A fair workplace

We listen and respond to our employees through ViewPoint – our comprehensive, yearly survey of employee opinions covering wide-ranging aspects of life and work at Nationwide. Monthly TalkBack sessions, in which senior managers often participate, offer another regular forum for people to have a say in the running of the organisation. Through the Nationwide Group Staff Union, we also consult regularly.

Our ViewPoint employee survey is a ‘living’ and vital tool and we act on the results. This year has seen the most significant changes at Nationwide for many years. While the Nationwide-Portman merger and reorganisations are essential for continuing competitiveness and viability, we are acutely aware that change can affect individuals in many ways and have consulted with our employees throughout. But change does not affect our approach, proven over the long term, as an employer who cares, listens and responds.

When benchmarked against other financial services organisations, Nationwide comes top with an overall employee satisfaction score of 68% (2005/06: 77%).

Employee Representation

Nationwide Group Staff Union (NGSU) is an independent union affiliated to the TUC. Nationwide consults with the NGSU on a wide range of issues, including pay and terms and conditions of employment. We fund the position of Union President by providing a two-year secondment. Approximately 75% of our employees belong to the NGSU. We engage with the Union and employees through special committees, called Employee Involvement Committees – we use the meetings to discuss a wide range of issues from diversity to policy development, learning and development and pensions.