BATH ’ S TOP 100 COMPANIES COMPANIES TO WORK TO WORK FOR FOR
Celebrating the best local employers to work for
Every year The Times celebrates and showcases the very best in workplace engagement with their Best Companies to Work For lists , the longest-running and most respected of its kind .
The Sunday Times Best Companies award is recognised as a benchmark of employee engagement within British business . The award reflects what staff are saying about their employers and their work place environments .
In addition to looking at detailed data on company benefits policies , processes and facilities , the research focuses on the views of employees by asking them , via a confidential survey , about their perceptions of the company in areas including ; team leadership , management , personal growth , wellbeing , benefits and giving back .
We asked our local winners what makes their organisation a great place to work .
CURO
No . 44 in the Best Not-For-Profit Organisations to Work For List 2018
Key statistics
Staff : 499 Staff Turnover : 17 % Male / Female Ratio : 50 % male 50 % female
What they do Curo is a Bath-based housing association and house-builder . They provide homes and high-quality care and support services across the south west of England .
With more than 25,000 customers , they manage more than 13,000 homes and are building hundreds more every year , making them one of the largest landlords in the south west .
They own a range of properties , from starter homes to Grade I listed buildings , in locations from rural villages to city centres . They also have an extensive longterm development and land acquisition programme .
The housing association invests in neighbourhood services , designed to make their communities thriving , sustainable places where people want to live and work . They help a wide range of customers , including homeless young people and families , older and disabled people , and those affect by mental health issues .
They have branches in Bath , Bristol , Midsomer Norton and Keynsham . We spoke to Donna Warr , Curo Head of Colleague Experience to find out more about working there .
What makes Curo such a great place to work ?
The majority of our colleagues who told us what makes the place great quoted three things – the people , their team and our values .
What questions were the staff asked by The Sunday Times as part of the process ?
The survey is very in-depth , asking around 70 questions covering themes like leadership , personal growth , what colleagues think about their team and their manager , getting a fair deal , their wellbeing and how Curo gives back .
How do you engage your employees ?
We have a regular means of collecting feedback from colleagues and all managers are expected to act on the feedback . We have many events to bring a bit of fun and socialising to work and we run recognition schemes to reward effort and achievements . We run Learn Over Lunch sessions and our Executive Team hold quarterly briefings for all colleagues alongside regular Executive Exchange sessions where directors spend time with different areas of the business .
How do you help staff achieve a work / life balance ?
Curo has a variety of employee benefits aimed at fitness and wellbeing , including Pilates classes twice a week and discounts with local gyms .
Do you offer flexible working ?
Curo has a variety of employee benefits aimed at fitness and wellbeing , including Pilates classes twice a week and discounts with local gyms .
What does it mean to be recognised in this way ?
It means a lot to us . Having been featured in the list before , this continued recognition helps to demonstrate to potential and current employees and to our customers how much we value the contribution our colleagues make to the success of Curo . Knowing that we are within the top 50 in this highly-respected list shows that the majority of our colleagues believe this truly is one of the best companies to work for . Our aspiration is to be in the Top 10 by 2020 .
20 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2018