West Arnhem Regional Council’s (WARC) employee turnover had been at 57% for the past 3 years, costing WARC a startling $2.9 million each year.
WARC decided that setting a baseline for the employee experience was critical for the improvement journey. Over the past two years, Tingwall has worked with WARC to measure levels of employee alignment and engagement, identify problems and provide the following solutions:
WARC moved swiftly from reporting on Tingwall’s results to action planning resulting in a 16% improvement in alignment scores placing WARC in the top quartile of the Australian local government benchmark.
See below key actions WARC undertook in one problem area – reward and recognition. Further actions across collaboration, top-down communication and performance building are discussed in the case study.
| Key actions | Improvements in relevant survey items |
| Introduced service awards for five, ten and fifteen years of service. Presented over 75 ‘Thank You” awards – these were peer-nominated awards linking WARC’s values with actions of the employees. Provided goodie bags to the entire staff. The goodie bags had a new shirt, a coffee ramekin, fishing gear and a lot more. Every office and community hosted an end of year celebration as a thank you to all staff for everything they do All award-based staff received a 2.5% salary increase in July 2020 | West Arnhem Regional Council has effective programs for recofnising and rewarding achievements of its people +31% Our executive team go out of their way to acknowledge and thank people for their contribution + 23% I am paid fairly for my current role +19% West Arnhem Regional Council is committed to ensuring that the right people get promoted +14% |
The figures represent the change from 2020 to 2021, in the percentage of respondents who agreed or strongly agreed with the survey statement.
WARC continues to better engage with their staff and provide an employee experience that is second to none. WARC is a great example of turning measurement into improvement through valid measurement, structured action planning and a concerted effort to reduce employee turnover figures by 25%.
Ask yourself, is staff turnover and low employee engagement costing your business? Talk to us today if you would like to get started on improving your employee experience and retaining your people.
