An annual survey conducted by OVC Consulting, a Lithuanian firm specialising in management consulting services, invites businesses to participate on a voluntary basis and measure the levels of their employee engagement. Areas such as staff motivation, confidence in the business and the employer, development opportunities, readiness to act as a team for a common goal and others are analysed in order to fully understand the relationships between the business and its employees. Close to 40 companies took part in the survey this year but only two were crowned the “Organisation of the Future 2020”, one of them being “Švyturys-Utenos alus”.
Much better than the average
High levels of employee engagement are very important to the company – they show that the organisation functions based on a balanced working culture with its employees feeling happy, listened to and appreciated. Very often this results in a better performing business, it also helps solve problems more efficiently and maintains the image of an attractive employer.
Almanta Jakštaitė-Vinkuvienė, the engagement practice lead at OVC Consulting, explains that “Švyturys-Utenos alus” have demonstrated exceptional results. The survey revealed that the company have considerably outperformed the average on all counts with their employees reporting particularly positive, solid and consistent experiences.
“Regardless of whether an employee was in a management position or not, we saw that majority of the staff at “Švyturys-Utenos alus” (70-80 per cent) felt inspired, they also saw real opportunities and would recommend the company to others. Whereas the results in most of the other companies usually are more fragmented – higher levels of engagement are reported by the management-level staff, meanwhile the same indicator measured in employees with non-management jobs is usually considerably lower,” explains Jakštaitė-Vinkuvienė.
The representative of OVC Consulting proceeds to list the main aspects separating “Švyturys-Utenos alus” from the rest of the organisations which took part in the survey.
“Confidence in the organisation was one of the areas which the employee experience was measured and “Švyturys-Utenos alus” demonstrated a particularly high result in this. This is one of the aspects most companies really struggle with. For example, most businesses experience difficulties trying to achieve the feeling that everyone is working for a common goal. This is a problem reported by both the leaders as well as the staff in non-managerial positions.
Another great achievement in the case of “Šyturys-Utenos alus” is the fact that, compared to the average results, nearly twice as many people thought that the decisions taken by the management were clear and consistent. Furthermore, compared to other organisations, “Švyturys-Utenos alus” also demonstrated that almost 30 per cent more employees here believed that promises were being kept and agreements respected. Positive experiences in these areas gradually strengthen the trust in the organisation and contribute to the employee’s genuine willingness to engage,” stresses Jakštaitė-Vinkuvienė.
Recipe for success
Rolandas Viršilas, head of “Švyturys-Utenos alus” and “Carlsberg” in the Baltics, is pleased that the various solutions for improving employee motivation are returning excellent results. It shows that the expectations of the employees are being met and the organisation is doing well finding the common ground with its people.
“Our employees are motivating and driving us to succeed. Only by working together we are able to be the leaders in our market, to be proud of our achievements and call ourselves the “Organisation of the Future 2020”. I would like to express my gratitude to each and every one of my colleagues who are contributing to the success of “Švyturys-Utenos alus” by having confidence in the company, by working as a team and by being proud to be part of this business,” says Viršilas.
Julija Gedrimė, HR business partner for Lithuania at “Švyturys-Utenos alus” says that surveying the views of the employees and their engagement levels is a great way of showing to the team that their voice is being heard and their opinions matter. High levels of engagement are not achieved overnight. This is being consistently nurtured year after year with the aim to help employees feel a direct link to the success or failure of the business.
“In order to gain the trust of your staff, you need to have the courage to have a dialogue with them as well as honour any agreements. We try to keep this communication going not just in times of great results but also when the business is faced with challenges. Employees need to be able to understand the reasons why certain decisions are being taken – only then can the company expect understanding and solidarity. This year has perfectly illustrated that we are strong and there’s a reason we call our internal working culture the culture of winners. During the lockdown period which was full of challenges and insecurity, we remained united and that is why we managed to bounce back so successfully. Even if that meant going on a strict saving regime and sacrificing many of the planned initiatives everyone had been looking forward to,” says Gedrimė.
The representative of “Švyturys-Utenos alus” explains why exactly the employees believe the decisions taken by their management are clear and consistent. “We have had a lot of success in how we communicate, listen to our staff and engage them in decision-making. We have a low staff turnover and are proud of our loyal employees. Our people’s trust in the management decisions is the result of a long-term effort and is based on the fact that our staff have witnessed time and time again that these decisions were the right ones for the business,” explains Gedrimė.
The HR manager at “Švyturys-Utenos alus” also adds that their employees are particularly positive when it comes to judging the ability of the management to keep their promises and honour agreements. Promises are not given out light-handedly - they are based on clear criteria and the ability to foresee any circumstances or factors which may prevent them from being implemented. It is important for these comprehensive criteria to be directly linked to the results of the company.
What makes for an attractive employer?
Gedrimė believes that only the synergy of various different aspects can help a business stand out from the ever more advanced and competitive crowd of organisations.
“In addition to the new employee integration, fair pay, a varied benefits package and development opportunities, equally important are the value foundations the company has built over many years. These are made of the rich history of craftmanship, meaningful work based on social responsibility, the environmental impact and various initiatives to reduce resources, as well as the projects supporting culture, science and sports,” says Gedrimė.
“We have very high standards when it comes to recruiting new people - not only in the professional sense and the knowledge they possess but their personal traits too. During the selection stage, we try to get to the core of each candidate and assess whether their set of values matches ours. We are always aiming to have a team of professionals who respect and are willing to learn from each other, who want to develop and achieve ambitious goals whilst also maintaining friendly and warm working relations with their colleagues. I, therefore, believe that a positive and friendly atmosphere at work, as well as the immediate communication between the different tiers of the organisation, are some of our biggest strengths as a company,” adds Gedrimė.
