Quick facts
  • What we do:
    Financial Services Provider
  • Website:
    http://www.nationwide.co.uk
  • Recruitment:
    http://www.nationwide-jobs.co.uk/why-work-for-us/
  • UK locations:
    Scotland, South East, South West, Yorkshire & Humber, North West, North East, Wales, London, West Midlands, East Midlands, Other, East of England, Northern Ireland, National
  • Contact
    • Nationwide House, Pipers Way, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN38 1NW

About Nationwide Building Society

THE MAD HATTER would have turned green with envy at the tea party thrown by Nationwide’s head office in Swindon. More than 650 employees participated, making it the world’s largest and earning them a place in Guinness World Records. The event contributed to £100,000 raised for Macmillan Cancer Support, the building society’s partner for 22 years.

The 17,735 staff at Nationwide, the world’s largest building society, are well aware of the organisation’s strong social conscience (an 85% positive score, ranking it top among Big Companies).
Employees recognise that profit is far from the only thing driving this company (69%), and the environment is also high on its agenda (81%). More than 250 “green champions” have been recruited from across the business to help promote environmentally sound practices in the workplace. The firm is now a zero-waste-to-landfill organisation, and in March last year launched Nationwide Woodlands, a bid to plant 40,000 trees.

First to get his hands dirty tree-planting was Graham Beale, a chief executive who leads by example, running the company based on sound moral principles (78%). He recently put together a team to find a way of working with Macmillan to help customers with cancer manage their financial affairs better. In January, Beale received a CBE for his services to the financial services sector.

Making sure that everybody feels valued and content is consistently a top priority, and last year a series of “your say cafes” was held: hundreds of employees attended sessions in which they were asked to identify ideas that could be implemented to improve day-to-day working life, and a committee has been set up to drive through the best of the changes suggested.

On top of rewards including cash bonuses, the firm holds an annual awards ceremony when employees who make an outstanding contribution are recognised. Last year, 300 people attended the event at Celtic Manor resort in Wales. Jessica Aulak, the latest overall winner, now writes a weekly blog for colleagues and represents the building society on the world stage.

www.nationwide.co.uk

What is it like to work for Nationwide Building Society

My Manager
My Manager
Nationwide have won awards for their Management Development offering which is available for all existing and aspiring line managers across Nationwide A suite of 22 topics are available via a blended learning solution, delivered by external experts in each area and supported by internal resources and online learning tools. Topics range from ‘Supporting Career Development’ to ‘Living with Change’ and ‘Resilience’ and can be run as ‘open-programmes’ or for in-tact teams, tailored to specific needs. In addition, the company provide significant support for Management teams across the organisation, facilitating events on and offsite to enable teams to operate more effectively whether they are recently formed, undergoing change or just seeking to further enhance their performance. Tools such as Myers Briggs Type Indicator and Hay Leadership Styles and Climate assessments are often used to inform these sessions. Hay tool is also used extensively as a way of supporting individual managers to employ a range of leadership styles to create an energising and motivating climate for their people. In some areas of the business, managers will complete this on an annual basis to track progress and focus on ongoing positive change. Managers are supported in a number of ways as they perform their day to day roles. In addition to support from HR business partners, there is also an Employee Wellbeing Team (to support them and their teams), an ‘Ask HR’ telephone service and an online ‘Policy Point’ for them to easily access all employee policies they may need.
Wellbeing
Wellbeing
One of the most complex challenges is around mental health which can sometimes be difficult to see, understand and talk about openly. At Nationwide they believe in raising awareness and de-stigmatising the issue and finding ways to equip people with practical tools and know-how to support themselves and their colleagues. During 2014 they launched a mental health resilience strategy. The objectives of this strategy included: helping managers understand and build resilience in themselves and their colleagues, developing approaches to create resilient teams and developing an understanding of how good leadership can boost resilience. The new workshop, Building and Managing Team Resilience, was launched, made available to all 2,500 managers and is now integrated into the manager learning and development framework. The company belief is through building resilience they increase the ability of their employees to stay healthy when under pressure. The company also believe that their line managers need to be sensitive and empathetic to deal with colleagues and customers. Through equipping their people with ’emotional readiness’ they can quickly process and act on naturally arising feelings and emotions that arise during the course of a busy, challenging day at work and not allowing them to fester. Diversity Week 2015, the company will host a Mental Health at work event. Facilitated by Adam Spreadbury from the Bank of England, he will talk openly his own mental health and how his employer supported him. Bela Gor from the ENEI will then cover what employers and colleagues need to know to better support mental health at work.
My Team
My Team
Employee Connect Nationwide has a group of 1,000+ employees called Employee Connect. The virtual group influence business decisions by being consulted on ongoing issues including product design, service improvements, marketing and employee campaigns. The company creates bespoke employee apps to foster greater interaction. For the Annual Awards 2015, the event app had 96% of employee finalists logged in, 796 photos posted, 969 comments, 1,232 status updates, 4,274 likes and over 55,000 visits. The retail division comprises 9,000 employees across 700+ branches and sites. To connect those employees the company have created a Virtual Retail Expo, which enables people to have a better understanding of what other Retail teams do, key contacts, latest news and product information. Corporate cascade Nationwide’s five year Corporate Plan is announced internally in April each year. Following a leadership conference for the top 800 leaders, the corporate plan is then cascaded through every division, department and team within the business over a 6 week period. So every one of our 17,000 employees receives a face to face presentation on our latest business strategy.

Learn more about the 8 factors of workplace engagement here

Benefits:

  • Charity Activities
    Charity Activities

    At least 20% of staff are known to undertake charitable activities during business hours without incurring financial loss

  • Gym
    Gym

    Companies offering free gym/ sports facilities or subsidised gym memberships with at least 50% of employees taking this up

  • Health Insurance
    Health Insurance

    Companies offering private health insurance with at least 50% of employees taking this up

  • Pensions
    Pensions

    Companies offering a final salary, non-contributory pension scheme or one in which the employer puts in at least three times

  • Long Service
    Long Service

    50% of employees with more than 5 years' service

  • Maternity
    Maternity

    At least 10 weeks’ full pay or generous alternative

  • Development
    Development

    Non work related training supported

  • Family Friendly
    Family Friendly

    School hours contracts offered to staff

Company Statistics

  • Staff Turnover:

    12%

  • Staff:

    17735

  • Earning £35,000+:

    24%

  • Male : Female:

    36% / 64%

  • Average Age:

    37

  • UK sites:

    732

Accreditation

Accreditation 2016
Accreditation 2015
Accreditation 2014
Accreditation 2007
Accreditation 2006

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