Maltese-owned EC English Language Centres has once again been awarded a coveted one-star accreditation in this year’s Best Companies Survey, achieving the school’s highest score to date since its initial participation in the survey in 2011. The highest possible rating is three stars.
EC’s achievement places the school among global institutions such as Deloitte, Ernst & Young and Kia Motors, and indicates that the company takes employee engagement seriously.
The Best Companies Survey is a recognised measure of employee engagement which aims to foster a happier, healthier, and more motivated workforce. The survey works according to an eight-factor model, with questions carefully devised to reach the core of what people want, need and expect from their professional lives.
The model looks at answers across key areas to provide companies with the information they need to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses. Each area of the survey allows for a more complete and in-depth view of the individual employee experience.
Commenting on this most recent achievement, EC’s CEO Mike Xuereb said: “This is an incredibly proud moment for us at EC. Since opening our doors in 1991, we’ve always made our people our priority – from our staff and teachers to our students and partners. Through the Best Companies Survey, we’re able to listen more closely to what our employees feel about their work experience, finding out what they need from the company to ensure a strong sense of satisfaction in what they do.
This achievement places the school among global institutions
“We use that feedback to build a better company with a workforce that is proud to be a part of EC. The fact that this is our highest survey score to date confirms that we are moving in the right direction.”
The award-winning language school continuously seeks to provide its staff with an engaging work environment. This is an especially remarkable achievement for EC,” said Lucy Barry, EC’s HR director.
“It’s important that we provide the necessary tools and opportunities for our staff to ensure they are engaged. Ultimately our product is our people as their work has a direct impact on the success of our students. Our employees’ well-being is of the utmost importance. Not only do we want to understand what they need to succeed in their roles, but we are also dedicated to acting on the local and global issues that are most important to them. The data we have collected from this year’s survey will guide us in how to continue to build on our staff engagement in the coming year and beyond so that they continue to see EC as a great place to work.”
EC strongly believes in fostering a positive company culture, organising regular team-building events and informal social gatherings to help employees build productive relationships and continuously boost office morale. The company also encourages professional development, offering in-house training and workshops covering a range of skills across different departments.
EC is also actively involved in a number of socially responsible initiatives to give back to the communities where EC schools are located, as well as to the global community. One of the school’s major initiatives includes its collaboration with United World Schools, a respected education charity, to build a school in Ban Houy, Cambodia, to help under-privileged children receive a primary education. EC employees were given the opportunity to travel to Cambodia to work with the students and teachers to ensure the project’s success.