Suncorp shines light on in-depth staff engagement

Suncorp has put feedback, engagement skills development and the wellbeing of its 13,000 staff at the core of its adaptive culture.

Skills development programs for its staff is an important part of Suncorp’s engagement strategy

In the past few weeks, as part of its quest to discover Australia’s best places to work, The Australian has been featuring the people-centric strategies adopted by some of the top companies in the nation.

Suncorp, which offers insurance and banking products and services, has put feedback, engagement skills development and the wellbeing of its 13,000 staff at the core of its adaptive culture.

“We regularly check in with our people through monthly engagement surveys, which gives our leaders important insights and allows them to respond directly and in a timely way – much more so than through an annual, once-off survey,” says Fiona Thompson, group executive people, culture and advocacy at Suncorp Group.

“A regular, dynamic feedback loop gives our people a voice on issues that matter to them and has helped shape how we respond as an organisation and within specific team environments. It has also inspired some of the initiatives we have launched that have made a positive change within the organisation. For example, our people told us they wanted more clarity around career pathways, so we’ve introduced programs to help employees better identify their next steps, refine goals and support them to develop their own career map.”

Responding to changing market conditions through skills development programs for its staff is an important part of Suncorp’s engagement strategy.

“With the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence, automation and digital revolutionising the way we work, it’s also vital to think about what that means for our people, now and into the future,” Thompson says.

“Like most organisations, this is a huge area of focus for us, and something that is generating a lot of excitement amongst our people, who are embracing the new technology as a way to better serve our customers.

“We acknowledge it means we also need to adapt – we need to look at the capabilities we have now and what we think that will look like in a few years time and work to bridge the gap.”

Suncorp’s response to the need to adapt has been the rollout of a successful program called Suncorp Reskill.

“This industry-leading initiative, in partnership with University of NSW, identifies high performers in areas that may face disruption and provides them with an accredited training course to build their capability in an area of future focus and in high demand,” Thompson says.

“We’ve already seen the majority of graduates go on to take up secondments or permanent roles within other areas of the business.

“We’ve also launched a number of awareness and education campaigns, both for the wider group, as well as targeting our leaders. This month we’ve hosted our first group-wide virtual conference, AI+U, to create a general awareness of AI, the opportunities it brings, as well as looking at how we can embrace the new technology with the appropriate safeguards in place.”

Fiona Thompson, of Suncorp

In the past 18 months, three cohorts have completed the Suncorp Reskill program, which gives an accredited certification that can be used as a credit towards other university courses.

“The first two cohorts completed courses in business process mapping, while the third cohort, who graduated this month, have focused on data analytics,” Thompson says.

“Almost 50 team members have now been through the program, with almost all successfully completing. Almost 95 per cent of those in the first cohort went on to secure a secondment or permanent role in a new area within six months of completion, with almost half of those who graduated from the second cohort in July also securing new roles. One participant has also gone on to enrol in a business degree, for which they will receive course credit, thanks to their Reskill experience.”

Bringing insights about the functionality of artificial intelligence to staff as well as those in leadership roles is a part of Suncorp’s adaptive development programs.

“Acknowledging the role of our leaders in driving the adoption of AI across the organisation – not exclusively within the technology domain – Suncorp has partnered with University of Sydney and Deloitte to run an AI Fluency Sprint for 120 leaders,” Thompson says.

“The two-week intensive learning program is designed to build understanding of AI, the ­opportunities, risks and limits of AI, and explore industry perspectives.”

AI+U, another program on AI, was run as a virtual conference for all the staff. Dealing with topics of relevance around AI, the program featured experts on AI and automation from Microsoft, Google, Databricks and Amazon.

Thompson says wellbeing is a very important area of focus for Suncorp. “Particularly for those in customer-facing roles, it’s important they show heart when dealing with those who are doing it tough. Unfortunately, it’s something we are all too familiar with, whether it be tough economic conditions, or the trauma faced by those who have lost loved ones on the road, or their homes through natural disasters.

“But we know being there for our customers in those unimaginable moments can take its toll, so we have put a lot of work into ensuring we have the right structures in place to ensure our people have the support they need – both formally and informally. We provide vicarious trauma training for our people who are on the ground in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster – and for those who support our customers throughout the sometimes long recovery period. We also have leader and peer support systems and encourage proactive check-ins with those team members.”

Being supportive and flexible has worked well for Suncorp and its staff, Thompson says.

“We aren’t here to tell you how to reach your potential. We’re here to create the right conditions for you to thrive,” she says. “It’s why we’ve always backed a flexible approach to working, because we trust you to know how you work best. And why we champion a diverse and inclusive culture that values every perspective.”

Like many responsive businesses keen to get the best out of its staff, Suncorp has kept flexibility and staff engagement in focus.

Why is engagement important? Staff who are happy and engaged at work can bring great returns to a company’s bottom line, says Lord Mark Price, founder of WorkL, which has partnered with The Australian to provide a dashboard of actionable data to businesses taking part in Best Places Places to Work 2024.

When the individual performs better because of higher levels of engagement with the work, the organisation benefits and so does the sector and the entire economy of the nation, says Lord Price. “This is the real benefit of measuring engagement levels and acting on them, to improve the overall scores.”

Useful measures of staff engagement levels is part of the dashboard provided to businesses participating in The Australian’s Best Places to Work 2024 awards. Entries for the awards are now open. For details, visit The Australian’s best workplaces places website