Raising ESG participation
Eric Wright Facilities Management (EWFM) provides integrated Facility Management Services across the North West of England. It is an award winning business, recognized as winners in the IWFM awards for Social Value, Frontline Hero, and Excellence in Customer Experience.
Eric Wright Facilities Management in numbers
250
employees
81%
active users
95%
users reached
The challenge: increasing participation with ESG initiatives
Today, an increasing number of businesses recognize the importance of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) initiatives as part of their growth plans and employee engagement is essential to deliver social value – the ‘S’ component.
EWFM is among this group of forward-looking corporations, seeing in ESG not only the opportunity for external reputation management, but the chance to build stronger relationships with its workforce. In a recent survey, 93% of employees who said that their company was making a strong positive impact in this world were planning to stay in their jobs.
The Eric Wright Charitable Trust ultimately owns EWFM and this creates a unique internal culture that supports investment in the Community. The Group introduced the notion of Community Days well in advance of other organizations, but George Lilley, Managing Director at EWFM, found that employee participation was low.
On investigation, he found that the reason behind this low uptake was a lack of multi-directional conversations between key stakeholders and staff. George reported that most communications were top-down and tended to be emails ‘To All’. These emails would reach only 60% of the workforce, and it was difficult to know who was reading and consuming the content within them.
George and his team decided to fully leverage Blink to improve employee engagement in Community activities.
George Lilley, Managing Director · Eric Wright Facilities Management
The solution: reaching 95% of the workforce at the touch of a button
EWFM introduced Blink’s frontline engagement app in the summer of 2020, with the aim of driving ESG goals. With 81% active users, Blink helped the company transform the way it connects, engages and shares ideas internally to increase engagement across the business.
Here’s how they did it:
Raising awareness: the company used Blink’s Feed - a personalized information feed for every frontline worker - to share critical communications and updates around Community Days.
Driving behavioral change: Blink’s secure Chat allowed teams to interact in real-time, from 1-on-1 conversations to wider group collaboration.Enabling inclusive and forward-thinking leadership: EWFM leveraged Blink’s Directory to allow staff to quickly find and connect with colleagues across the business. Additionally, this enabled and encouraged leaders to be visible and accessible.
George Lilley, Managing Director · Eric Wright Facilities Management
The impact: supporting various communities
George shares two ESG projects where EWFM saw Blink help drive immediate impact.
1) The Fylde Sand Dunes project in Lancashire required volunteers to use recycled Christmas Trees to improve sea defenses; by sending out a message on Blink’s Feed, they had eight volunteers by the next morning.
2) Another example involved MacMillan Cancer Support fundraising. One of the employees used Blink to share that she was shaving her head for a cancer charity, and seeking sponsorship. She was able to raise £2,500, match-funded by the company.
3) Blink has enabled EWFM’s leaders to drive positive change across the business through key ESG initiatives, enabling these important projects to reach and impact frontline workers for the first time.
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