About Crown Worldwide Group

Each year, staff from across the UK choose a Charity of the Year that they will fundraise for. Staff are particularly fond of this initiative as the company also gives them the opportunity to take time out of their roles each month to volunteer for them. There are also countless opportunities for staff to host or take part in events. This year, the Charity of the Year was DebRA and teams from across the country really got on board with the volunteering and fund raising opportunities available. Events and fund raising initiatives included a PC Health Clinic whereby IT staff provided a drop-in service for faulty IT equipment to be fixed, an ‘Adrenalin Rush’ day where employees took part in thrill-seeking adventures for sponsorship, volunteering in DebRA shops, a London to Paris bike ride and sack collections to donate stock to the charity’s shops. Staff collectively raised over £50,000 for the charity, with a contribution from Crown.

Since the re-branding of Crown, a number of employees across the business have been selected as Brand Champions, Brand Ambassadors and Brand Sponsors to ensure that there are regional representatives of the brand accessible to staff. Their role is not only to carry out projects that enhance the brand and improve efficiencies, but also to act as a voice and conduit for employee communication. These representatives meet regularly with their teams to gain feedback on existing processes and procedures and seek ideas for future company developments, which will then be fed back to the senior team. Crown goes beyond just seeking feedback and suggestions, however. The senior team recognises the importance of keeping staff updated on their suggestions and so has introduced a ‘You said, we did’ communication tool since the last survey. The ‘You said, we did’ updates are communicated via e-mail, at team meetings and at the quarterly company update, which is delivered by the leader of the company, and demonstrate to staff how their ideas have been listened to. This is an important step in reassuring staff that their thoughts are valued and suggestions welcomed.

It is essential that Crown recognises outstanding efforts from employees and rewards them appropriately when the opportunity arises. Performance recognition is something Crown believes is one of the best ways to improve workplace effectiveness and so has a Performance Recognition initiative that is hugely popular among employees. Following a previous survey, Crown introduced a new Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) award in 2011 which is presented to an individual or team who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to CSR, customer service and the general helping of others. They appreciate employees who hold similar values to theirs, in and out of the workplace, so whether a member of staff has demonstrated their contribution within their job role or in their own time, they are rewarded. Nominations are put forward by colleagues, ensuring an inclusive initiative and these are then reviewed by a panel, which comprises members of the HR team and the Head of Environment. By encouraging all employees to aspire to this scheme and nominate each other, it helps staff to feel part of a team and provides them with the chance to work towards a group goal, separate to their own individual objectives.