Employee engagement

Our aim as a business is to be an inclusive employer of choice. The successful engagement of our employees is not only critical to us achieving this aim but also in ensuring the overall success of the business.

Excellent colleague communication continues to be a key area of focus. We have a framework of internal communication channels which seek to inform, engage and inspire individuals on matters of potential interest to them alongside wider business performance.

We encourage the engagement of every colleague to ensure the delivery of an outstanding service to our customers. This is achieved through a number of tools including business update sessions run by our CEO, functional forums, regular structured meetings, focus groups, informal review meetings and employee surveys. These methods, along with individual one-to-one discussions, provide opportunities for individuals to engage in two-way dialogue covering topics such as the overall well-being of our employees in addition to business and personal performance.

The Group-wide implementation of Microsoft Teams has improved the level of connectivity across the business. Platforms such as this, along with tools such as Yammer, will enable us, to continue to widen our feedback and engagement channels.

Employee Wellbeing

Inspiring and enabling our colleagues to fulfil their potential starts with supporting their overall well-being. We are passionate about creating a culture where all our colleagues feel able to seek support and have access to helpful resources. Throughout the year we raised awareness of mental ill health and encouraged all our colleagues to understand that mental health is an issue for everyone.

Guides, support tools and online training have been made available to all employees with the aim of creating a healthy, supportive working environment. A full Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is available 24 hours a day to all our colleagues with Mental Health First Aiders available for support in the workplace.

As a Group we understand how important a healthy home life is to an individual’s well-being. Flexible working practices, including hybrid working, are adopted whenever possible to support the ability of employees to manage the demands of both work and home.

Gender Pay Gap

Macfarlane Group, as in previous years, reported its Gender Pay Gap information for the snapshot date 5 April 2021. The report showed men’s mean hourly rate to be 2.4% higher than women’s and women’s median hourly rate to be 12.1% higher than men. The median pay gap is reflective of the number of women employed in the sales function, where their pay is impacted by the ability to earn bonus in a set period. This result is also influenced by the fact that the lower earning band of employees in production and logistics is predominantly male.

These results do however change when reviewing the mean pay gap information. This is reflective of the demographics of the Senior Executive team and those Printers (typically male) employed in Macfarlane Labels (sold in December 2021) as skilled professionals, who receive competitive basic pay and a full shift system, offering a significant uplift on standard hourly rates. It is worth noting that the mean bonus pay gap for 2021 was 16.1% higher for females, whereas in previous years the gap was 46%. This shift is reflective of the bonus scheme paid within the relevant period, being adopted to deal with the impact of Covid-19, with all employees being placed on a same scheme.

Macfarlane Group is a progressive company operating in a traditionally male oriented sector. We continue to engage in initiatives that promote a career in Logistics and Production to those in under-represented groups, and our focus on this area will enable us to build toward having a more diverse organisation in future years.

Macfarlane Group Gender Pay Gap information can be found on our website (www.macfarlanegroup.com).