Pure Resourcing Solutions (Pure) is thrilled to announce that Cambridge Building Society triumphed at last Thursday’s (March 20^th) Cambridge Evening News Business Excellence Awards by winning the prestigious Pure sponsored ‘Employer of the Year’ category.

The award, which seeks to recognise an organisation that successfully inspires, motivates, develops and rewards its staff, was presented to Cambridge Building Society in front of an audience of prominent business leaders from across the region, at Kings College.

Lynn Walters, Director at Pure and awards judge, says: “As the proud sponsor of this award, it is an honour to be among the first to applaud Cambridge Building Society’s fantastic achievement!

“In recent years, The Cambridge has undergone a massive culture change; improving the way they operated as a business for both customers and staff by embracing the latest technology and social media. They can be proud to be a very dynamic, innovative, forward-looking business. Throughout the transition the management fully engaged their staff - the CEO and leadership team involved staff at every level using innovative methods: video, wellbeing initiatives, learning and development projects, and flexible working.  With a very diverse workforce and a strong employee brand and employee voice, Cambridge Building Society performed extremely well against all the criteria used in the judging process.

“I would also like to congratulate all of the finalists”, adds Lynne. “The response this year was exceptional, making the task of selecting a finalist a challenging one with many high quality entries. Businesses really ‘get’ how important employee engagement is now forming part of their strategic plan to really drive the business forward. This is a real step-change and it’s great to see!

“I would also like to add a special mention and congratulations to the winner of the ‘Outstanding Contribution’ - Ann Cotton, the Founder of Camfed, which is a charity that campaigns for female education in Sub-Saharan Africa. We’re also very privileged to also have Ann as a guest speaker on Pure’s new Women’s Leadership Programme.”

Last year’s award was won last year by Cambridge Consultants, which benefited enormously as a result of the triumph. The innovative product development company used the win to boost recruitment in the very competitive area of wireless technology.

Benefits of winning a best employer award include attracting and retaining high quality staff who want to work for an organisation that makes their interests a high priority. The public recognition can also build the business profile among customers, investors and other important stakeholders.

A strong advocate of employee engagement, Lynn is well qualified in judging the best employer strategies. She also heads up the Best Employer, Eastern Region (BEER) initiative alongside eras ltd, a provider of psychometric and talent solutions. The initiative aims to promote the East of England’s best employers, and from 1^st April regional employers will be invited to run staff surveys to gauge how they are doing as an employer, and potentially win a Best Employer, Eastern Region award.

To find out more about BEER contact Lynn Walters on: 01223 209888 or lynn.walters@prs.uk.com.