PLANTRONICS WINS THREE AWARDS FOR INNOVATION, ENGAGEMENT, AND FLEXIBLE WORKING
London, UK – 26th September 2013 - Plantronics (NYSE: PLT) has been presented the awards for ‘Innovation’, ‘Engagement’, and ‘Flexible Working’ at the HR Magazine’s Top Employers for Working Families Awards. Beating other finalist organisations, including British Gas and American Express, Plantronics celebrated its success at a prestigious ceremony in Central London on Tuesday 24th October.
Plantronics won the award for Innovation with its ‘Smarter Working Project’ established at its UK headquarters to reassess and improve working practices, employee engagement and the effectiveness of its communication technologies. Plantronics was also presented the award for Engagement for its ‘ultimate’ approach to flexibility, which gives employees the tools they need to remain flexible no matter how, where, and when they do their work. The company was received a commendation in the ‘flexible working’ category for its ‘ultimate flexibility’ initiative.
With its ‘Smarter Working Project’ and ‘ultimate flexibility’ approach, Plantronics has focused on developing innovative work spaces, driving improved communications and collaboration among employees, tailoring its working practices to worker behavior, and better developing employee skills. The company gave its employees a strong voice in the development of its office environment to make sure the changes would support their needs. Following the implementation of these initiatives, Plantronics saw employee engagement rise to 86% (against an industry average of 62%) and job satisfaction increase by 40%.
The initiatives were taken-on to implement a truly effective flexible working environment. As part of its Smarter Working Project, Plantronics encourages employees to improve their work life balance by providing them with a consistent set of tools that enable them to work remotely from any location. This new way of working has also bred a more agile workforce and has allowed employees to better respond to customers in different time zones by giving them the freedom and tools they need to work effectively from home.
“I am delighted that Plantronics was recognised for three awards. We have worked hard over the past four years to provide an environment that fosters exceptional working practices. Through our innovative policies and procedures, we have developed productive, motivated and passionate employees who are all able to maximise their work life balance. We aim to provide excellent career development and job roles at all levels within the organisation and support working parents to ensure they realise their potential in the workplace, as well as their important parenting responsibilities.” said Norma Pearce, EMEA HR Director at Plantronics.
Sarah Jackson OBE, Chief Executive of Working Families said, “Many congratulations to Plantronics on receiving the Best for Innovation and Best for Engagement Award and a commendation in the Best for Flexible Working Award category. The standard of entries in 2013 was outstanding and this is a tremendous achievement. The judges were impressed by Plantronics’ inspiring policies and practices to support parents, careers and flexible workers.”