{"id":11763,"date":"2020-10-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scouttalent.com\/blog\/employee-engagement-secrets-revealed\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T22:57:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T22:57:55","slug":"employee-engagement-secrets-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scouttalent.com\/ca\/blog\/employee-engagement-secrets-revealed\/","title":{"rendered":"Employee Engagement Secrets Revealed: An Interview with Andrea Davey, CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week we spoke with Scout Talent\u2019s CEO, Andrea Davey. Andrea spoke about Scout\u2019s unique employee engagement strategies, from creating opportunities to socialize outside of work to career progression and obtaining employee feedback on a regular basis.<\/em><\/p>\n

As CEO, Davey is responsible for overseeing strategy, operations, people and resources for the Scout Talent Group. Her primary goal is to increase stakeholder value by leading and executing the organization\u2019s strategy. Davey is determined to lead Scout Talent Group towards a successful IPO by 2023-24.<\/p>\n

Being active in the recruitment and talent space, Davey shared some invaluable strategies about engagement and building a positive employee experience.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s set the scene. Why does employee engagement matter? What does employee engagement mean to Scout Talent Group? \u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On an individual level, most of us spend at least 40 hours a week (25% of our lives!) at work. So it\u2019s important we\u2019re enjoying the time we spend there. That\u2019s not to say work has to be happy and fun all the time. It\u2019s that you have to find it fulfilling and believe it\u2019s a valuable use of your life.<\/p>\n

From a company perspective, it doesn\u2019t matter what the economic climate is like; whether there\u2019s a high or low unemployment rates, whether we\u2019re in an employer-driven or candidate-driven market. You\u2019re not going to grow and succeed in business without the right people working for you and loving their job. What matters is who you have on your team and their level of buy-in. If they\u2019re not engaged, it\u2019s going to hold your organisation back.<\/p>\n

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At Scout Talent Group, I want people in the business who\u00a0want<\/em>\u00a0to be here. Broadly speaking, that means they enjoy their work and find it fulfilling. I want that for them, because I care about them as individuals. Also, to get to where we want to go as a business [leading Scout Talent Group to successful IPO by 2023-24], we need high levels of engagement to achieve that.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEmployee engagement isn\u2019t a one-time, \u201cset and forget\u201d thing.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

How do in-person, non-work-related opportunities to socialize contribute to your company culture?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

At the end of every quarter, everyone from our offices comes together to celebrate and recognize each other\u2019s successes at our \u201cQuarterpalooza\u201d events. These awards nights are a great way for our people to relax and socialize. It\u2019s an opportunity to enjoy speeches, trophies, drinks, and dancing at a great venue. We\u2019ve had some great themes so far, from heroes and villains to activewear, and we usually top it off with something fun, like costume prizes or auctions.<\/p>\n

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Scout Talent Vancouver team at Quarterpalooza event<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

These events are just one of the mechanisms we put in place to contribute to our culture. It\u2019s an opportunity to reward and recognise our people for their hard work, in a setting that\u2019s different to the office during the day. We try to incorporate an activity into these events, so it\u2019s not \u201cjust\u201d drinking at a bar. It\u2019s an opportunity to socialise, engage in team building, and collaborate with people in the business you may not ordinarily spend time with.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity to reward and recognise our people for their hard work, in a setting that\u2019s different to the office during the day.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Awards are a central component of these events. It not only allows the business to recognize our team members\u2019 outstanding achievements, but for them to be recognized in front of their peers.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re a proponent of an Australian charity, Healthy Workplaces. Tell us about Healthy Workplaces and the benefits you\u2019ve seen from offering corporate wellness initiatives.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Wellness is one of our core group values, so it starts there. We live this, promote it and bring it to life by promoting it to our current team members, candidates and clients.<\/p>\n

Wellbeing sits alongside our other values, such as innovation and respect. It\u2019s crucial.<\/p>\n

One of the ways we bring it to life is through Healthy Workplaces, Scout Talent Group\u2019s registered charity and corporate wellness arm. We choose to invest in this charity and its initiatives because we want our people to be\u00a0active and experience wellbeing<\/a>. We also want to extend our reach to positively impact other Australian and overseas organizations.<\/p>\n

Healthy Workplace\u2019s signature corporate wellness events include\u00a0Tour de Office<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Step Forward<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

Andrea Davey CEO Scout Talent Group participating in Tour de Office cycling event<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

When you\u2019re physically and mentally well, you\u2019re able to be your best, professionally and personally. Given you spend such a huge percentage of time at work, giving people the opportunity to be active at work is a great investment.<\/p>\n

I think my passion for health and fitness stems from my early days as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor.<\/p>\n

With disruptions from the global pandemic this year, including working from home, what did Scout Talent Group do to adapt when you couldn\u2019t meet in person?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Moving to work from home in such a short time presented a number of challenges. Everyone was so stressed and there were so many unknowns: we were dealing with a big life-changing event. We needed to think about new ways to keep engagement levels high during that period, keeping people feeling connected and giving them the support they needed through their leaders and peers.<\/p>\n

So, we conducted a virtual Quarterpalooza event with games, costumes, awards, prizes, and drinks deliveries. We arranged optional team building and socializing events outside of work hours. Also, we implemented daily, virtual \u201cAll Hands Call\u201d meetings. That\u2019s something that was exciting for me because people loved it so much and we\u2019ve kept them in place, even after many of our team members returned to the office.<\/p>\n

Excitingly, Healthy Workplaces also launched\u00a0Step Forward, a free mobile app<\/a>\u00a0that encourages people to achieve the recommended 10,000 steps per day. We had prizes and weekly challenges, which was a great way to keep people feeling connected and active during what has been a challenging time.<\/p>\n

One of Scout Talent Group\u2019s values is ownership. How do you give your team members more autonomy and ownership?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

At Scout Talent Group, we have leaders, not managers. Leadership comes with responsibility, but it\u2019s the opportunity for them to \u201crun their own business within the business.\u201d We give them the tools and training they need to succeed, including results-based incentives, running a P&L statement, and making decisions without bureaucratic sign off processes.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re also rolling out Scout Talent Group share options to senior leaders and will filter that throughout our organization, so people can gain a real share in the business.<\/p>\n

We offer people the opportunity to engage in directorships, or \u201cpassion projects.\u201d These exist outside of day-to-day work and give people the opportunity to expand their skills in other areas. In addition, we offer a Future Leader training program and promote from within wherever possible.<\/p>\n

How do you conduct performance reviews?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

So much can happen in a year. Our business moves fast and we\u2019re growing quickly. Not to mention the business world moves quickly too; so it baffles me if a team member only had the opportunity to meet with their leader once every 6 or 12 months for feedback. Our team members have one-to-one meetings every month, so people have that opportunity for regular, two-way communication. It\u2019s not just a leader \u201ctelling you what to do\u201d; people can share their ideas and provide feedback on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

Final question: employee engagement surveys. Overrated, or underrated?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When administered well with your end goals in mind, they\u2019re a really valuable tool. Some people might think they\u2019re overrated, because if it\u2019s something you do to tick a box, then put the results in a drawer and not think about them again until the following year, it can feel like an overrated tool. But I\u2019ve seen them used brilliantly by organizations to effect positive change, and that\u2019s helped them get to the next level.<\/p>\n

In our business, we conduct employee engagement surveys each year and work hard to implement positive change. We share the results at our quarterly Town Hall meetings. During these meetings, we talk about our business strategy, connect people to our purpose and provide an open forum for questions.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to see how Scout Talent can help you to achieve the recruitment success that you want, please feel free to reach out to us via email at hello@scouttalent.ca or by phone at 1 866 474 3140.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week we spoke with Scout Talent’s CEO, Andrea Davey. Andrea spoke about Scout’s unique employee engagement strategies, from creating opportunities to socialize outside of work to career progression and obtaining employee feedback on a regular basis. As CEO, Davey is responsible for overseeing strategy, operations, people and resources for the Scout Talent Group. Her<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14597,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[374,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-recruitment-technology"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t