Case study

Guiding Maria Mallaband on their change journey

Solution:

Board consultation to inform scope of employee survey to give them a 'line in the sand' on employee sentiment.

Result:

Radically improved employee experience, coinciding with a drop in employee turnover and absence rates.

Challenge

Setting the course for organisational change

Maria Mallaband Care Group (MMCG) came to ETS in 2022 facing legacy cultural issues and embarking on a change programme. ​

Facing high employee turnover (which peaked at 49%) as well as high employee absence rates and agency staff spend, they needed an employee survey to give a robust read on the ‘current state’, to understand root causes behind these challenges, and providing a forum for the employee voice to be heard to feed into their people agenda.  And, with a lack of action taken after previous surveys, they needed to rebuild trust in the process.

Solution

Bespoke employee survey to inform future action roadmap

We began by interviewing the MMCG Board and other key stakeholders to gain clarity on context and strategic direction. This context informed the survey design and would later help shape recommendations post-survey​.

We went on to work with MMCG to help them promote the launch of this new ‘Our Voice’ initiative, and to make it easy for colleagues to take part​.

Post survey, analysis of results identified three key ‘signals’, which ETS recommended focusing on:

1) Communication, to dial up open comms

2) Recognition, to show care for colleagues’ wellbeing/recognise hard work

3) Embrace change, to ‘bring people along’ on the journey​

These recommendations were translated into a series of actions and changes made by MMCG including new employee voice channels – ‘Our Voice’ newsletter, ‘Ask the Exec’ Q&A, ‘Town Halls’ and Employee Conference…

Other changes implemented were:​

- Increased Board visibility through site visits / better comms​

- Introducing wider range of flexible-working packages​

- New and enhanced employee benefits package​

- Leadership training to support change management.

"

“The first survey allowed us to understand what we needed to do to improve engagement and, having acted on these things, we’ve seen many improvements in survey two, as well as a noticeable impact on business KPIs...”

Farouk Mangera, Group People Director at MMCG
Result

Great progression leading to real impact

The impact of the actions taken after their first survey was clear in MMCG’s second survey results, with notable highlights including engagement increasing by +6% points, enablement by +13% points, and empowerment by +6% points.

Overall, ​47 comparable questions improved year-on-year​ with the 6 questions ETS recommended for action significantly increasing (+9% to +15% point improvements).

Summary

Business Impact

Employee turnover falling to 36% compared with 49% in year #1 (industry average is 45%)​
90% of residents and relatives saying they would recommend MMCG to others​
Employee absence rates dropping from 7% to 4%
Download PDF

Case studies

Creating a multi-purpose feedback platform for Nationwide

Developing managers and leaders at Gatehouse Bank