How Bunzl Humanised Their Workplace

A win-win for both business and society, building ‘100% Human at Work’ initiative helps organisations put people at the heart of everything they do, and ChapmanCG continues to support the 100% Human at Work initiative.

The ‘100% Experiments Collection‘ is a series of case studies that showcase how innovative businesses are building ‘100% human at work’ organisations successfully, and this latest collection shines a light on our Australian partners.

Bunzl, a British multinational distribution and outsourcing company, has seen stunning results from its unique and transparent internal communications strategy developed in Australasia. Read the full case study to find out how they have seen employee turnover reduced from 24% to just 10%.

In an excerpt from the latest 100% Experiments Collection, we look at what make Bunzl a star in the 100% Human at Work initiative.

Why did Bunzl look at its internal communications strategy?

Bunzl operates multiple lines of business in four countries and they felt they needed something that would make the businesses and geographies feel more connected. They had also had feedback from an employee opinion survey that many employees did not see career development opportunities within the organisation, nor did they understand what was happening in the broader business.

The HR Director for Australasia began to source ideas from her team and the wider business and they came up with an internal communications strategy.

What does this strategy consist of?

Initially this strategy was called Bunzl Games, as it was done in the lead up to the Olympics. They created an Olympic type flag representing the lines of business and each business had a team mascot.

They got everyone excited about this initiative and began to report the results of the Bunzl games using an autoplay on the televisions in each location’s lunch rooms. Then they developed a standard deck of information to show along with the results of the games. This is updated every two weeks and includes:

• New employees
• Promotions
• Employee recognition
• Day, week and quarterly financial results
• Safety messages
• Messages about employee benefits
• One-off messages from within the business

How has this initiative humanised the workplace or helped staff bring their whole selves to work?

The initial strategy was so successful that Bunzl has expanded it. Now they have quarterly themes. Last quarter it was ‘giving back’, where each location chose a community giving project and the top contributions were given Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. Almost every branch participated.

The company has always had a family/community feel to it, this initiative has widened the circle so that the various branches feel more connected to each other, regardless of the country or region they are in.

Branches are now beginning to support each other. If one geography is affected by a natural disaster the others band together to help them out.

It was also a big step for the company to share financial results with all levels of staff and the staff have responded really well. They are much more aware when results are down and work together to get them back up. Everyone celebrates and feels proud when results are up. This has helped people feel like they are a team with a common goal.

The results The results have been stunning. In Australia employee turnover has been reduced from 24% to just 10%, with a few branches being at 9%

Even more importantly, LTI (lost time due to injury) has been reduced by an incredible 90%.

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Read about what makes ChapmanCG an 100% Human at Work organisation here. 

See the full 100% Experiments Collection here.