Aviva

Industry: Insurance
Areas of excellence: Employee engagement, culture

As an insurance company, Aviva’s foremost commitment is to defying uncertainty by protecting what matters most to their customers and helping them secure their future. At the same time, the leaders at Aviva also hope to help their internal customers – the employees – align that vision with their work, which may be challenging for those serving at the back end who are not able to interact directly with clients.

In order to establish that connection, the HR team made customer focus an emphasis for all employees. One way of doing this was by allotting ‘storytelling’ time during their quarterly town halls, where employees could share cases and anecdotes on how the company was doing well and what areas the organisation as a whole could improve on. These authentic and inspiring stories helped employees better understand the impact of their work on customers’ lives and gave them a clearer sense of purpose. The team also integrated three drive factors – Customer First, Simplicity, and Innovation – into the corporate culture in order to sustain strong business growth. This led to focus group discussions and action plans, and employees from different roles, grades and departments were invited to contribute their insights and collaborate.

The results of Aviva’s annual employee survey affirmed the success of these initiatives – 89% of employees understood how their teams’ work fit with Aviva’s overall strategy, and 84% agreed that the ‘Aviva purpose’ was a motivating reason for them to keep improving on customer service.