PRS for Music: Creating a chart-topping engagement strategy

Who are PRS for Music?

PRS for Music is a membership company dedicated to ensuring that its members receive royalties when their musical works are broadcast, performed in public, or streamed.

Internally, PRS for Music places a strong emphasis on fostering a positive employee experience aligned with its core values: Customer-first, Integrity, Pioneering, Collaboration and Inclusivity.

For the past six years, PRS for Music has partnered with People Insight to elevate its employee engagement initiatives and create a more transparent and inclusive workplace culture, leading to an award-winning survey programme.

Through People Insight’s employee survey platform, benchmarking, expert consultancy and action-planning support, PRS for Music has been able to measure engagement, understand changing employee sentiment and focus action where it will have the greatest impact.

The result is a mature employee listening programme that gives employees a clear voice and gives leaders the insight they need to keep improving.

Starting the journey

Before embarking on their journey with People Insight, PRS for Music had a strong commitment to giving employees a voice but lacked a formal employee survey plan.

Despite not having a structured approach, PRS for Music actively incorporated its core values into various aspects of the employee experience, from recruitment and onboarding to development and performance reviews.

However, without a systematic method for gathering feedback, the organisation faced challenges in identifying areas for improvement and tracking progress over time.

Recognising the importance of proactive action, PRS for Music sought a strategic partnership with People Insight to develop a comprehensive employee engagement strategy and leverage data-driven insights to drive positive change.

People Insight helped PRS for Music move from informal listening to a more structured, measurable and action-focused approach. The platform provided clear reporting and benchmarks, while our expert team supported survey design, interpretation and action planning.

This gave PRS for Music a more reliable way to understand the employee experience and turn feedback into practical improvement.

Making progress

In the first four years of working with People Insight, PRS for Music made significant strides in enhancing the employee experience.

The response rate across the business never dropped below 89% once the partnership began, reflecting strong internal confidence in formalised surveys and showing that colleagues trusted the process as an opportunity to have their say.

Over time, PRS for Music refined its approach to employee engagement, resulting in continued improvements in engagement levels to 82%.

These results show the value of a consistent listening rhythm. PRS for Music was not simply collecting annual scores. It was building a clearer understanding of what employees were experiencing, how sentiment was changing and where leaders should focus next.

People Insight’s survey reporting and benchmarking helped the organisation understand progress in context. This gave leaders a stronger evidence base for decisions and helped the People team keep engagement visible throughout the year.

As PRS for Music prepared for its next survey, the organisation aimed to build on these successes and further elevate employee engagement levels through strategic interventions and targeted action plans.

Challenges and goals

In the wake of its last survey, PRS for Music confronted a challenge: a dip in perceptions surrounding leadership. This aligned with a broader trend observed by People Insight across various sectors in the aftermath of the pandemic and amid economic challenges.

To counter this, PRS for Music initiated focused efforts on bolstering leadership effectiveness and nurturing trust among employees.

Central to this was the introduction of an “ask me anything” series that featured senior stakeholders. This was designed to offer employees insights into leadership perspectives, increase transparency and foster deeper connections between leaders and employees.

People Insight’s benchmarking insights helped PRS for Music understand that the leadership challenge was not isolated. It formed part of a wider pattern across the market. This context helped the organisation respond with focus rather than overreacting or spreading action too thinly.

PRS for Music also prioritised sustaining high employee participation and enthusiasm for the next survey. With an impressive 95% response rate in the previous survey, the organisation aimed to uphold this engagement level through targeted communications, including personalised email reminders and dedicated survey completion slots during meeting-free days.

This combination of insight, communication and action helped PRS for Music protect trust in the survey process while tackling a specific priority area.

Key outcomes

The survey marked a significant milestone for PRS for Music, aligning with its goals of maintaining high engagement levels, fostering broad participation and strengthening leadership perceptions.

Successful Results

The survey achieved exceptional success, with a 95% participation rate reflecting employees’ active involvement in shaping PRS for Music’s future.

The engagement score rose to an impressive 85%, indicating strong positive sentiment and a deep sense of connection among employees.

Most notably, perceptions of leadership improved by 20 percentage points, showing the impact of targeted initiatives in this area.

Outstanding Workplace Award

In recognition of these achievements, PRS for Music was honoured with People Insight’s Outstanding Workplace Award for the first time.

This accolade reflects PRS for Music’s commitment to fostering a culture of engagement, collaboration and success, setting it apart as a leader in employee engagement and organisational excellence.

Results Sharing:

PRS for Music values transparency and embraced this principle when sharing survey results.

The Executive Leadership Team was the first to receive the results, giving senior leaders a clear view of organisational strengths and areas for improvement. Results were then cascaded to the People Leader Group so managers were equipped with the information they needed to engage their teams effectively.

Finally, the results were shared company-wide, fostering a culture of openness and inclusion throughout the organisation.

This is where People Insight’s support becomes especially valuable. Clear survey dashboards help leaders understand the data. Consultancy helps turn results into priorities. Communication helps employees see that feedback has been heard and acted on.

What’s next?

Building upon the achievements of the survey, PRS for Music is committed to continuous improvement by advancing its employee engagement initiatives.

1. Targeted Leadership Development: Since the survey, PRS for Music has further invested in leadership development initiatives by launching 360 feedback assessments in collaboration with People Insight. These assessments provide leaders with valuable insight into their strengths, development areas and leadership impact, helping strengthen leadership effectiveness and organisational performance.Although still in progress at the time of publishing, these initiatives have been well received within the company and are perceived as focused, action-oriented and beneficial for the future.
2. Strengthening Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: In line with its existing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, PRS for Music plans to introduce a bi-annual DE&I survey to complement its existing employee listening strategy.
3. Pulse Surveys and Ongoing Feedback: PRS for Music is considering ways of maintaining the employee feedback loop all year round, potentially through pulse surveys to complement the annual survey programme.

These pulse surveys would allow for more frequent and targeted feedback on specific aspects of the employee experience, enabling PRS for Music to address emerging issues in real time.

People Insight is well placed to support this next stage. Our employee survey platform can help PRS for Music track change over time, while our 360 feedback platform and expert coaching support can help develop stronger leaders. Our consultancy team can also support the organisation with survey design, DE&I listening, action planning and communication.

The aim is not simply to keep collecting feedback. It is to keep strengthening the listening habits that help PRS for Music act with focus and maintain trust.

Get started today

With People Insight as a trusted partner, PRS for Music is well equipped to navigate the evolving landscape of employee engagement and emerge as a beacon of excellence in the music industry and beyond.

Its survey programme is designed to uphold PRS for Music’s commitment to supporting musicians effectively by ensuring an engaged workforce remains at the heart of operations.

People Insight helps organisations build employee listening programmes that go beyond measurement. Our employee survey platform captures feedback and tracks progress. Our benchmarks help organisations understand performance in context. Our consultants help leaders interpret results, prioritise action and communicate change clearly.

We can support you with:

• Employee surveys
• Employee engagement surveys
• Pulse surveys
• Survey dashboards and reporting
• External benchmarking
• Survey communications
• Action planning
• 360 feedback assessments
• Leadership development insight
• DE&I surveys
• Employee listening strategy

Ready to embark on your own journey to workplace excellence? Reach out to us today and start your journey like PRS for Music did.

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