Improving engagement under employee ownership: DJS Research invited to speak at EOA event in Manchester

12th December 2022 16:01

In November 2022, DJS Chairman and Founder, Danny Sims, and HR Manager, Lucy Pawson, who is also our Employee Trustee Director and chairs our EO Voice council meetings, were invited to speak at the Employee Ownership Association’s (EOA) regional event in Manchester. This was a result of us winning an award at the EOA conference for good engagement and communication.

The event saw us speak about the many things we have been doing to improve engagement since becoming employee owned in July 2021.

Around 60 people attended the event, including a mix of people who work for employee-owned companies, as well as others who were interested to learn more about it.

Hosted by Brabners solicitors, the event saw Stephen Hadlow, a Partner at the firm, give insight into the legal aspects of becoming employee-owned, while James de le Vingne, the Chief Executive of the EOA also spoke.

Following our time speaking about DJS Research and our EO journey, Danny and Lucy were asked questions in areas such as our EO Charter, EO Voice (our employee council), and around ‘how to think like owners’ .

Internal research

Part of our presentation included some initial research we carried out with all of our new starters who joined since we made the transition to employee ownership. We wanted to understand if our EO status had any impact on them wanting to join us.

Our research found that two-thirds said it had ‘some’ or ‘ a lot’ of influence (67%), while 10% said it had a ‘little influence’.

Just under a quarter of those polled (23%) said it had ‘no impact’. However, it is interesting that the 23% who said it had 'little impact' feel differently now they have joined the team and have learnt what EO is about.

Feedback from these new starters included:

“When I hear employee-owned, I think this employer must trust their employees and want to let them be heard. I have worked in companies in the past where my views felt insignificant, so the fact DJS is so vocal about EO really made me passionate about being part of it!”

“I had never heard of employee ownership before I applied for the job. However, the research I did and speaking to colleagues in the interview seemed like a really positive thing and a great decision by the company.”

Lucy Pawson said of the event:

"I was really delighted to be invited to speak alongside Danny at the EOA event in Manchester. Preparing our presentation enabled us to reflect and consider what we have achieved since becoming employee owned in July 2021."

Chief Executive at the EOA, James de le Vingne said:

“It has been wonderful to see how positively everyone at DJS has responded to becoming employee owned and I was delighted to see this recognised in at the EOA awards in Liverpool. It’s no surprise to the EOA that DJS are accelerating through the early stages and transitioning so smoothly, you have invested wisely in developing excellent communications and created a framework that enables everyone across the business to embrace their new roles as employee owners. Congratulations to you all.”