The Best Employers Eastern Region programme aims to help businesses thrive by getting the best out of their people.

The Best Employers premise is clear and simple: organisations with engaged employees are more successful. The not-for-profit programme returns for 2021 to help employers across East Anglia not only get more from their staff but also take greater care of them and attract the best talent.

Best Employers was founded by recruitment specialists Pure and psychometrics experts eras Ltd, supported by Birketts and Archant. The heart of the programme is an employee-engagement survey, administered by eras but easily tailored to the unique needs of each participating organisation. It’s supported by a series of online events addressing the key issues facing employers.

The launch event, held online last month, featured internationally acclaimed HR speaker Debra Corey. In an advice-packed presentation she explained the importance of employee engagement and shared many insights. One example is model called “the iceberg of ignorance”.

Cambs Times: Internationally respected HR expert Debra Corey will speak at the Best Employers launch event on April 22Internationally respected HR expert Debra Corey will speak at the Best Employers launch event on April 22 (Image: Chris Parkes Photographer Ltd)

"Executives navigate because they're resolving problems. But what this model shows is actually if 100% of problems are known to the staff, only 74% are known to team leaders, 9% to team managers and only 4% to executives,” Mrs Corey explained. “If we don't give our employees the opportunity to speak up and to listen to them, we're going to be hitting these icebergs.”

She demonstrated how engaging employees not only allows leaders to learn of these unseen threats but also can provide opportunities for staff to resolve them – turning potential problems into business successes.

Mrs Corey’s full speech, with all of its advice, is available for all organisations participating in the Best Employers programme to view online at any time. The next webinar takes place on May 19, with Paulo Moscuzza of OE Cam looking at the psychology of leading and engaging hybrid teams and Catherine Hodds of Saffron Housing sharing their experience of transitioning to an agile working model.

There is still time to sign up for the Best Employers programme, to participate in the on-line events and use the employee-engagement survey, which runs until June 31. In September, participating organisations will be eligible for Best Employers awards and organisations in the top quartile will be invited to apply for accreditation.

For more information and to sign-up for the programme, see www.best-employers.co.uk