Strategic approach to employee experience is more relevant than ever

Ignitis Group has received a certificate from Top Employer Institute, the global authority on recognising excellence in people practices, for the second year in row. Top Employer certificate is very important to the Group as it is the first Lithuanian capital company to receive the prestigious award. According to the Head of Group Organisational Development Živilė Skibarkienė, it is an encouraging feeling to be highly regarded for our clear strategy with direction for employees, exceptional work in recruitment and clear distinction of the competences necessary to reach ambitious goals.

“Even though last year in the energy sector was marked with a feeling of uncertainty and huge challenges, Ignitis Group continued to focus on maintaining good employee experience practices in the workplace and constant growth. Throughout the year, we kept the pace with the unfolding developments in the labour market and put all efforts in prioritising successful employee experience,” stated Head of Group Organisational Development Živilė Skibarkienė.

According to Ž. Skibarkienė, seeking international certification as a Lithuanian capital company was not a coincidence. Some of our employees are working in Latvia, Poland, Finland, and the last couple of years showcased that in order to develop large-scale national renewable energy projects we need to attract competences which we lack in Lithuania, which has led to the need to invest in employer image. Energy professionals are sought after and competed world-wide, therefore, we need to demonstrate that Lithuania has equally good, or even better, working conditions. 

Ensuring successful employee experience at a strategic level

There are many employer awards in the world, however, it is the prestigious Top Employer certificate that allows us to compare with the strongest employers globally and confirms that Ignitis Group employs the highest HR management standards while ensuring good conditions for work and growth.

According to Ž. Skibarkienė, over the last couple of years the Group focused on applying the highest-level standards and internationally recognised personnel management practices. “It was a long road to be recognised by the Top Employer Institute, however, we decided to follow through so we can understand if the result of our every-day efforts is heading in the right direction, and we also wanted to compare against not just the leaders in our country, but the global leaders as well. We did it not just for the recognition, but also to receive feedback and learn where we can improve.

“It is important to us that the strategic approach towards employees, leadership, ability to attract talents and awareness of the competences necessary to reach ambitious goals as well as an ability to bring together the energy community with our energy sector promotion programme #EnergySmartSTART were all evaluated very highly,” stated Živilė Skibarkienė.

A complex assessment

“We wanted to evaluate ourselves, as an employer, and we chose Top Employer Institute because it carries out a complex assessment of multitude of employee experience aspects such as strategy, remuneration, activity management, employee welfare, sustainability, etc. The road towards the award was long with in-depth audit, surveys, examinations, categorising information, showcasing evidence of our activities.

This year we improved in strategic approach towards employee experience as well as in digital HR measures, we grew our understanding of internal career opportunities, improved engagement of employees in parental leave, we highlighted gender balance issues, invested in emotional wellbeing of employees, promoted volunteering efforts, etc.” stated Ž. Skibarkienė.

The Head of Group Organisation Development emphasises that Top Employer certificate is not a one-time award, it is a continuous commitment and promise that Ignitis Group will continue to focus on employee welfare. This international recognition highlighted the Group’s strengths as well as places for improvement. This means that, to maintain the title of a top employer, we will have to improve constantly because our progress will be measured by the certifying organisation every year.

We are proud of our employees, who are devoted, brave, curious. They are the ones behind the successful future of our company. That’s why our employees’ experience, measured using eNPS (employee net promoter score), is just as important as the Top Employer certificate. We are happy that since 2019 it grew from 9% to now 60%.

Top Employers Institute is the global authority on recognising excellence in people practices. The programme has certified and recognised more than 1,800 top employers in 123 countries. The certificates are issued to companies after carrying out an independent evaluation of 20 HR domains consisting of 20 topics including People Strategy, Work Environment, Talent Acquisition, Learning, Well-being, and Diversity & Inclusion and more.

Ignitis Group employs around 4,000 employees in Lithuania.