WaterAid ranks 5th in list of UK’s Best Workplaces™ with a special recognition for Excellence in Wellbeing

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WaterAid has been placed fifth in the 2020 UK Best Workplaces™ large sized category by Great Place to Work®, and received special recognition as a centre of Excellence in Wellbeing. 

This prestigious award comes two years after WaterAid became the first international charity ever to feature on the list, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and is considered as the gold standard of employer awards. The charity was also named one of the UK’s Best Workplaces™ for Women the same year, the first time it had applied. 

Featuring alongside 162 other organisations across all categories, WaterAid has this time been ranked in fifth place of 35 large-sized organisations (with 251 – 1,000 staff) who reached the coveted list. 

A rigorous staff survey and audit showed that staff trust, engagement and wellbeing were particularly high within the organisation and that an astounding 91% of employees say, “This is a great place to work.” 

WaterAid Chief Executive Tim Wainwright said:

“We are delighted that WaterAid has been recognised as a Great Place to Work for how we promote trust, pride in our transformative work, and wellbeing amongst our employees. These strengths are proving more important than ever in the current situation as we learn to work in a new way whilst delivering life-saving hygiene campaigns across all the countries where we work.

“As well as feeling motivated and fulfilled, we want people to flourish in an environment where they feel they can be the best they can be, since this is fundamental to our mission to improve access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene in the world’s poorest communities. Each and every one of us knows we make a difference and are committed to tackling some of the most important challenges in the world today.”

The charity was seen to have improved on its staff satisfaction levels in the wellbeing category, particularly in the area of work-life balance - which scored 94% - and the organisation was praised for creating a working environment where staff feel part of the ‘family’. 

Great Place to Work® states that the national average level of trust in UK workplaces is at 82%; WaterAid achieved an impressive score of 86%. Other key highlights from the survey and audit are WaterAid’s staff engagement score of 89%, while its level of wellbeing is at 84%. 

Rachel Wescott, Director of People and Organisational Development, said:

“At WaterAid, we have all worked really hard together to create a culture of wellbeing and a balance between work and home life, and we’re pleased this is reflected in the responses people gave in the survey. This has particularly come into play recently while we have been under lockdown and working from home. More than ever, we have emphasised the importance of collaboration, and understanding and supporting our people.”

The opinion of employees is key since the survey that employees answer (Trust Index©) represents two-thirds of the final score to enter the ranking. The remaining third of the score is the Culture Audit©, a business-driven questionnaire that Great Place to Work® uses to understand and evaluate the organisation’s HR and leadership practices, policies and culture.

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Laura Crowley, PR Manager, at [email protected] or
+44 (0)207 793 4965.
Or call our after-hours press line on +44 (0)7887 521 552
or email [email protected]

Notes to Editors: 
 

WaterAid

WaterAid is working to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. The international not-for-profit organisation works in 28 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 26.4 million people with clean water and 26.3 million people with decent toilets. For more information, visit www.wateraid.org/uk, follow @WaterAid or @WaterAidPress on Twitter, or find WaterAid UK on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wateraid.

• 785 million people in the world – one in ten – do not have clean water close to home.[1]
• 2 billion people in the world – almost one in four – do not have a decent toilet of their own.[2]
• Around 310,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That's almost 800 children a day, or one child every two minutes.[3]
• Every £1 invested in water and toilets returns an average of £4 in increased productivity.[4]
• Just £15 can provide one person with clean water.[5]

[1] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG Baselines

[2] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG Baselines

[3] Prüss-Ustün et al. (2014) and The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (2018)

[4] World Health organization (2012) Global costs and benefits of drinking-water supply and sanitation interventions to reach the MDG target and universal coverage

[5] www.wateraid.org