Well-Being: Aligning Values at Royal & SunAlliance

It has been suggested that the absence of employee well-being and/or the presence of stress is often caused by the conflict between the individual's values and beliefs and those of the organisation or system that they work within - see Fr Dermot Tredget and Barbara Wren's comments here.

If this is the case, it must be in the employer's best interests to minimise the source of conflict by trying to align personal and organisational values.

Sometimes, this alignment can come from unexpected sources, and happen almost by chance. Take the Corporate Responsibility initiative launched by Paul Pritchard at Royal & SunAlliance last year.

You've probably come across many people who say that they are different people inside and outside the workplace - when they go to the office, they might put on a suit or a uniform (armour?), leave a large chunk of their personal life at the gate and behave in a way they think fits the corporate culture. An intriguing example appeared in a survey at R&SA, which revealed that employees' have greener behaviour at home than they do at work (e.g. 94% switch off lights at home, whereas only 66% do so at work). Feedback suggested that employees would be greener at work if R&SA led by example.

As a result Pritchard set up project which resulted in R&SA going carbon neutral in December 2006 - in fact, it was the first UK insurer to achieve carbon neutral status. Employees were so impressed by this commitment to the environment that in the follow-up survey 63% said it changed their behaviour in the office. That's a pretty substantial move towards aligning values I think.

The company then went one step further by reviewing its relationship with the charity sector and in particular, how it could get employees more involved. Rather than dictate which charity to support, the Senior Team decided to try a more novel approach, through a National Volunteering Week, where employees were encouraged to spend one day working for the charity or community organisation (e.g. school) of their choice.

Some 750 employees participated in the scheme, and as you'd probably expect, the vast majority (83%) said they volunteered because they wanted to benefit the charity or community organisation in some way; only 23% said it was because they themselves wanted to learn new skills.

What's fascinating about this initiative is that after the day spent volunteering, 67% of the volunteers said they learnt new skills, and 100% said they wanted to do it again and would recommend it to their colleagues.

I don't think that R&SA conducted any research into whether employees knowingly used their strengths on this day out, but the fact that they had a choice about what voluntary work to do suggests that they probably did. That looks like a win/win to me - not only do your employees do something aligned with their own values which is of benefit to others, they have the opportunity to use their strengths, they come back to work more enthusiastic and engaged, and with some new skills too. It's a no-brainer isn't it?

Congratulations to Paul Pritchard, his team and the volunteers at R&SA for such a positive contribution.

Once upon a time ........

I listened to a BBC Radio 4 programme on Saturday 17th February that discussed social enterprises and the use of storytelling. On the panel were: Dame Anita Roddick, formerly of The Body Shop, Lizzie Vann, Chairman, Organix, Fiona Reynolds, Director-General, The National Trust and Tim Smit, Chief Executive of The Eden Project.

After a lively debate about the definition of a ‘social enterprise’, it was agreed that social enterprises went above and beyond what Anita Roddick referred to as ‘cheque book charity’ – whereby a % of profits are donated to charitable causes or reinvested into foundations or trusts. Anita referred to a social enterprise as having a social purpose; bringing benefits to the community and driven by values.

The panel went on to say that 40% of today’s young people do not want to work for corporations but are seeking meaning and purpose from their work and claimed that our economy is evolving into a ‘moral economy’, or capitalism with a conscience. This is all very well, the panel agreed, but would people be willing to invest in a social enterprise? Is it likely that there would ever be a social enterprise arm to the stock exchange?

Claiming that business reflects society, the panel put forward the view that the next generation of employees can expect more honesty, transparency and meaning from their working lives – already reflected in some way through values-driven social responsibility programmes.

Another way to reflect the original values of a company is by the use of story-telling. Brands now have stories; individuals now have stories (personal branding). Anita Roddick is apparently The BodyShop storyteller – keeping the original purpose of the company alive by telling a story about how she rolled up to her bank, with a T-shirt on and two kids in tow, to try to get the original investment for her idea. Lizzie Vann said that the history of ingredients or of the farmers life-stories, have been key to the success of organic food consumption.

Bringing anecdotes, humour and ‘person-hood’ into brands humanises business, the panel concluded.

For more information on our social responsibility programmes and coaching programmes, which use story-telling to elicit values and develop personal brands, please see our services page on our main website.