PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST
LET’S WITNESS THE FITNESS
Our future success relies on our ability to attract, develop, and retain highly motivated, talented individuals who drive performance and excellence. Our people are our greatest asset, so we prioritise their happiness and wellbeing, and foster a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone can thrive and achieve their full potential.
Our People Pillar Group – one of the four groups derived from our Sustainability Strategy pillars – helps to drive several initiatives, which focus on areas such as staff retention, talent development and professional training, Gender Pay Gap and Maternity Pay Policy. But it’s keeping people safe and our team members’ wellbeing that top the priorities. Therefore, our investment in our people is complemented by a package of related employee benefits and loyalty reward incentives, including a cycle to work scheme and the Pirkx health and wellbeing programme. Also, a third of our employees actively use the MyZone fitness programme and trackers provided by us free of charge, and we couldn’t believe that our team achieved a combined total of over 3 million MyZone Effort Points (MEPS) in 2023. Alongside our ongoing promotion of active lifestyles and undertaking exercise for positive mental health reasons, National Fitness Day provides the perfect opportunity for us to get the whole team involved. Plus, it also means we can raise money for some very worthy charities – in 2023 we raised £30,000 and in September 2024 the total reached a whopping £46,100. All funds have been shared between our four chosen charities, Marie Curie UK, Matt Hampson Foundation, Noah's Ark Children's Hospital Charity and Manna House Counselling Service.
9% of employees undertook bespoke leadership development initiatives
13% of employees in early years or ‘earn and learn’ programmes
We really did witness the fitness that day and nearly 100 members of staff – including both head office teams and project staff from across the country – gathered at our HQ in Northampton to benefit their bodies and minds. And a special thank you to client SEGRO for returning the fitness fundraising support and joining us that day.
Together we maintained an exercise bike, a rowing machine and a treadmill continuously for 24 hours – absolutely amazing work! As only three people could use the machines at once, our Compliance Manager and part time Fitness Instructor Jackie Hall, and Glen Thurgood from Huumans.io made sure everyone got their heart rates up on the Winvic Games circuit stations and aerobic classes they were running.
Heidi Salmons, Head of Marketing, Communications and Social Responsibility
“Winvic is committed to being a responsible business by doing things in the right way and leaving a positive legacy. As part of our Sustainability and ESG Strategy, our People Pillar working group focuses on ensuring Winvic is a happy, safe, healthy and inclusive place to work. We believe that mental health holds equal importance to physical health, and they mutually influence each other. Taking action to address concerning statistics regarding mental health and well-being within the construction industry, we have implemented several initiatives. These include training 5% of our permanent staff (25 individuals) as Mental Health First Aiders, partnering with MyZone to offer heart rate monitors alongside monthly fitness challenges to promote physical activity, and organising our annual 24-hour National Fitness Day Challenge.”
DEVELOPING PEOPLE… AND BEING RECOGNISED FOR OUR APPROACH
If you know Winvic, you know that the collaborative work between HR, Training, Social Value and all fantastic team members that support each other results us in having a culture that values ongoing personal and professional development. Whether that’s helping the next generation to make informed career choices and thrive in the industry, turning graduates into managers or creating inspiring leaders.
This year a number of awards schemes have hailed our people and initiatives as being some of the best in the business.
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY TRAINING BOARD (CITB) TOP 100 INFLUENTIAL WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION AWARDS Kayleigh Merritt, Talent Development Manager - Winner of Midlands Local Hero
Kayleigh works closely with our social value team to identify opportunities with schools and colleges that are located near projects and engages the whole team in the drive to deliver more meaningful on-site interactions. One of her many successes is devising the award-winning Winvic Enrichment Programme and her ambitious collaborative vision makes her deserving of this recognition.
“I’m honoured to have won the Midlands Local Hero award, and I think what we’ve been able to achieve with the Winvic Enrichment Programme and hundreds of other educational outreach activities is very special. I’d like to dedicate this award to all the schools and colleges we collaborate with and the whole Winvic team because I couldn’t do my job without their support.”
INSPIRING WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING AWARDS 2024
'Highly Commended’ in the Excellence in Outreach category Our teams work closely to identify opportunities to deliver educational outreach initiatives, and we know that close internal and external stakeholder collaboration results in more meaningful outcomes for more people. The whole Winvic team is involved with educating and mentoring, especially several female employees who are passionate about promoting construction and acting as inspirational role models.
We first aim to understand local needs and tailor activities whenever beneficial and strive to find innovative ways in which to address challenges. Our initiatives include:
- The five-day Winvic Enrichment Programme
- STEM after school club
- Student site visits and team visits to schools
- Enhancing employability skills - Speed Careers Networking and Mock Interview activities
We’d also like to take a moment to mention the other four categories in which we were chosen as a finalist. While we didn’t take the wins, making the shortlists against some other exceptional contributions is an achievement we’re proud of – thanks to every single team member involved. The Next Generation Employer of the Year - Finalist: Winvic
Contribution to Gender Diversity - Finalist: Rebecca Schwarz, Head of HR and Training
Inspirational Leader - Finalist: Heather Ratcliffe, Director of Finance
STEM Champion - Finalist: Oliwia Karwatka, BIM Coordinator and STEM Ambassador
DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION’S (DFE) NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP AND SKILLS AWARDS
'Highly Commended’ in the T Level Employer of the Year category Viktoriia Grachova, Trainee Site Engineer and T Level student: Winner of East Midlands and National T Level Student of the Year
You may have seen Viktoriia on the BBC Midlands Today report featured on page 10 and we couldn’t be happier about her regional win in the government led Apprenticeship and Skills Awards. She lifted the East Midlands T Level of the Year trophy in October, which saw her enter the national finals… in which she was Highly Commended! After Viktoriia was displaced from Ukraine, she undertook her GCSEs in the UK as the first step towards her dream career of becoming a Construction Site Engineer. The T Level route – combining theory and practical experience – stood out and after we offered her a placement with us for her Construction: Survey, Design, and Planning qualification, she requested to work on our 33-storey Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) scheme, Crown Place Birmingham, because it was complex and would offer her a challenge.
Viktoriia’s goal has always been to continually learn and develop, particularly in gaining new knowledge and practice with tools and technologies. She volunteered to work closely with HP SitePrint, featured on page 5, and Viktoriia is one of Winvic’s on-site experts on the technology’s use. We are so proud of what 17-year-old Viktoriia has achieved, and we predict her future career will be filled with many more great things. It was also an honour to receive a commendation for our work to support students choosing the T Level route into construction, which includes the Winvic Enrichment Programme and individual placements that often span multiple projects. We are so proud of what 17-year-old Viktoriia has achieved, and we predict her future career will be filled with many more great things. You can read more about Viktoriia's inspiring journey in CIOB People.
CIVIL ENGINEERING CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION (CECA) MIDLANDS AWARDS
Suranne started her journey with Winvic on a college site visit with aspirations of a career in Health and Safety and later returned for work experience at Mercia Park. She spent time with the Assistant Site Manager and realised this role was more suited to her ambition of working out on site each day. Not only has she learned daily tasks, routines, processes and systems from her site managers – working three different projects to date – but she has also increased her confidence and proactively built relationships, trust and respect with subcontractor ‘Black Hat’ team leaders. Suranne’s passion has also shone through when speaking to students at Apprenticeship Careers Fairs, College Open Evenings and those on Winvic’s six-day Enrichment Programme. One young person requested additional time on site with Suranne outside of the scheduled placement days to learn more about her impactful role – we’re very proud of her achievements.
HIGHWAYS UK EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Ammara first joined Winvic as a Year in Industry student in July 2020 as a Trainee Site Engineer and excelled before returning to university to complete her BSc in Civil Engineering. After graduation, she returned to Winvic as a full-time employee and has flourished in her Site Engineer role over the last two years, working at the SEGRO Logistics Park Northampton (SLPN) and SEGRO Park Coventry infrastructure projects. Committed to ongoing learning for herself and others, Ammara is also working towards her Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Incorporated Engineer Chartership, has taken on the responsibility of managing and mentoring an apprentice and a Year in Industry student and goes to schools and colleges to engage with students. We know Ammara is a rising star in the industry. Even during her Year In Industry placement, Ammara stood out to the team as a solution driven and passionate site engineer.
OUR FANTASTIC FEMALE ROLE MODELS
Our sponsorship of events such as NTU’s Women in Construction Award and our enthusiastic participation in national initiatives such as National Careers and Apprenticeships weeks are helping to break down stereotypes and widen the pool of young talent considering careers in the sector. We actively showcase the breadth of careers available and our positive role models and celebrate Women in Construction Week and International Women’s Day, shining a spotlight on the invaluable contributions of women across our business through blogs and vlogs.
So, here’s a selection of our latest blogs with inspiring Winvic women who champion the industry and hope to encourage young females to consider construction. Finance Director and Board Member, Heather Ratcliffe - for Women in Construction Week and National Careers Week, Heather who was an award finalist told us about her inspiring career, and her values and advice for success, which starts with ‘give it a go’. Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Emma Alderman - she drives the social value activity on multiple projects, helped to shape the Winvic Enrichment Programme and is always looking for initiatives to support communities local to our projects and our head office. Lucy Hart - a Trainee Quantity Surveyor shared her experiences about her year out from a BSc in Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management at Loughborough University. Suranne Murray - who received an award commendation – always wanted to work in construction and she explained about her perfect role as a Trainee Site Manager in a vlog.
Rebecca Schwarz, Head of HR and Training
“Our people are Winvic’s greatest asset, and our overarching objective is to be fair and equitable with everybody. Without our fantastic team we couldn’t run the business, so we like to look after our people and ensure they enjoy coming to work. Plus, one of the biggest parts of The Winvic Way is our challenging nature – that is challenging ourselves to do things better and learn what else is available for our people. From financial and wellbeing orientated employee benefits to training and professional development, we’re proud to put people first and have an enviable retention rate as a result of our approach.”
