Sunbelt Rentals: The impact of a listening strategy

Outstanding Workplace Award

The team at People Insight are delighted to recognise Sunbelt Rentals with our Outstanding Workplace Award.

We celebrate Sunbelt Rentals for building a consistently positive workplace culture, acting on employee feedback to spark change and achieving an engagement score in the top quartile across all organisations surveyed by People Insight.

This recognition reflects the power of a mature employee listening strategy. Sunbelt Rentals did not simply run a survey and review the results. The organisation used employee feedback to support a major change programme, build trust, improve communication and strengthen retention.

Through People Insight’s employee survey platform, expert consultancy, action planning tools and dashboard reporting, Sunbelt Rentals was able to turn employee feedback into clear evidence for change.

Congratulations Sunbelt Rentals! Find out more here about the Outstanding Workplace Awards for employee engagement.

The challenge

Sunbelt Rentals UK is part of the FTSE100 Ashtead Group plc, the global leader in equipment rental. In the UK, they employ 3,700 people across 190 sites and are the largest specialist provider of rental equipment and managed solutions.

Most recently, Sunbelt Rentals UK has deployed its total solutions service for the Government, setting up over 450 NHS drive-through or walk-in testing centres across the country since the start of the pandemic.

At the same time as delivering operational success, Sunbelt Rentals UK was going through a significant strategic change programme. The business needed to consolidate 20 separate brands, launch a shared vision, mission and values and embed new ways of working across a large, dispersed workforce.

For an organisation of this size and complexity, change could not be delivered through top-down communication alone. Leaders needed to understand how employees felt, where trust needed to be built and what would help people feel connected to the future of the business.

This is where People Insight’s employee surveys helped. The Your Voice survey gave Sunbelt Rentals a clear evidence base for change, helping leaders understand employee sentiment, identify priority areas and act with greater confidence.

Read on to find out how they have improved employee engagement, culture and retention.

Our vision

• Sunbelt Rentals UK’s aim: To own the future of rental by consolidating 20 separate brands under a single umbrella brand and communicating a broader service offering.
• Strategic plan: Project Unify to bring all brands together through operational, cultural and behavioural change.

People Insight’s role was to help Sunbelt Rentals listen carefully throughout that transformation. Using our Pearl™ model, survey expertise and reporting tools, Sunbelt Rentals could measure the cultural factors that mattered most: trust, collaboration, purpose, communication, leadership and belief in action.

Creating change in an established organisation

When Steve Lynas, current UK HR director joined what was then A-Plant, he had an appetite for change. Fundamental strategic change was starting, with a new Group Chief Executive and new CEO, Andy Wright. Their strategy for growth involved consolidating their 20 separate brands under a single umbrella: Sunbelt Rentals UK, in line with the US and Canada operation.

Not only does ‘Sunbelt Rentals UK’ communicate a broader service offering greater than the sum of its parts, but it modernises the brand too.

For the change to succeed internally, employees needed to feel involved, listened to and part of the journey. A rebrand on this scale affects identity, loyalty and everyday ways of working. People needed to understand the reason for change, have space to share concerns and see how their feedback would influence decisions.

People Insight helped Sunbelt Rentals build this listening into the change process, giving leaders clear data and practical insight they could use to shape the next stage of Project Unify.

Meeting the challenge

Internally, this was going to be a challenge.

And so began Project Unify, a year-long plan to bring brands and people together, so that Sunbelt could deliver the collaborative, total service offering that leaders envisaged.

Steve was clear on the ingredients for success.

That approach is a strong example of how employee listening can support change. Rather than assuming what employees needed, Sunbelt Rentals used survey feedback, focus groups and action planning to understand the real barriers to collaboration and trust.

Leadership focus groups

Project Unify and Sunbelt’s listening journey

The first step in an ongoing programme of dialogue was to talk with customers and listen to all staff via an employee survey.

Steve chose People Insight for the survey because we were clearly aligned to the direction of travel and journey that Sunbelt Rentals was on. Our Pearl™ model of engagement fitted extremely well with the desired culture and values for the business moving forward.

The Your Voice survey programme started with leader focus groups. These helped shape the question set, build buy-in and make leaders feel more connected to the process from the beginning.

People Insight’s approach helped Sunbelt Rentals move from listening as a one-off exercise to listening as part of change management. The survey was not separate from Project Unify. It provided the evidence, focus and accountability needed to make change happen.

Change at all levels

Your Voice

Survey feedback provided the evidence needed for the change programme ahead and leaders committed to act.

“Looking at the results, we had some work to do around trust and only 30% of employees believed we’d act on the results,” said Steve. “However, overall engagement was pretty good (74%) with a lot of positivity about relationships, individual roles, pride in their work and the heritage brands. The results clearly supported the narrative that we needed; requests for more joined up, collaborative working, to feel more connected and valued, and to improve development and reward.”

The results gave Sunbelt Rentals exactly what it needed: a clear picture of the current employee experience and an evidence base for the change programme ahead.

People Insight’s reporting helped leaders understand where the organisation was starting from. Engagement was strong, but trust in action was low. Employees cared about the business and felt pride in their work, but wanted greater connection, collaboration and development.

That combination of strengths and gaps helped Sunbelt Rentals avoid generic change messaging. Instead, leaders could speak directly to what employees had said and focus action where it would matter most.

Steve presented the results to the executive team and regional directors, linking the results to the priority areas identified in the early focus groups.

It wasn’t just this audience that heard the message about taking action. Each employee received a personal letter committing the senior team to act on the survey results.

A pivotal step in the journey was a series of regional roadshows, all about listening, collaboration and involvement. They included:

1. The Sunbelt Rentals rebrand: why it was happening and why it justified moving away from heritage brands that divisions had been wedded to for decades. Your Voice feedback provided the evidence from employees that they wanted a more collaborative, joined-up approach.
2. Workshops to enable everyone to input into the vision, mission and values of the new brand.
3. Regional action planning from the results of the Your Voice survey, led by Regional Directors.

This is what made the survey valuable. It did not stop at insight. It created a shared platform for action, communication and leadership accountability.

Walking the talk: Leaders made change happen as a result of the Your Voice survey

The intention of leaders to make change happen was real.

At the same time as working on the rebrand, vision, mission and values, Steve’s team followed through, launching a broad range of initiatives:

• The Academy: an improved online training platform and one-stop shop for all training and identifying future career aspirations
• A revamped recruitment strategy and Aspire, a new recruitment platform to streamline the recruitment process. The HR Recruitment Team won Gold at the In-house Recruitment Awards as a result
• Long service awards and the Hall of Fame Awards to recognise individuals who have gone above and beyond in demonstrating and living the Sunbelt values
• An extensive job role and pay evaluation grading project, with a multi-million pound investment
• ‘You said, We did’ communications, sharing progress on Your Voice actions achieved and what was yet to come

These actions directly addressed themes identified in the survey, including development, reward, recognition, communication and connection.

People Insight’s action planning tools helped Sunbelt Rentals move from commitment to delivery. By tracking actions online and keeping progress visible, leaders could show employees that feedback had not disappeared into a report.

This visibility was critical. When only 30% of employees initially believed action would follow the survey, Sunbelt Rentals needed to rebuild trust through proof. Clear action, repeated communication and regional ownership helped make that happen.

Then, Covid arrived

“A few weeks later and we wouldn’t have been able to come together. Thanks goodness we did – the mood was so positive. All the work we’d done through Project Unify – listening, pulling together under one shared vision, meant that trusting people to work from home flexibly was a given.”

Steve Lynas, UK HR director

Timing is everything: Launching a new brand on the cusp of Covid

A year’s tireless work in listening, collaborating and refining the new brand, vision, mission and values culminated in the internal brand launch conference with 850 leaders and depot managers.

After a thrilling day, the emotional finale was a long service awards ceremony. Many employees were recognised for 10, 20, 30 and even 40 years of service, with one employee amazingly having achieved 50 years.

No sooner was the conference over than the dramatic events of a national lockdown unfolded. It wasn’t long before the ability of Sunbelt to deliver a total service solution was tested.

“On the evening of 25 March 2020, we were asked to provide equipment and expertise to create two NHS drive-through testing centres. We used all of our in-house capability to turn around the request within 24 hours. Now we are delivering 20-30 testing sites per week, and each month we provide after care services and more than 200,000 litres of fuel to keep the sites running.

“The change in behaviour driven by Project Unify meant we could pull together across divisions, win the business and deliver in record time. It’s fair to say everyone at Sunbelt takes huge pride in playing a part in the national response to the ongoing pandemic.”

Project Unify had already strengthened collaboration, shared purpose and trust. Those cultural shifts mattered when the organisation suddenly had to respond to urgent national need.

For People Insight, this case study shows why employee listening is not just about engagement scores. It helps organisations build the habits and behaviours needed to respond to change: collaboration, clarity, trust and shared purpose.

Full support from People Insight

The next Your Voice survey programme was more in depth

With the rebrand launched, and now the new Covid-related challenges, Steve and his team were once again keen to listen to all employees with the Your Voice survey.

This time they expanded the range of services from People Insight:

1. A revised question set developed by one of our psychologists. It not only tracked progress, but also monitored the impact of Covid, lockdown and the actions Sunbelt had taken during the early stages of the pandemic.
2. People Insight’s survey results dashboard with iDeck. The dashboard gave leaders access to their personalised results, while the iDeck provided instant PowerPoint results presentations for depot managers.

“We all love the iDeck – it is a brilliant tool for sharing results rapidly around the organisation in a really accessible way,” said Steve.

1. Executive team results and analysis presentation. Our consultant provided practical solutions to the challenges they faced, informed by the knowledge built up about Sunbelt’s specific issues and knowledge of the construction industry more broadly.
2. Train the Trainer action planning workshops for HR Business Partners, equipping them to work with their regions on a consistent, best practice approach to action planning.
3. Online action planning on the People Insight dashboard. There were over 300 active action plans on the system which were easy to track and follow up.

This expanded programme shows the strength of People Insight’s platform and service model. Sunbelt Rentals had access to clear dashboards, rapid results presentations, expert analysis, action planning workshops and online tracking. The technology made results accessible. The consultancy helped leaders understand what to do with them.

For a large construction and engineering organisation with hundreds of sites and thousands of employees, that combination was essential. Leaders needed insight they could trust, but managers also needed practical tools to share results and act locally.

The Feel-Good Factor is back

“Since the last survey we’ve had better interaction and communication from the Exec Team and a much clearer vision as to what the company want to achieve. The feel-good factor is back – doing right by our people and our customers is having a really positive effect!”

Comment from survey participant

Your Voice survey results show the dramatic impact of Project Unify

Steve and his team were absolutely thrilled with the Your Voice survey results. They had come a long way to achieving the goals they had set: to break down barriers, improve collaboration and communication, help employees feel valued and unite people under one vision.

The results dashboard showed that engagement was up by 6% in one year, a significant achievement in any organisation. Data algorithms showed that this increase was driven by improvements in purpose, vision and action.

What’s more, the operational, cultural and behavioural improvements meant employee turnover reduced from 22% to 14%. The proportion of operational employees with more than one year’s service increased from 75% to 85%.

Said Steve:

“I’m thrilled with the employee retention metrics. Our people are more engaged and involved, and we’ve a significant saving in terms of lost training, skill and expertise. Due to our ongoing growth, we have 140 vacancies currently, and I’m proud of our improvements in attracting and keeping talented staff.”

These results show the commercial value of a strong employee listening strategy. Survey feedback helped Sunbelt Rentals focus action on the issues that mattered, while People Insight’s dashboard and consultancy support helped leaders understand what was driving change.

The improvements were not limited to engagement. They connected directly to retention, collaboration, culture and operational performance.

Of course, the journey is not over yet. The latest Your Voice survey results identify the next areas of focus.

“We’ve just launched an exciting leadership programme to help us create a world class group of leaders who can help us to deliver our vision of ‘owning the future of rental’. External recruitment has been successful this year due to our attractive proposition – now we must focus on succession and developing our talent internally.”

Steve’s tips for delivering change successfully

1. Listen, listen and listen again

We all know change can’t be ‘done to’ people. Invest the time in listening to every group of employees via surveys, workshops, focus groups and conversations as often as possible.

For organisations going through change, regular listening helps leaders understand what employees are experiencing, where resistance may be building and what people need in order to move forward.

People Insight supports this through employee listening programmes that combine surveys, dashboards, consultancy and action planning.

2. Involve, involve, involve

The first set of values leaders come up with are never the finished article. All employee groups have a role to play in inputting and evaluating. You get a much better result when everyone plays their part and feels a sense of ownership in the values you finally agree on.

Sunbelt Rentals’ experience shows that involvement is not a soft extra. It is a practical part of successful change. By involving leaders, managers and employees in survey design, results discussion and action planning, the business created stronger ownership.

3. Action is everything

Remind your people what you said you’d do, what you’ve done and what you’ve still got to action at every opportunity. People forget quickly amongst the melee of everyday tasks and lose trust if you aren’t transparent.

This is exactly why People Insight puts such a strong focus on turning survey results into action. A survey only builds trust when employees can see that feedback has been heard and followed up.

Clear dashboards, online action planning and survey communications help organisations keep that progress visible.

4. Go all out on merchandise

Launching a new company brand means changing everything from trucks to stationery to websites. Give your people the tools to help you and you’ll find they are re-labelling everything that stands still with great enthusiasm.

For Sunbelt Rentals, the rebrand became more than a visual identity change. It became a shared cultural moment, supported by employee feedback, regional roadshows and a clear listening strategy.

Your Voice survey results show the dramatic impact of Project Unify

Steve and his team were absolutely thrilled with the Your Voice survey results. They had come a long way to achieving the goals they had set: to break down barriers, improve collaboration and communication, help employees feel valued and united under one vision.

“Since the last survey we’ve had better interaction and communication from the Exec Team and a much clearer vision as to what the company want to achieve. The feel-good factor is back – doing right by our people and our customers is having a really positive effect!”

Comment from survey participant.

The results dashboard showed that engagement was up by 6% in one year, a significant achievement in any organisation. Data algorithms showed that this increase was driven by the improvements in purpose, vision and action.

What’s more, the operational, cultural and behavioural improvements meant employee turnover reduced from 22% to 14%. The proportion of operational employees with more than one year’s service increased from 75% to 85%.

Said Steve:

“I’m thrilled with the employee retention metrics. Our people are more engaged and involved, and we’ve a significant saving in terms of lost training, skill and expertise. Due to our ongoing growth, we have 140 vacancies currently, and I’m proud of our improvements in attracting and keeping talented staff.”

Of course, the journey is not over yet. The latest Your Voice survey results identify the next areas of focus.

“We’ve just launched an exciting leadership programme to help us create a world class group of leaders who can help us to deliver our vision of ‘owning the future of rental’. External recruitment has been successful this year due to our attractive proposition – now we must focus on succession and developing our talent internally.”

Finally, Steve; what’s it been like to work with People Insight?

Anecdotal feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with comments like:

“We have built up a great relationship with everyone we work with at People Insight. They really are experts at understanding the whole employee survey journey, and how to maximise the benefits of carrying surveys out.”

Steve Lynas, UK HR director – Sunbelt Rentals UK

Start your employee listening journey

Sunbelt Rentals’ story shows what happens when employee listening is embedded into change, not added afterwards.

People Insight helped Sunbelt Rentals gather the right feedback, understand what employees needed, involve leaders in the process and turn insight into action. Through surveys, dashboards, iDeck, consultancy, workshops and online action planning, Sunbelt Rentals could connect feedback with meaningful change across a large, complex organisation.

If you are planning a major change programme, refreshing your values, improving retention or trying to build stronger trust in leadership, People Insight can help.

We can support you with:

• Employee surveys
• Employee engagement surveys
• Change-focused listening programmes
• Survey dashboards and reporting
• iDeck results presentations
• Pearl™ engagement framework
• Consultancy and results interpretation
• Action planning workshops
• Online action planning
• Employee survey communications
• Construction and engineering employee surveys
• Employee listening strategy

With the right platform and expert support, employee feedback can become the evidence base for lasting change.

Ready to get more from your employee listening?

Speak to our team

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