Europe’s Largest Employee Engagement Conference is Here!

There is officially just under one week to go until the doors of Europe’s largest employee engagement conference open. Taking place on the 1^st of May at The Brewery in London, the 2024 Employee Engagement Summit will bring together more than 1,000 attendees and feature over 70 case study presentations and exclusive interviews.

The speakers you can look forward to hearing from include representatives from world-renowned organisations such as Virgin Atlantic, Deliveroo, Bupa, Lipsy London, Royal Air Force (Ministry of Defence), Nando’s, Unicef UK, John Lewis Partnership, OVO, Virgin Group, Engage for Success, and more!

The Summit will cover a wide range of topics, leaving no stone unturned when addressing the topics affecting employees in 2024. More specifically, our speakers will explore:

• Employee engagement in the new world of work
• The future of employee engagement
• Effective strategies for employee engagement
• Communication and collaboration in the modern workplace
• Wellbeing, diversity and inclusion
• Recruitment, reward and talent retention
• Can employee experience provide competitive advantage?
• Employee engagement strategy and leadership

The sessions will take place across 5 beautiful halls – Main Stage; Communications and Collaboration; Reward, Wellbeing, Diversity & Inclusion; Strategy & Leadership; Organisational Culture. Attendees will be able to move around, selecting the stages that are most relevant to their roles.

THE CURRENT STATE OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

The event will begin with a presentation by Engage For Success, where Sarah Pass and James Court-Smith will reveal the findings of the 2023 Engage For Success (EFS) UK Engagement Survey.

According to the speakers, the survey uncovered that engagement levels still lag significantly behind pre-pandemic levels, with no change in the EFS engagement index. While the findings are stark, the data does highlight variations in engagement levels and presents key areas for action. A key observation is the need to push the people issues up the agenda. Find out more about variations in organisational size and sector, the impact of hybrid working as well as health and wellbeing on engagement in this not-to-miss session.

CELEBRITY HEADLINER

We are excited to reveal that actress, comedian, mental health campaigner and award-winning author Ruby Wax OBE will also take the stage on the 1^st of May, leading a talk titled ‘How to De-Frazzle in a Chaotic World’. As one of the most highly regarded mental health speakers in the industry, Ruby will be sharing her insights on how to deal with stress, improve wellbeing and mental health, and become the driver – not the driven – when it comes to matters of the mind.

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX TO SKYROCKET ENGAGEMENT

The day will be jam packed with case studies presented by industry-leading brands, showcasing how they are staying ahead of the competition and equipping you with the tools you need to follow in their footsteps.

USING VIDEO TO ENGAGE EMPLOYEES

One of our most highly anticipated presentations will be held by Virgin Atlantic, with People Communications Lead Steve Clarke revealing how communications teams are cutting through the noise and ensuring their people are seeing and engaging with important messages.

Titled ‘Navigating the Social Workplace: The Rise of Video to Superpower Engagement’, Steve’s presentation will explore how Virgin Atlantic’s communications team has evolved its approach and skillset to focus on mobile first, video storytelling and live events. Steve will also share how the team brought the Virgin Atlantic leadership team along for the ride and the positive impact this is having on engagement and happiness.

SELF-EMPOWERMENT AS A WELLBEING STRATEGY

Another case study that is certainly not-to-be-missed will rethink wellbeing, with Lipsy London’s Group Culture & Communications Manager Anaïs Nebel revealing how the Fashion brand added self-empowerment to their Wellbeing strategy.

“Body image is a huge issue in today’s society, with a whopping 91% of women saying that they are unhappy with the way they look and Facetune (the number on editing app) being downloaded over 200 million times globally,” Anaïs shared when giving us a sneak preview of her session.

Considering these stark statistics, organisations should be doing more to make sure their people feel empowered, supported, and cared for – especially in the fashion industry. During her talk, Anaïs will reveal how Lipsy London launched a 4-day self-portrait event that increased employees’ feelings of self-empowerment by 40%.

KEEPING YOUR PEOPLE INFORMED

Many organisations today are struggling to keep their people informed. To address this and present you with solutions, we are delighted to have the UK’s largest employee-owned business – the John Lewis Partnership – take the stage next week.

Henry Elworthy, Channels Lead at the John Lewis Partnership, will explain how the organisation keeps its 70,000 co-owners informed, engaged, and up to date through a period of significant transformation. Specifically, he will reveal how the Partnership doubled the readership of its strategic communications and curated an ecosystem with millions of interactions each year by putting users at the heart of its design. Those attending the Summit will have the chance to get an exclusive preview of the Partnership’s platform.

FIRESIDE CHATS WITH INDUSTRY LEADERS

In addition to case study presentations, the Employee Engagement Summit will feature fireside chats. Some of the HR, People, and Internal Communications professionals who will take part in exclusive interviews include:

• Christina Lewis, Head of Rider Experience at Deliveroo
• John Townsend, Head of Internal Communications at Unicef UK
• Ross Parker, Employee Engagement Manager at Allianz
• And more!

If you are attending the Summit, please note that your ticket guarantees you more than just your entry – it also gives you access to our Engage event app, food prepared by ex-Nobu chef Tom Gore, and our latest issue of the Engage Magazine.