workplace’ Award winners build cultures that support the employee experience, focus on strengths, and coach talent to its full potential. This creates a culture of excellence that puts them far ahead of their competition, and they see returns in retention, engagement, increased productivity, better customer experiences, true organic growth and higher revenue.
People at the heart of strategy
NFU Mutual makes its people the key component of its business strategy and being a great place to work has always been at the heart of NFU Mutual’s values as a business.
Committing to its people and customers, putting relationships first, is just how NFU Mutual operates and one of the things employees say makes working at the mutual insurer feel different to other companies, helping to ensure it is a truly great place to work.
Having strong working relationships moulds everything NFU Mutual does and high levels of engagement are something the insurer works hard to achieve.
NFU Mutual looks to create a winning performance culture where everyone knows how their role which in turn contributes to successful business performance: from providing a great working environment, supporting health and wellbeing, offering career development and training opportunities and supporting local community through volunteering.
NFU Mutual is committed to creating an environment in which everyone has the chance to achieve their full potential. An inclusive culture where everyone feels valued and heard is something the company strives towards. Employees know their opinions count, that they are making a difference, and that it is possible to bring their best to work every day.
Diversity increases the breadth and quality of debate, and NFU Mutual’s culture acknowledges and supports individual differences and encourages all employees to reach their full potential.
Valuing people as a responsible business
As a mutual, the interests of its members matter to NFU Mutual. As a responsible business, it has a commitment that goes far beyond developing the insurance and financial products designed for their members’ needs. Acting with integrity and doing the right thing is central to NFU Mutual and the kind of business it wants to be.
Without the on-going support and enthusiasm of many committed and passionate individuals that make up the NFU Mutual workforce, it cannot make a positive difference for members and communities.
Communication is key
NFU Mutual has worked hard to understand what its employees need: on a one-to-one basis with their managers, in their teams and from the company as a whole.
The company ran internal communication campaigns to help its leaders understand the importance of engagement and to highlight to all employees the things it was doing to help make NFU Mutual a great place to work.
These ‘Winning Performance Culture’ and ‘Better never stops’ campaigns won an award of their own – scooping the Public Relations & Communications Association National Employee Engagement Award for 2018.
Measuring progress in employee engagement
NFU Mutual’s journey with Gallup started in 2011, when it first introduced the annual Gallup Q12 survey. The survey consists of 12 questions that are designed to measure what matters most to employees and to calculate just how engaged they all are. This has allowed it to measure how it is delivering against that value, highlight where we it can improve and set targets to drive progress.
Results are ranked alongside thousands of other companies throughout the world and each company is given percentile ranking - 1% being right at the bottom and 99% right at the top. NFU Mutual set themselves the ambitious goal of achieving ‘World Class' status (being ranked in the top 10% of companies). It achieved this in 2015, with a 91st percentile ranking.
By 2018, NFU Mutual were ranked in the 99th percentile, and were one of just a handful of select companies in the world that had the highest possible level of employee engagement.
During this time, it was recognised for outstanding engagement with the Gallup Great Workplace award for four years in a row. In 2020, Gallup introduced the new ‘Exceptional Workplace’ award, and NFU Mutual became the only UK headquartered company to win this award, and one of only 40 across the globe.
Commenting on the ‘Exceptional Workplace’ award, Trisha Jones, HR Director at NFU Mutual, said: “Engagement is something we don’t take for granted - it’s fundamental to the future success of our business. Having strong working relationships moulds everything we do and being recognised for this award is testament to the commitment, passion and hard work that everyone puts into making NFU Mutual a Great Place to Work.”
About NFU Mutual
NFU Mutual is the UK’s leading rural insurance company. The insurer offers a wide range of products, including general insurance, life, pensions, investments and risk management services. These products and services are delivered through its network of over 300 NFU Mutual Agent offices in rural locations across the UK, as well as through its direct sales and service centres.
NFU Mutual is proud to deliver more than simply insurance. Making farming safer, supporting rural initiatives across the UK and helping to look after the environment are just some of the ways they do that.
As a mutual, NFU Mutual has no shareholders to pay, which sets it apart from many other insurers. NFU Mutual continues to reward its General Insurance (GI) customers through a Mutual Bonus which provides a saving on the renewal premium of a GI policy.
