How to keep 8,500 LeasePlanners connected and engaged… From home
For many people, 2020 will have been one of the most challenging periods of their lives as they were separated – almost overnight – from friends, family and colleagues. Life for LeasePlanners was no easier, with all 8,500 employees making the switch to working from home in March 2020.
To support colleagues through what was for many an unsettling and disturbing period, in early April 2020, the company launched its NextGen LeasePlan Community platform, helping to engage, connect and inspire LeasePlanners throughout the crisis period.
NextGen LeasePlan Community activities and initiatives took place every week throughout 2020 and included everything from daily exercise and mindfulness classes, virtual book groups and running clubs, to lip-sync challenges and even a digital ‘LeasePlan Olympics’. Employees were also offered one-to-one counselling if they felt they needed any extra support.
We wanted to make sure that, even if we were all working from home, we remained connected and engaged,” said Mike Lightfoot, LeasePlan’s Chief Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Officer. “We felt it was really important that we sent a strong signal to all our colleagues – but especially those living alone – that we cared, that we valued our connections and that we would be there for them, all the way until the crisis is well and truly behind us.”
At the end of 2020, all employees were surveyed as part of the company’s annual Global Engagement & Integrity poll to gauge their feelings towards LeasePlan’s working culture. LeasePlan’s overall engagement score rose from 79.5% in 2019 to 84.3% in 2020. “We really believe this was a testament to our collective efforts to stay connected and engaged, even in the most difficult of circumstances.”