About Barnett Waddingham

They are proud to be a leading independent UK professional services consultancy at the forefront of risk, pensions, investment, insurance and administration. From small beginnings with just 20 people, they're now a team of over 1,270 people in eight offices. They have over 70 partners each delivering on their values and their promise, ensuring the highest levels of trust, integrity and quality. They act for a wide range of clients, both large and small, in the private and public sectors including approximately over 15% of FTSE 350 firms.

Their primary focus continues to be providing the personal, quality, tailored approach that has driven their success and has led to a high level of client retention. They seek to build stable and long-term partnerships with clients, supported by their low staff turnover, thanks to their ongoing investment in their experts and their unique culture.

Their employees have a depth of consulting expertise and a breadth of administrative skills, supported by the latest technology. This allows them to tackle a wide range of work, from advising small clients to dealing with large pension schemes and employers. As a firm, they believe that they will be more successful if they work together to achieve their common objectives than working alone. With this in mind, their values are critical to the functioning of the firm and they feel it is important that their employees and partners act within these values on a day to day basis.

What is it like to work for Barnett Waddingham

Leadership

93% of staff agreed:

This organisation is run on strong values / principles

Senior Partners encourage all employees and partners to ‘do the right thing’. They recently relaunched their brand by focusing first on internal communication regarding their story, their principles and values.Their values were reduced to four (Principled, Quality, Partnership and Respect) but each is illustrated on posters and in their induction talks, so that everyone is clear what they mean.

These messages are reinforced at the annual roadshow where the CEO visits each office and conducts a presentation on events to employees and talks about the importance of their culture. Topics include what has happened over the past 12 months, the direction of the company, the importance of all their teams and the opportunities in the markets they operate in. This is an opportunity for employees to ask and speak to them on a 1-2-1 level or within the group. The senior management team provide ongoing Investment in the firm in relation to finance, technology, and personal development to enable the values to be fulfilled. Senior Managers participate in Performance Development Reviews and support career progression within the firm. They operate a ‘People Plan’ which again the Management Board are engaged with in-order to ensure there is ongoing activity to ensure their culture remains strong.

93% of staff agreed:

This organisation is run on strong values / principles

Wellbeing

70% of staff disagreed:

My health is suffering because of my work

They carry out stress risk assessments with individuals on a case by case basis. They then work with the employee to put in place a wellness plan. In addition to this, there is a “Managing Workplace Stress” policy aimed at employees and line managers to help them identify stress.

They have also provided training to a number of people managers in managing workplace stress and building their own resilience. They actively encourage colleagues and people managers to contact their Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) who are able to offer support.

They offer mindfulness sessions, such as; meditation, yoga and personal training in their offices and they recognise national days by providing stats and useful tools which aim at supporting mental health as well as reducing stress in the workplace.

70% of staff disagreed:

My health is suffering because of my work

Fair Deal

65% of staff agreed:

I am happy with the pay and benefits I receive in this job

Each year, Partners give all employees a Christmas Voucher as a 'thank you' along with their firm wide Christmas party. This is something which is not dependent on how long you have been within the organisation and something which they feel is recognition of thanks from the Partners to employees. In addition to this the Firm also contributes £10 per person towards individual business areas Christmas lunches.

They also operate a discretionary incentive plan (bonus scheme) for employees, which is related to both an individual’s and Barnett Waddingham performance over the firm’s financial year. The discretionary bonus scheme exists to provide a fair and transparent incentive to generate higher levels of individual and team performance increasing the firm’s overall success. If the firm and individual deliver against their plans both in terms of what is delivered and how it is delivered, employees will share financially in that success. They want people to feel good about being part of a successful business. Whilst this isn't unique, this is something that employees very much value and the business is keen to continue recognising employees in this way.

65% of staff agreed:

I am happy with the pay and benefits I receive in this job

Learn more about the 8 factors of workplace engagement here

Benefits:

Charity Activities

At least 40% of staff are known to undertake charitable activities during business hours without incurring financial loss
Women

At least 40% of senior managers are women
Gym

Companies offering either free gym/ sports facilities or subsidised gym membership for all employees
Health Insurance

Companies offering private health insurance for all employees
Pensions

Companies offering a final salary scheme to all employees, or one in which the employer's contribution is at least 5%
Maternity

At least 10 weeks’ full pay or generous alternative
Family Friendly

School hours contracts offered to all staff