Chloe Stewart
How Mears centralized its communications to drive a 500% increase in frontline engagement
Mears is a leading housing and care provider in the UK, and employs a diverse workforce of 6,500 employees, roughly 75% of which are frontline staff that don’t often work at a computer. Because of this, its HR team was looking for an employee rewards system that would strengthen employee communications and connect its entire workforce, no matter which department they worked in.
There was very low uptake with existing programs, and the organization struggled to communicate with employees because of the lack of a centralized platform. Mears needed a platform that was effectively a one-stop shop, making it as easy as possible to browse all of its initiatives, share company-wide communications and complete key processes with ease.
Mears quickly made it clear that achieving genuine two-way employee communications was a crucial priority for the business, and worked with Reward Gateway to create two custom content portals on the "Mears Connect" platform – "Company News" for informational pieces and "My Community" for employee contributions.
Reward Gateway worked with Mears’s HR team to explore different ways to reach and engage its workforce, particularly those that weren’t using a computer as part of their day-to-day role.
Gary Jackson, Group Director of Marketing Communications & Customer Success at Mears, says:
It’s been incredible to see the uptake of our rewards and discounts in such a short space of time. We’ve had glowing feedback from staff across the board and the word has spread like wildfire throughout our frontline departments. It’s great to finally find an exciting way to incentivize staff beyond pay that also supports their financial wellbeing, particularly those working in care. Our team has made extra efforts to ensure that all our care workers understand how best to use the platform, which has definitely had an impact on engagement.
This was just the first step, however. Gary and his team also made it clear they wanted to establish a world-class employee recognition program that would encourage stronger peer-to-peer feedback throughout the organization. To do this, Reward Gateway tailored a peer-to-peer eCard system around Mears’s core organizational values, allowing staff to send a unique range of messages that would tie recognition back to the business.
Since first launching the platform back in March 2020, Mears has seen engagement with frontline workers rocket from 10% to over 60%, and 83% of its entire workforce is active on the platform. Employees have spent $1.1m through the platform to date, saving a grand total of $118k in the process. In terms of cost savings for the organization, Gary estimates that the decision to consolidate various platforms into a single hub has saved Mears at least $115k in operational costs so far.
If you’re interested in discovering more about how Mears successfully engaged its frontline employees, you can find the full case study here. To learn how we can help your remote, frontline or hybrid workforce, get in touch with us and we’ll show you innovative ways to connect, recognize and support your employees.
