Luminus, the eastern region’s premier housing provider, has once again been recognised as one of the best companies to work for in winning the “Employee Engagement” title at this year’s Best Employers Eastern Region Awards.

All Luminus employees took part in the Best Employers survey for the Eastern Region earlier this year and ranked the way Luminus engages with staff highly.  Best Employers said this shows that “They personally enjoy working for Luminus and feel very engaged”, which springs from Luminus’ commitment to motivating staff and promoting their wellbeing, a key part of its “Organisational Wholeness Strategy”.

The strategy is Group Chief Executive, Dr Chan Abraham’s ground-breaking approach that seeks to build a team of people who consistently feel engaged and inspired, as much in their personal lives as their daily work.  Staff are encouraged to feel part of the “Luminus family”, enjoying shared experiences on many occasions throughout the year, including the ever-motivating bi-monthly Luminus Conferences, and many social and fundraising events.  They are also supported through a range of unique benefits such as childcare vouchers, in-house fitness classes, a chaplaincy service, subsidised personal training sessions and financial advice. 

“Our people are precious to us, “ explains Dr Abraham, “because we work in the heart of communities and they are the ones taking forward the Luminus message of excellence, respect and going the extra mile in the work they do.  Inspired people really do give inspirational service.” 

His comments are echoed by Alan Haines, HR’s Executive Head of Service, who says, “One of the unique aspects of the way we do things at Luminus is that every employee, without exception, feels they have a direct channel to our Group Chief Executive.  They can ask for a “Take it to the Top”, a private appointment with Chan, and he will see them to hear what they have to say.  He also makes sure that he writes personally to each staff member who may going through a hard time, perhaps with a sick relative and to let them know he’s thinking of them.  And managers, as well as colleagues, rally round, so no one needs feel they are facing difficulties alone.  Luminus really is a family.  I have experienced it myself.”

Luminus has also created a culture where employees feel motivated and encouraged and have a great sense of value in their work.  This is most clearly seen in the Luminus 2020 Vision: The Road to Renewal, which seeks to work with others to help transform “Broken Britain”.  And it’s found in uplifting maxims like “Be the Best” and “Seize the Day”.  As a consequence, employees show great enthusiasm and optimism in routinely going the extra mile to provide a Premium Brand service to their customers.  The results clearly demonstrate this: 94% of staff said they were proud to work for Luminus, and 92% of customers said they were satisfied with service provided by Luminus.

In the Best Employers survey, employees also gave many positive comments about working for Luminus. One said, “This is one of the best places to work because there is a clear commitment to developing and supporting the staff. At Luminus you are not just an employee but a person who is nurtured and encouraged to be the very best you can possibly be.”

Dr Abraham said, “The Best Employers Initiative does a fantastic job of highlighting and celebrating the areas of strength within UK employers today, holding them up as positive examples of better business practices for other organisations to learn from.  At Luminus we seek to be honest about our performance as we strive to “demonstrate a more excellent way of doing business”, and we are honoured to be recognised as the best for Employee Engagement in our region.  I pay tribute to our managers, who do a brilliant job in leading our people, helping them to feel part of a winning team where we are united by a common mission, our 2020 Vision: The Road to Renewal, which aims to make a real difference in the world around us.  It’s clear that our people genuinely feel that working at Luminus is more than a job, important though that is.  They know that we also provide hope, an opportunity to be part of a family, a place where employees feel valued and where they are engaged with a greater purpose.  I believe that makes Luminus a special place to work and I hope this “more excellent way of doing business” continues to spread across the UK.”