Virgin Media was created from the merger of NTL, Telewest and Richard Branson’s Virgin Mobile and is a part of Liberty Global plc, the world’s largest international cable company. In the UK, Virgin Media is the first ‘quad play’ provider, meaning that they provide broadband, TV, mobile phone and home phone services. The company has invested over £13 billion and owns the UK’s largest fibre optic network, making it the biggest privately built network. In the first quarter of 2013 Virgin Media had 4.49 million broadband subscribers.
As a forward thinking company Virgin Media is at the forefront of digital technology, with its engineers researching the technologies that could be possible 20 years into the future. As well as investing in new technology Virgin Media continually invests in the people who work for the company, maintaining Richard Branson’s philosophy that engaged and motivated employees lead to happy customers, which in turn leads to shareholder gain.
‘Great people, connected to delighted customers, connected to great business results.’
Career opportunities at Virgin Media
- Serve which includes roles in customer support and service technicians.
- Growth which includes sales and retail.
- Support which includes roles in finance and health and safety.
Balancing business needs with the needs of its employees is achieved through the company’s commitment to creating a fun environment for its employees whilst they develop their careers.
‘Being Virgin Media means we don’t just want to be proud of what we do, we also want to love how we do it.’
The company’s values – Insatiable Curiosity, Heartfelt Service, Delightfully Surprising, Red Hot, Smart Disruption and Straight Up – championed by the company’s Chief Values Officer, Red, act as a ‘red thread’, underpinning the company’s story and guiding decision making. This case study shows how Virgin Media understands the impact motivated and engaged employees have on its business’ performance.
As individuals we are all different and therefore are motivated by different factors at work. Virgin Media considers the welfare of its employees a priority and understands that engaging and motivating its people benefits its customers, the business and also the individuals involved. Virgin Media has also worked to understand the key drivers of engagement for its people; those areas which have the greatest engagement impact. This has lead to targeted engagement practices business wide.
‘It is impossible to win the loyalty of customers without first winning the loyalty of employees.’
Customer satisfaction
The following sections explore some of the key theorists who have contributed to our understanding of motivation in the workplace.
Although we can still find evidence of Taylor’s scientific management, his approach was widely criticised for discounting the human element and behaviour in the workplace. Although money is still an influencing factor in motivating people at work, individual differences mean that we are motivated by other factors in the workplace as well as money.
‘Six months after gaining my apprenticeship I moved up to a new role. I think this shows how the company is supporting my ambitions.’
Elton Mayo
In this way, Virgin Media’s approach to engaging with its employees is more in line with the human relations theorists who had opposing views to that of Taylor. One theorist whose studies became influential is Elton Mayo who carried out research at the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric company in Chicago in the 1930s. The research was intended to find the optimum level of lighting needed at the plant to maximise productivity. However, Mayo found that productivity increased amongst the workers whether the lighting was increased or decreased. He realised that it was the attention the workers were receiving during the research that was affecting their performance. Mayo’s research concluded that motivating factors include recognition, a sense of belonging and involvement, as well as social aspects of the workplace.
‘Within a large organisation it is important to create a culture where everyone feels they can be heard, not just about the big things but about the everyday things that make the working environment a great place to be.’
In 2009 Virgin Media introduced a fleet of fun, movie themed super-vans. The new vans were inspired by vehicles used in films including Thunderbirds, Disney’s Herbie and The A-Team. The vans were specially designed for the company’s top performing engineers as a reward for consistently delivering exceptional customer service.
Virgin Media has a variety of programmes that support this theory. Its established apprenticeship scheme recruits apprentices based on their behaviour as well as their ability, looking for people that show potential as it offers successful candidates mentoring, coaching and training. The company recently opened a new office in Birmingham where all apprentices are trained.
Training and development
Within Virgin Media, support, training and development is an ongoing process for all employees. For its field based staff, the company has an online portal, IGNITE, which can be accessed remotely from home. This forms a training record for colleagues including apprentices.
‘The ability to login from home provides an engagement factor through personal development opportunities which would otherwise be either costly or logistically impossible.’
Another example of recognition at Virgin Media is its annual apprentice graduation. The event is an opportunity to celebrate the hard work of the apprentices as they successfully complete their training programme and progress their career with Virgin Media.
Although Maslow’s theory has been widely criticised, because he believed that one set of needs had to be satisfied before moving on to the next, it has nonetheless contributed to the understanding of motivation in the workplace.
Involving and listening to employees views is essential in creating a sense of belonging to the company. Using its annual employee engagement survey, Virgin Media values have been developed with employee input. Each year, an employee opinion survey asks all employees to answer questions from categories such as training, development and career, strategy and way of working. In this way everyone at Virgin Media is able to contribute to making the company a place in which they all love to work. The company has seen year on year improvement with the 2012 results showing 82% of Virgin Media’s workforce is engaged.
Career progression
‘First, it’s not all about the job. Second, you’re really well looked after. Third, Virgin Media are genuinely interested in your future development.’
Virgin Media has a culture of ‘doing the right thing’ and believes that creating a fun workplace where people feel happy makes for a better business. Its commitment to corporate social responsibility ensures its employees have access to opportunities to meet their self-actualisation needs. For example, each year a day is dedicated to raising money for charity.
Understanding the factors that motivate employees helps a business to determine the ways in which it should engage with its people. Valuing their views and opinions, providing opportunities for training and career progression, as well providing a great environment to work in are all motivating factors. The level of motivation and satisfaction amongst employees can have a direct impact on meeting and exceeding customer expectations and overall business performance. Virgin Media’s engaged employees are committed to the company’s values and to providing excellent service to its customers.
