Company Life: what's going on within May Gurney

HR issues: Brenda Handley-Howorth, director of human resources, provides the people-related information. May Gurney has 3,000 employees and has put its focus on improving their experience at work in a bid to generate a sensation of "this is a great place to be".

IT issues: Rob Booty, information systems manager, supplies the answers on IT and communications provision within May Gurney.

How many days annual leave?
Currently it’s 25 days. But from 2006 we are reviewing this and hope to increase this level.

Can you take holidays when you want them?
Yes – apart from a stipulation that four or five days must be taken around Christmas, because we operate an all-company shut-down.

How long is the standard working week?

37 hours.

What is the average weekly number of hours worked?
Some people work the standard week, while others put in a fluctuating tally, shorter in winter and longer in summer. Overall, the important issue is to fit in with the demands of the immediate job.

Incentivisation – what % of staff can earn a bonus?
All 1,200 monthly-paid staff can have up to 5% added to their salary as part of a profit share scheme. Last year, the figure was 4%. There are also local deals on site that pay out weekly.

What is your churn rate?
12%. It’s fairly steady. The average in the construction industry is 15%. We find that our long-time employees stick with us. The greatest churn is among our newest people, but we are working on a number of initiatives to help us retain people.

Is there a good work-life balance?
We encourage managers to be flexible, so there are some individuals who leave early on a Friday, for example, with others who start work slightly later in the morning.
We do an annual satisfaction survey among our employees and the satisfaction score is rising. Last time, the score on a one-to-ten scale was 7.5. The survey includes a section inviting employee comment and we get plenty of useful ideas.

What help is there towards employees’ fitness?
May Gurney’s benefit package contains the option of gym membership on a reduced-fee basis. We have links to two national chains: LA Fitness and Living Well.

Is there a free annual eye sight check-up?
Yes. There is a free annual check-up for everyone using a VDU, and we pay for the cost of glasses up to £50.

How do you ensure that employees are comfortable while at their place of work?
Each new employee completes an online workstation assessment and, if they need anything special, such as an orthopaedic chair, a foot rest, or a stand for their monitor, we source it for them.
We have kitchen facilities in the offices, while most sites have mess huts, making hot food an option.

What is May Gurney’s average days sick/year?
Under five. May Gurney is closely knit and individuals don’t want to let team members down. We keep in contact while people are off and managers are encouraged to nurture the situation when they first return.

Are private e-mails allowed/frowned upon/censored?
We encourage the use of IT and wish to raise the level of IT literacy, so we are fairly relaxed over e-mails.
A limited number of private e-mails are allowed, but because we monitor usage, we can make employees aware if their use is excessive. Our IT team makes random weekly traffic checks and we have software that locates spam and sticks it into a holding bucket.

How do you live with the threat of viruses?
Desktops have the latest virus checkers. Servers have further checks and we have a form of third-party mail control covering in-bound and out-bound material.

Do you have an integrated network connecting all parts of your business?
We’ve invested over the past two years in a network based on BT’s solution. It’s called IP Clear and is a private secure network. By connecting all our sites, we don’t need to go through a hub.
Our chosen option supports the use of lower-cost, but high-speed broadband DSL (digital subscriber line). The cost is no more than the previous system, but bandwidth has risen four-fold. Also, we’ve gone for high resilience, so if one site goes down, the rest will be still up and running.

What proportion of your employees have access to the internet?
All office-based employees have access and we encourage all to use it.

Are there any restrictions on internet use, for example restrictions on the downloading of software, or rich-media presentations?
We’ve got software filters that prevent access to some websites and, as a back-up, we can record who’s been where. Anyone wanting particular software can’t just download it. We have a requisition process that starts with an assessment – it could be that we already have something in use in the company.
Then we look at compatibility issues. But if all looks OK, we get to sign-off and the move goes ahead. With rich media items, we put them into temporary quarantine while we assess them.

Do you make use of the internet and, if so, what type of information do you access most often?
Yes. Mostly it’s to check software products and to do research. My team’s challenge is to maintain its technical knowledge base.

Do you see the internet as an aid to productivity or a hindrance?
It’s only a hindrance when misused. Otherwise it offers major productivity gains, from simple e-mails through to the sophisticated area of project collaboration and VPNs (virtual private networks).

Does your company make use of project collaboration tools or engage in e-procurement?
We use project collaboration software extensively. We’ve been pushing hard at this for three years. We’ve now standardised on a hosted option and have signed a new contract with a provider called 4Projects.
Only a small proportion of our workload uses the project collaboration extranet as yet – we only use it on larger projects.
But I’m pleased with it. The software can be used by employees who have only previously dabbled with computers, perhaps using them for no more than e-mails, as it is quite intuitive and doesn’t call for a massive learning curve.
On e-procurement, we’re actively talking to two suppliers with a view to taking a big step forward on the e-trading front. It’s going to be an on-going process throughout this year.

Do you have access to mobile devices such as a PDA/hand-held computer or a smart phone?
The company issues PDAs where they are needed, although I think our biggest forward step, in terms of the use of mobile technology, has been by way of laptops and tablet PCs.
We use GPRS to enable May Gurney’s people on the move to connect with the internet and get information from our main centre. It’s going well, particularly in the support we now offer to our maintenance teams when they are out in the field.

Do you regularly use mobile devices as part of your daily working life?
When I’m out I use the laptop and PDA.

How do you see the role of mobile technology evolving over the next few years?
I think that PDAs, mobile phones and laptops will combine into one, let’s call it the smart phone. Bandwidth is increasing all the time with 3G and costs will continue to fall. Mobile options will become the standard.

What successes can you report?
Our works order-management system comes high on the list. The team can send/receive orders and we can track where they are.
We’ve built our own unique solution, which can be integrated with a client’s own system. One example where we will be putting this into place is with East Sussex County Council Highways.