People
Building a safe and inclusive culture
Training our workforce
Throughout 2021, Persimmon delivered c.13,200 training days to employees and the construction Workforce. Persimmon also promoted 177 colleagues from within the business in 2021, continuing our strong history of promoting from within and rewarding hard-working, determined colleagues.
Training days delivered in 2021
over 650 trainees and apprentices in 2021
Persimmon is an accredited National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) assessment centre, a first for a UK housebuilder. As at 31 December 2021, c.90% of our site management team held a relevant NVQ, an increase from 21% at the start of the year. Additionally, the Group has developed structured professional qualification pathways for its sales teams in partnership with the Institute of Sales Professionals (ISP). Moreover, in 2021 Persimmon created a new graduate management scheme, consisting of three females and five males. The graduates will rotate around the key business functions for two years, gaining invaluable experience within various aspects of the business.
Promoting Gender Diversity
| Our Gender Data | 2021 | 2020 | |
| Board | Male | 6 (66%) | 5 (63%) |
| Female | 3 (33%) | 3 (37%) | |
| Senior Executive Committee and direct reports | Male | 51 (72%) | 55 (74%) |
| Female | 20 (28%) | 19 (26%) | |
| All colleagues | Male | 3,793 (73%) | 3,768 (72%) |
| Female | 1,403 (27%) | 1,453 (28%) | |
| Median gender pay gap | 18.1% | 12.7% | |
The median Gender Pay Gap in 2021 for the Group was 18.1% (2020: 12.7%). Consistent with our industry, our median Gender Pay Gap is driven by the composition of our workforce with a higher proportion of men in skilled construction roles (such as bricklaying and site management), the market for which is competitive.
We recognise that there is an under-representation of women and ethnic minority groups, not only in Persimmon, but throughout the industry as a whole. However, the Group is focused on attracting a more diverse workforce across every facet of our operations, which will be driven by our new Director of Talent & Diversity.
In March 2021, the Group set challenging diversity targets aiming to have females comprising 40% of our employees, 35% of our senior management team and 45% of employees in management roles by the end of 2025. To assist with this initiative and to prioritise our D&I Policy, we commissioned a Diversity & Inclusion Review in 2021, which was undertaken by an external consultancy.
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Supporting our colleagues
At 31 December 2021 Persimmon had a total of 193 mental health first aiders, an increase of 109 from 2020. Our mental health first aiders are on hand to provide emotional support to all colleagues, whether it be in person or remotely. 2021 also saw the introduction of a hybrid working policy across the Group, based on suggestions made by the Employee Engagement Panel. The policy enables employees with suitable job roles to work from home up to three days a week.
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Employee Engagement
The results of the YourSay employee engagement survey confirmed that the Group has a healthy engagement with a score of 78%. Highlights from the survey included 85% of colleagues feeling motivated to do their best at work and 90% being committed to the Group and our aims and objectives. Some additional highlights of the YourSay survey included a 15% increase in the amount of employees who believe we provide a good service to customers prior to the handover of their home, when compared to 2020.
Internal communications and ensuring all colleagues are aware of the support available to them were recognised as areas in which improvements could be made. As such, an Internal Communications Manager was hired in 2021. Finally, the Group’s employee engagement panel meets quarterly and comprises a broad cross-section of employees from all areas of the Group’s operations and has become an established route for employees’ ideas and input to be discussed. All matters raised are considered and feedback is provided and in many cases this has led to revisions to policy.
78%YourSay employee engagement score
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Employee Awards
In 2021, Persimmon launched its inaugural Construction Excellence Awards. In keeping with the Persimmon Way, the awards are based on the following criteria:
- Clear communication to tradespeople
- Inspiring their workforce with a can-do attitude
- Proactive liaison with Independent Quality Controllers (IQCs) and warranty providers
- Build efficiency and quality
- Ongoing personal training and development
- Implementing good practice and safety standards
- Delivering positive customer care and after sales service
Alongside the construction excellence awards, our Health, Safety and Environment awards have also recognised five finalists who achieve excellence in this field.
In addition to our internal awards, two Persimmon site managers won the prestigious NHBC Pride in the Job awards. Judging for the Awards is rigorous, with each of the site managers from a field of more than 10,000 assessed across six key areas: consistency, attention to detail, leadership, interpretation of drawings and specifications, technical expertise, and health and safety.
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Living Wage
In 2021 Persimmon became a Living Wage Employer following accreditation by the Living Wage Foundation. Persimmon took the step of paying its own directly employed staff the Real Living Wage almost three years ago in January 2019, and we have now extended this to include our Subcontractor workers.
“I want all our employees to feel valued and fairly paid for the good work that they do. Paying the real living wage is an excellent way of demonstrating this. I am therefore delighted we have become a Living Wage Foundation accredited employer and joined what is an important campaign.”
Dean Finch
Group Chief Executive
Health & Safety
The wellbeing of our customers, our workforce and our communities remains paramount. We take a proactive and progressive approach to our health and safety strategy and objectives. Investment in training is a key element of mitigating the Group’s health and safety risk. All members of our workforce, including our subcontractors, undergo extensive training to safeguard the wellbeing of everyone that comes onto our sites, into our manufacturing facilities or into our offices.
In 2021, the HS&E Department undertook 5,865 proactive site inspections. They have considerable experience in providing both a proactive advisory and reactive incident led approach to identify and mitigate health and safety risk. We are also working across the industry to help drive up standards in crucial areas.
Targets
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We will create a safe and inclusive culture focused on the wellbeing of our customers, communities and workforce. Recruiting and retaining the right people means we deliver our strategic objectives and provide excellent customer service. It is a priority that our processes meet stringent standards. This significantly reduces risk and meets customer expectations for quality and value.
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SDG alignment
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| Material issue | Target | How we will achieve it | Progress | Update and next steps |
| Build quality and safety | Report on Independent Quality Controller Review metrics and target to improve our % score year-on-year. |
Implemented and monitored through Group Construction policies and procedures. |  |
23 out of 31 operating companies remained within the Group’s best practice range of 85%. All operating companies achieved over 81% |
| Report on the results of independent quality audit against The Persimmon Way with target to improve % year-on-year. |  |
Completion of external audit of each operating company by summer 2022. | ||
| Health and safety | Report on Annual Injury Incidence Rate and reduce the rate year-on-year. | Implementation of key health and safety processes delivered and monitored through Group Health, Safety and Environment teams |
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2021: 2.5 per 1,000 workers (2020: 1.7 per 1,000 workers). (2020 was an unrepresentative year because of COVID. 2019 figure was 2.8 per 1,000 workers. Average industry rate is 2.6 per 1,000 workers). |
| Aim to achieve third party certification/auditing to ISO 45001/18001 or similar. | To be reviewed and implemented through Group Health, Safety and Environment department. | |
Health & safety, and environmental management systems are under development. | |
| Annually report on KPIs following our site inspection regime with a target to improve year-on-year. | Implementation of key health and safety processes. | |
All members of our workforce, including our subcontractors, undergo extensive training to safeguard the wellbeing of everyone that comes onto our sites, into our manufacturing facilities or into our offices. | |
| High risk suppliers by trade to be encouraged to utilise Supply Chain Sustainability School’s Modern Slavery training. | Engagement with supply chain and Supply Chain Sustainability School. | |
A number of initiatives, such as membership with the Gangmaster and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), have been implemented in 2021 to further build on existing controls in this area. | |
| Talent attraction, development, diversity and engagement | By the end of 2025, aim for 40% of Persimmon employees to be female. | • Investment in diversity training and initiatives across the Group. • Programmes to ensure effective development of talent. • Development of enhanced policies and procedures to support women in the workplace. |
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• Appointed a new Director of Talent and Diversity in May 2021. • A Group wide Talent Review is currently ongoing to provide a robust succession plan, which will ensure we can identify and nurture our talent by providing the appropriate support. • External diversity and inclusion review undertaken to provide insights from across the business and support development of an action plan. • ‘Target 50 challenge’ – to recruit 50 female apprentices or technical trainees into construction-related roles across the business. |
| By the end of 2025, aim for 35% of Persimmon’s Executive Committee and direct reports to be female. | |
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| By the end of 2025, aim for 45% of Persimmon employees in management roles to be female. | |
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| To become a Living Wage Foundation accredited employer. | Working with the Living Wage Foundation to ensure everyone who works on site or in our offices is paid a rate based on real life living costs. |  |
All employees and subcontractors included. | |
| Deliver a tailored training programme to every direct employee via the Persimmon Pathway. | Programme developed through Group Training delivered through a combination of class-based and online learning. | |
Rolled out a Persimmon Site Manager Essentials course and c.90% of our site managers have gained an NVQ (2020 21%). | |
| Work with the Social Mobility Pledge to implement a number of recommendations from their independent social mobility assessment of Persimmon. | Independent review to be carried out in 2021 identifying key opportunities for Persimmon to further improve social mobility. | |
Since signing the Social Mobility Pledge, Persimmon has continued to engage with its aims and objectives, particularly in the areas of social mobility and sustainability and we are pleased to be recognised as the lead for the homebuilding sector in ‘The Purpose Coalition’. | |
| By 2021, 150 Persimmon employees to be trained mental health first aiders. | Continue to increase the number of trained colleagues throughout the Group. | |
Persimmon now have 193 mental health first aiders across the business. | |
| Continue to monitor and improve employee engagement through Persimmon’s employee engagement survey. | • Launched employee engagement survey in 2020. • Annual employee engagement surveys to be performed, with 2021 already underway. |
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• Achieved an engagement score of 78% in 2021. • Included sustainability related questions in 2022 survey. |
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| Establish sustainability specific introduction training for all new employees of Persimmon Homes & internal sustainability training module. | Liaise with the training department to create a sustainability training module to be taken by all new and current employees of Persimmon Homes. |  |
Latest Reports
