March 2021 will mark the one-year anniversary of the UK entering its first national lockdown. It’s been a challenging 12 months, but we’re continuously proud of our people for showing great courage and resilience. Switching to remote working meant that we had to adapt to new routines, new ways of working and supporting each other.
Becky Hegarty, Employee Relations Consultant at AXA Insurance, started studying a Level 5 CIPD apprenticeship at the start of the pandemic. Forming new friendships with her fellow apprentices - Beth and Laura - they motivated and supported each other through an unsettling time.
Dawn Simpson, Deputy Chair of the AXA Balance employee resource group (ERG), set up a Home School Hub to support her colleagues navigating home schooling and work. Containing helpful resources to support learning at all ages and a joint community for people to ask questions.
In and amongst our busy day-to-day lives, it’s easy to forget that you also need to look after you and your wellbeing. That’s why we are proud of our people for taking the time to invest in themselves. Whether it be looking for support through our Wellbeing Hub, attending virtual health and wellbeing sessions, to downloading our Doctor@Hand app with 4,400 new registrations, and 500 over 40s signing-up for Health Checks. And for those that needed it, we’ve given employees up to 29 days emergency leave to support their loved ones.
Supporting our customers
Over the last year, we’ve taken a number of steps across our product lines to support our customers.
Flexible repayment options for customers experiencing financial difficulty
Extended cover for travel customers trying to get back to the UK
Enhanced cover for motor customers and waved cancellation fees
Automatically updated home policies to cover customers working from home
“Throughout the pandemic, every single employee has gone the extra mile, doing what needs to be done for our customers and members. As a way of saying thank you, we’re giving all employees a thank you day to rest, relax, or do what they would like.”
Volunteering and supporting the community
The drive of our people to support others and make a difference stretched beyond co-workers and customers to the wider community. Some of our employees used paid volunteering leave in the pandemic, and they spent 1,154 hours volunteering to support a number of charities in a variety of ways.
Supported MHA to keep elderly care residents connected with the outside world with phone calls
Offered advice and training on Diversity and Inclusion to The Green House charity
Developed an app for Safer Wales to improve support for domestic abuse victims
Supported 126 students from St Richards Catholic College to conduct mock interviews
Business in the Community
We partnered with Business in the Community to found the National Business Response Network to help match communities in need of help with businesses that can offer support. The network continues to face a high demand for support and focusses on four key areas: food, community care, technology and small businesses, to help communities navigate their way through the coronavirus pandemic. Since launching, the National Business Response Network has enabled over 2,000 matches. Making a difference to people’s lives, take a look at some of the inspiring stories.
