You Said, We Listened - Great Place to Work for a second year

In 2024, we carried out our second survey to find out what our colleagues love about working for Consensus, as well as areas we could improve as an employer to ensure every single colleague feels valued and supported to thrive. Continually striving to be recognised as a Great Place to Work for everyone.

With 1465 colleagues completing their surveys, their positive feedback led to us being a certified Great Place to Work for a second year running, as well as being one of the UK’s Best Workplaces™ for Women, Development, Wellbeing, Healthcare, and as a Super Large Organisation 2024.

88% of colleagues agreed ‘My work has special meaning: this is not “just a job” – up from 84% the previous year.
89% of colleagues agreed ‘When you join the organisation, you are made to feel welcome’ – up from 85% the previous year.

A year since the 2024 survey went live, we’ve been reflecting on the positive changes we’ve made in areas our colleagues we could improve in, ensuring Consensus is an employer that continues to be a Great Place to Work.

Wellbeing

We discovered that our colleagues wanted us to continue treating wellbeing as a priority across Consensus – from financial to emotional wellbeing, here’s what we did;

Menopause Policy – we introduced out Menopause Policy, supporting colleagues going through the menopause with reasonable adjustments in the workplace.
Mental Health First Aiders – we trained a fourth cohort of MHFAiders and introduced a self-referral programme for confidential support.
Domestic Violence Advocate – our wellbeing coach Mary is now a trained Domestic Violence Advocate, and we expanded our Wellbeing Champions Network to 18 members.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Charter – based on our new values, we launched an EDI charter that recognises Equality isn’t just a policy, but a principle we strive to live and work by.

We also boosted our financial wellbeing support with resources like Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), high street discounts, Blue Light Card, Wagestream, and the new Nous platform which helps our colleagues save on household bills.

Recognition & Communication

Our colleagues highlighted that accessible and approachable management is important to everyone, and the way we communicate should be clear – something we can all strive towards! Making positive change, we;

Recognition – we introduced two new awards based on feedback for more recognition: the Every Moment Awards, with nearly 100 nominations and 25 winners, and the Greatness Awards, celebrating colleagues’ significant achievements.
The Matchbox – our virtual suggestion box has supported over 100 colleagues’ ideas, including support groups, sports days, and acts of kindness. Everyone is encouraged to share their ideas and receive support to bring them to life.
Connecting Consensus – Our monthly internal newsletter shares news, achievements, stories and things to get involved with, and continues to shine a light on all the incredible things happening every single day across Consensus.

The feedback we receive from our colleagues is invaluable to us as an organisation – ensuring we know where we’re excelling, and areas where we can improve. Striving to create a workplace that embodies our values of kindness, commitment, and creativity – each year we align our future to our colleagues needs, aspirations, and goals – where every colleague is valued.

And with our 2025 survey shortly launching, we’re excited to for a third year running to read everyone’s feedback and have some fun launching new ideas for everyone.

Supporting our colleagues to flourish in their careers, so they can continue to make a positive difference every single day in the lives of the people we support. Thank you to all colleagues for your support and dedication to shaping the future of Consensus and helping us to be a really Great Place to Work.

Date: 5th February 2025