Building services uses recognition and communications platform helps company engage 100% of largely isolated workforce

With a widespread workforce, Sherwoods needed recognition tailored to its company brand and values to create a culture of thanks amongst employees who rarely see each other in person. Sherwoods also wanted its recognition offering to double up as a communications hub by hosting a company news blog, as well as giving seamless access to employee discounts, paychecks, and annual leave booking.

The challenge

Sherwoods started its recognition journey 18 months ago, looking to support business growth and build a team culture of peer-to-peer reward. With a diverse team of 50 employees working in isolation across a variety of locations across the UK, Sherwoods wanted a recognition offering which would double-up as a communications platform to engage their disparate workforce. Communication was made more challenging with employees on their own for large periods, on the road in-between jobs and not falling into regular working patterns.

The approach

Partnering with Reward Gateway, Sherwoods was able to make full use of the resources available to launch its employee engagement platform, Team Talk. Reflecting Sherwoods' employer brand, the platform was fully customized to be an immersive experience for their people and becoming an important part of their daily routine – giving any time, any device access to recognition, employee discounts, paychecks, annual leave booking, and the company news blog.

Using the customization features of the engagement platform, Sherwoods tailored its eCards – non-financial, peer-to-peer recognition – to company values to reinforce a culture of thanks amongst its widespread workforce. And also gave prominence to retailers on Team Talk which the team knew would be important to employees. This included highlighting the instant nature of the employee discounts offering for savings on tech products, cinemas, and supermarkets – as well as explaining that the benefit can be used for family and friends too.

The results

Sherwoods rapidly saw 100% engagement with Team Talk and now, 18 months later, employees have spent $78,000 through employee discounts, saving them $7,800 collectively, and sent 947 eCards across the platform – with the most popular reflecting three of its values, “Committed,” “Honest,” and “Fun.” Sherwoods also won Employer of the Year at the South Devon Business Awards taking the company a step closer on their mission to become the Building Services Partner and Employer of choice across the South West.