Staff satisfaction

Achieving a level of staff satisfaction which will enable the company to engage with our employees and at the same time attract and retain people of the right calibre is a many-faceted process. We adopt a range of strategies with this goal in mind and measure progress by means of an annual staff satisfaction survey.

The survey is a vital tool in helping to understand what people think, and the results lead to a series of local action plans through which all parts of the business address the points that are raised.

Improving staff satisfaction by 50% by 2007 translates into raising the satisfaction level expressed through the survey from the 55% recorded in 2003 to 82%.

Staff focus groups met in advance of the 2004 survey to discuss how it could be improved and EDF Energy agreed to give £1 to the company charity for every survey questionnaire returned. These were two of the changes that resulted in a stronger sense of engagement by employees, and the result was a response rate of 75%, the best ever recorded. Among the outcomes was a satisfaction level of 62%, which is on track for the 2007 target.

Good communications are among the keys to keeping staff engaged and involved, and by the end of 2004 we were ready to launch a new company-wide briefing process called Face2Face, which is designed to cascade company news and developments to all levels and to promote a dialogue between managers and their teams.

Focus groups helped to shape the style and structure of this new process, which builds on team briefing sessions that were already taking place in parts of the organisation.

Across the company, 'e' factor workshops introduced a different way of working by encouraging staff to promise at least one significant change in the way they operate, the better to reach their full potential and to help improve the company's overall performance.

We are committed to encouraging a healthy work/life balance. To help staff achieve a balance that suits their lifestyle and addresses the business needs, flexible working, home working or job sharing may be available.

Opportunities for learning and career development make a major contribution to staff satisfaction levels and are further explored in the next section. To spread the opportunities as widely as possible, international job vacancies are advertised on the company intranet. When employees decide to leave the company completely, we conduct exit interviews to help establish where improvements may be focused.

Opportunities for learning and career development make a major contribution to staff satisfaction levels and are further explored under Investing in our people. To spread the opportunities as widely as possible, international job vacancies are advertised on the company intranet.

Outside the confines of the workplace, our Helping Hands programme, which gives employees two days' work time to take part in volunteering, is hugely successful in developing a sense of team-working. It also improves staff's perception of a company that not just allows but encourages participation in community good causes. In some parts of the business, more than 30% of staff join in Helping Hands activities. There are also virtually unlimited opportunities for working together and individually to help another good cause, our adopted national charity. Staff contributions are matched by the company.