Across the globe only 15% of the employees are engaged
Source: Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report
At LACO, we make sure our employees know how much we value them. Even with a ton of employee engagement initiatives already on the go, we continue working on new ways to keep our people happy, healthy and thriving. And now, our commitment to employee engagement has been officially recognised. We’re excited to share that one of our initiatives – the innovation voucher – took home the Bronze award at the 2020 Employee Engagement Awards! There’s never been a better time to be part of the LACO family.
What are the Employee Engagement Awards?
To attract and hold onto talent, companies need to go above and beyond. They need to enable a harmonious work-life balance for their employees and create opportunities for them to grow and develop their unique talents. The Employee Engagement Awards is an event designed to honour the companies doing these things, while also putting employee engagement in the spotlight. The concepts and initiatives that are recognised and celebrated are an amazing source of inspiration for others.
Companies compete in a pitch-off. The goal? To convince two juries – one of diverse and mature people from all corners of the Belgian business landscape, and another of cutting-edge youngsters – of how successfully their employee engagement strategies boost motivation and satisfaction. It’s an opportunity for companies to share their best practices – and be rewarded for their achievements.
LACO puts happiness front and centre
With a personal and accessible managerial approach, we are close to all our employees to make sure our employees know they are valued. We offer a range of expansion opportunities to make them succesful. Therefore we support them in there personal growth by offering technological and business trainings, as well as personal development learning tracks. When they’re not upskilling, our team often gets together for fun. We organise family & gaming days, seminars abraod, jubileum celebrations and fun sporting events like the Antwerp 10 Miles, Ekiden Run and Hercules Trophy.
In spite of all this, we felt like there was still something missing, an opportunity lurking in the shadows. There’s more to employee engagement than training courses and fun events. To really be engaged and motivated at work, people need to be able to work on things they truly enjoy while contributing to a larger goal. They need to be active participants in the company, with opportunities to co-create and innovate. On top of that, they need the flexibility to pursue their passions, develop their ideas and launch their own side projects.
So when we asked, ‘What is the most valuable thing we can offer our employees?’ The answer turned out to be resoundingly simple: time and space to work on meaningfull projecs for themselves, LACO and its customers. Nothing is more rewarding as contrinbuting to the growth of the company by exploring your own talents.
Enabling employees to explore and grow
We decided to give our employees the time and space needed to develop their original ideas; to work on projects they’re passionate about. And so, the innovation voucher was born.
The 4 steps in the LACO innovation voucher request
Several times a year, employees pitch ideas to a jury of colleagues from all levels of the company. Those awarded with innovation vouchers receive five days to realise their ideas, alone or in a group. It’s the time and space they need to pursue ideas they’re passionate about and develop innovative schemes – an endeavour with the potential for a high pay-off, not just for the employee but the company and our customers as well.
Less than a year after launching our innovation vouchers, we’re already seeing benefits. Our employees feel more respected, involved and valued than ever. And the successes are piling up quickly.
To pick just one out of the many initiatives with a tangible success: a Machine Learning algoritm that reduces food waste on planes.
Developed for an airline company that was producing up to 300 tons of food waste per year due to unused meals, this clever data model is able to accurately estimate how many meals each plane really needs. This helps the environment on multiple levels: it reduces waste and lowers the weight of the plane, reducing the fuel needed to fly.
This case is a shining example of the real-world impact achieved by LACO’s employees. Their intelligent data solutions and innovations are the foundation our company is built on. Our employees are the co-creators of our success and our clients. This is what we call Participative Management.
We strongly focus on the three C’s of engagement. Creating the environment where Competent and Committed people can Contribute to the growth of the company. These three C’s ensure our employees are truly a part of our company.
Solange De Bondt, HR Director at LACO
Meeting the needs of young employees
Our innovation vouchers are a wonderful drawcard for new talent, but they’re not all we offer. We accommodate the needs of young people with personalised game plans. Creating a working environment that’s appealing to young people requires a dedicated and flexible approach. To convince the Employee Engagement Awards jury of our commitment to our young employees’ satisfaction, we brought along one of our bright young go-getters to tell his story.
Benjamin Pierre loves working at LACO. He spoke about how both his personal and professional interests are taken into account by his bosses. He has the flexibility to work around other life commitments (Benjamin is also a professional hockey player) and the opportunity to be heard and have an impact within the company.
Benjamin is so happy at LACO that he didn’t just give a convincing pitch that secured us the Bronze award, he’s also written a whole blog post about why LACO is his employer of choice.
A bright future for all
We’re extremely proud of winning Bronze at the Employee Engagement Awards. But this is not the end of the story. LACO is a company where people can grow, develop and do the things they love. And we’ll continue to invest in new and exciting opportunities for each and every team member.
Do you want to work for a company that cares about what you have to say? We’re always looking for skilled and passionate people to join the LACO team. Check out our job opportunities and before you know it, you’ll be on the career path of your dreams.
