In this blog we hear from Nicola Ryan, Director of Colleague Support on what this recognition means for them.

Recently, One+All was delighted to win “Employer of the Year'' at the Greater Manchester Good Employment Awards. Winning awards feels great. But the sense of achievement for us isn’t driven by our desire to gain positive PR or add another award to the shelf.

We’re an SME business that wants to do better.  Becoming one of the first businesses to sign up as a member of the GM Good Employment Charter in 2020 felt intrinsically right for us. And here’s why.

In 2010, we started putting customers and colleagues first. By 2014, we’d seen improvements in our culture and customer satisfaction. In 2015, we became employee owned, granting us full control over our destiny. Crucially, this allowed us to reward all colleagues with a fair share of our profits. And in 2018, we became an accredited Living Wage employer, confirming our commitment to ensure that our people can meet the increasing costs of a decent standard of living.

Putting colleagues first is central to our ethos, but could be perceived as altruistic. However, there’s a strong commercial argument for doing the right thing. Rewarding the people who contribute to our success, and taking good care of them through our benefits package and personal approach to colleague support, has proved a virtuous circle.

Despite the pandemic, which we navigated with an emphasis on mental wellbeing and adherence to Government Covid guidelines, we’ve emerged stronger than ever. In fact, our 2022 colleague satisfaction survey revealed that 100% of respondents were proud to work at One+All with a Net Promoter Score of +82. Our customer Satisfaction Net Promoter Score is +73, confirming our most successful Back To School season.

As a certified B Corp, sustainability is our top priority. We’re out to prove that you can be a good employer, care for the planet and be highly successful. And winning Employer of the Year is a great acknowledgement for us that doing business the right way is achievable, even if you’re a small business.