Bell Rings In Employee Engagement

Bell Canada is one of Canada’s largest communications companies providing solutions to customers’ various communication needs. A selection of the many services Bell provides consumers and business customers with include: wireless service, TV, high speed Internet, home phone and business communications services. Bell boasts an enormous 38,671 full time employees in Canada with the longest serving employee of 50.3 years.

In 2015, Bell Canada was honoured as one of Achievers 50 Most Engaged Workplaces™ in North America. Bell was recognized as a leader in workplace innovation, mental health initiatives, best practices, and promotion of diversity. “Employee engagement is a key performance indicator for Bell, so we’re extremely proud to see our efforts to create a positive and thriving workplace recognized across North America,” said Bernard le Duc, Executive Vice President, Corporate Services for Bell and BCE. “Being named to the Achievers 50 Most Engaged Workplaces™ in North America list is an honour shared by the entire Bell team as we continue to build an equitable workplace where everyone’s contributions are respected and valued.”

In 2017, Bell Canada was chosen as one of Canada’s 100 Top Employers (2017) and Montreal’s Top Employers (2017). In being selected, Bell was rated according to the following categories with ratings ranging between B to A+:

• Physical Workplace
• Work Atmosphere and Communications
• Financial Benefits and Compensation
• Health and Family-Friendly Benefits
• Vacation and Personal Time Off
• Employee Engagement and Performance
• Training and Skills Development
• Community Involvement

Employee Engagement

In 2007, Bell introduced Collaboration Solutions for businesses and decided to “practice what they preach” by utilizing the tools with employees to create opportunities to work remotely from home, attend conferences from anywhere, and connect, meet and share in virtual meetings. Collaboration Solutions from Bell were designed to help maintain efficient team work and communication between colleagues and management. Employees became able to collaborate instantly and work together to tackle problems in real time and speed up decision making processes.

Bell prides itself on strong “in-house communications” and providing a wide variety of employee engagement opportunities such as:

• Bell Canada offers a share purchase plan to encourage employee ownership that includes bonuses of up to $2,500 for signing, referral, and year-end;
• Bell Canada acknowledges milestones that spawn the quarterly business unit, company-wide, and day to day accomplishments. To recognize the most successful employees, Bell annually holds a gala;
• “Let’s Talk” was founded by Bell Canada to promote knowledge and support of mental health conversation and inspire personal donations of money or time (which Bell will donate up to $2,500 on behalf of employees who volunteer) and has also committed to over $100 million in donations.

In addition to the social events hosted for employees and the various clubs and sports teams, Bell offers employees the opportunity to stay updated and involved through their intranet site, newsletter and email platforms so employees can relay suggestions. In my interview with a Bell Representative, she explained that the employees of Bell also utilize various apps and platforms to stay informed, provide updates and stay connected to each other to maintain strong relationships. These platforms also provide the opportunity to receive positive reinforcement from management and provide support when any issues arise.

Lessons for Others

In a company a large as Bell Canada, the need for employees to stay connected and feel valued is important. Traditionally, companies have promoted employee involvement through the efforts of social events and recognition awards. However, in today’s digital world where employees can be working remotely, be in offices all over the country and have thousands of employees in the company, there is a greater need to maintain employee engagement in a day to day fashion. Social media provides the platform that enables employees to stay connected to each other and to their company.   The ability to communicate in real time and feel their ideas, suggestions and concerns are of value to the company can create better health for the employees and the company at large. By utilizing various employee engagement strategies, Bell Canada has been named as one of Canada’s 100 Top Employers for 2017. In order to better engage and involve their employees other companies would benefit from these strategies.

If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site, please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.

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