Just Group plc | Annual Report and Accounts 2024
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COLLEAGUES AND CULTURE continued
We also hold more informal opportunities for colleagues to engage in conversation with our leadership team. These include ‘Lean Coffees’ with our Group CEO, where colleagues get to set the agenda of the meeting, and ‘Conversations with the Execs’ led by our Chief People Officer, Ellie Evans, to discuss important topics, including our focus on the customer. 91% of colleagues that attended September’s Lean Coffee strongly agreed that they found the session valuable. As a new starter the session provided an excellent opportunity to meet colleagues outside of my immediate team/ department and was really helpful to hear directly from David. Also helpful to get a sense of the wider topics/themes that came up across the participants – liked the openness and transparency.”
My first attendance at a menopause cafe made me realise that there were other people going through the same thing in the workplace. People needing and reaching out for support and advice, it made a huge difference to me and took a huge weight off my shoulders – I was not alone.” Attendee comment Menopause Café, August 2024 We have an all encompassing and well regarded colleague communications and engagement programme which focuses on people having a voice and freely sharing their views. As part of recognising that the ‘tone from the top’ is extremely important, we have quarterly town halls led by our Group CEO and members of our Executive team. We receive excellent feedback on these sessions, with 96% of colleagues who completed our survey agreeing that they found the town hall in October valuable. The sessions provide an opportunity for colleagues to hear a ‘big picture’ update, as well as reflect on current successes and challenges. There is also time for colleagues to ask our Group CEO and leadership team any questions they may have. Really inspiring. Great communicator and really good understanding of the business. Seems to really care about people and high degree of integrity.” Feedback on David Richardson Peakon survey, May 2024
Attendee comment September’s Lean Coffee
As well as the Executive team, it’s also extremely important that our Non-Executive Directors can hear first hand from colleagues to discuss important topics and also gauge the ‘mood of the nation’. In addition to sessions with colleagues branded as ‘Take on Board’, where discussions over the year ranged from career development to our approach to reward, we also introduced a new session for our senior leadership team (those reporting into the Executive team). Hosted by Michelle Cracknell, our Board lead for engagement and consumer duty, the conversation was focused around the importance of culture and how we can bring our Just behaviours to life.
NURTURING A SENSE OF BELONGING At the heart of a brilliant experience are colleagues who feel like they belong.
In October we updated our DEIB strategy for 2025 to continue to strengthen our inclusive culture and build a sense of belonging. We know that this is critical to enhance our business success, driving innovation and balanced decision making. Our seven employee networks, including our newest ones – Men’s Health and Wellbeing, and Older Workers – are thriving. We’ve held many different events and activities, such as immersive experiences for Neurodiversity Celebration Week and our socials for Black History and Pride months. We have completed the third year of our reciprocal mentoring programme where diverse participants are paired with senior leaders for conversations to increase allyship and drive action. We also take part in the 30% Club Mission Include cross- company mentoring for our diverse talent and the Actuarial Mentoring Programme specifically for diverse actuarial talent. We continue to run our brilliant Just Meet programme quarterly – colleagues who sign up are paired for a 30 minute conversation with a colleague who they do not know.
For the second year running we held a Belonging at Just Week, with an exciting week of events and speakers. This included June Sarpong OBE on diversity, leadership and privilege, allyship from the Association of British Insurers and Hester Grainger on creating neurodiverse teams and cultures. Our scores on our Belonging index from our November Peakon survey were our highest yet, showing how colleagues really value our efforts. We also held our charity flagship event ‘Just Oarsome’ in Wimbledon Park in September, with dragon boat teams led by members of our Executive Committee. We raised £42,000 for our corporate charity partner Hourglass, the only UK-wide charity dedicated to calling time on the harm and abuse of older people.
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