Key Takeaways
"They say, ‘ignorance is bliss’. It’s not; ignorance is ignorance. If you don’t know what’s going on in your business, you don’t know how to run your business. It’s as simple as that." Sam White, Managing Director – Natural Resources
Founded in 1865, Costain has been improving people’s lives through infrastructure since Richard Costain and his future brother-in-law made the short crossing from the Isle of Man to the booming port of Liverpool.
Now, the organisation delivers pioneering solutions that transform the performance of the infrastructure ecosystem across the UK’s energy, water, transportation, defence and nuclear energy sectors. Its 3,500 people manage a workforce of around 16,000, collaborating with customers, partners, communities, and the wider industry to make infrastructure fit for a better future.
Pre-Covid-19, Costain measured employee engagement on a biennial basis. Like many organisations, the pandemic forced Costain to dial up its listening efforts. They prioritised checking on colleagues’ wellbeing and experiences and used the feedback to help inform important business decisions.
In 2022, the organisation turned to Best Companies to reset and focus on improving employee engagement across the organisation, with everyone accountable for the results, not just HR. Sam White, Managing Director and executive board sponsor for the survey, explained the benefits that it has brought to the business.
“The great thing about the survey is that it has really helped us to understand what our people are thinking and feeling about the business. This has given our leadership more confidence as we shape, communicate and deliver our strategy,” he said. “Our people are our greatest asset so to hear their feedback is great, it’s a gift. This is the feedback that nobody tells you when you go to do a site visit.”
Using the Best Companies data that Costain received from its first bHeard survey, the leadership began to implement practices that focused on building morale between team members and their managers, and that better communicated their purpose and strategies to all levels of the organisation.
The result of this was that when its people completed the next survey in 2023, Costain saw that its three highest scoring factors were My Team (73%), My Manager (75%), and My Company (67%) - with My Manager also seeing the largest year-on-year increase, by three percentage points, proving that the company’s actions had had the desired effect.
“Two years on, the business is doing great. In my area of responsibility, the Natural Resources Division, we’ve grown each of our three market sectors; they’ve grown in terms of revenue, profit and margin,” explained Sam.
When it comes to employee engagement, Costain overall achieved a ‘One Star’ accreditation status, representing ‘very good’ levels of engagement from its first survey, which it maintained after undertaking its second survey and saw an increase in its overall engagement score.
However, for Sam, the journey within his own division, Natural Resources, has seen even more progress, as it received a ‘Ones to Watch’ accreditation status, representing ‘good’ levels of engagement after the organisation’s first survey, which it increased to ‘One Star’ after its second.
“Our employee engagement has risen, taking us [Natural Resources] from being ‘Ones to Watch’ to a One Star rating, which in the context of some really challenging societal factors, has been a real delight to see,” he commented.
"Two years on, the business is doing great. We’ve grown all our sectors; they’ve grown in terms of revenue and profit. We’ve had the second-best safety performance of all time and employee engagement has shifted." Sam White, Managing Director – Natural Resources
Sam recognises that a happy employee is an effective employee. He also notes that the survey data has played a huge role in the decision-making processes at all levels of the organisation.
“We’re using the Best Companies data in a wide variety of ways to shape almost all aspects of how we’re running the business… it’s shaping our decisions about the way we attract and recruit, retain, and develop people. But it’s also shaping the way we show up in the marketplace, the way in which we drive our sustainability and social value agenda, and many other aspects. It’s a key tool in how we make decisions as a business.”
Furthermore, Sam points out that the data not only influences decisions on the macro level, but on the micro as well, forcing the organisation to consider the smaller things that can make a big difference to its employee engagement and overall organisational health.
“When we confront a topic like should we improve paternity leave for people... of course there’ll be people around the table who are going to have a view of the economics of that,” he explained.
“But having Best Companies’ data is a bit like having an extra person sat at the table... if you’ve got that data in your pocket, it’s like having an employee representative around the board who’s going to say ‘we should just do it, people are going to love it, and if people are here, they’ll stay, and if they’re not here, they’re going to join us’. And guess what? Earlier this year we quadrupled paternity leave from two to eight weeks,” he added.
Costain’s journey with Best Companies may have only been a short one so far, but it has already seen the organisation improve its overall score year-on-year. This has, in Sam’s opinion, also helped to drive some of the growth and success that the organisation has enjoyed over the past few years.
“If I look back, in two years, our business has grown, our profits have grown, and the margins of the business have grown. Of course, they’re not directly correlated, but I personally believe that by driving better employee engagement, you get better financial outcomes.”
Given this, what would he say to other organisations that are unsure about how working with Best Companies could help them improve?
“You hear lots of people talk about what’s going on in their workforce. We all know the phrase, ‘ignorance is bliss’. But it’s not; ignorance is ignorance. If you don’t know what’s going on in your organisation, you don’t know how to run your business. It’s as simple as that.”
For more information on Best Companies’ products and services that Costain used to achieve their success, and how we can help your organisation reach its goals, please get in touch.
To read more about Costain’s latest bHeard survey results and initiatives, visit Costain’s company profile.
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