In the autumn of 2020, Bunzl plc undertook its first employee engagement survey using the internationally renowned Willis Towers Watson (WTW). The 2020 ‘Employee Pulse Survey’, which provided a snapshot of employees’ commitment to Bunzl and attitudes to work during the global pandemic, yielded impressive results. A year later and the Group has conducted a second survey. The latest survey is a full, more detailed survey aimed at gaining deeper insight into how Bunzl employees think and feel across a range of subjects. Again, results are excellent.

One of the first points to note is the strong sense of engagement, the index that measures how positive employees feel about working at Bunzl. Overall, 86% of respondents recorded a favourable response to working at Bunzl. This is considered high compared with similar businesses and three percentage points higher than the 2018 survey. Responses to specific questions were also encouraging. For example, 88% of employees who responded said they felt a strong sense of commitment to Bunzl, a significant 6% higher than the 2018 survey. 88% of employees also said they were proud to work for the company, 5% higher than the 2018 survey. The survey also highlighted that employees get a great deal of satisfaction from their work helping customers, with an overall Customer Focus score of 80%.

However, perhaps more important than the positive figures are the categories in which the survey indicates improvements can be made. After all, it is the improvements made in company practice that will advance employees’ positive experience of work on a day-to-day basis. For example, 71% of employees felt communication was excellent.  This is still a good result, but indicates an areas where changes can be made for the better.

Jane Smith, Head of Human Resources (HR), Bunzl plc, is only too aware of the importance of the employee survey as a tool for continuous improvement in the work environment, ‘I can’t emphasise enough the importance we place upon these surveys so thank you to all who completed the questionnaire - 80% of Bunzl employees worldwide, around 15,000 people. Ultimately, the survey is undertaken so we can hear your voices, and then take action. We should celebrate our successes, but more importantly, we want to seek solutions where improvement is required, whether that be ways to communicate better, increasing training and development opportunities or initiatives that focus on well-being. Locally, leaders will work together with their teams to identify changes they want to implement.’