Taking Employee Engagement to the Next Level with Incentivesmart

At EMW, we’ve always believed that our people are our greatest asset. For more than three decades, we’ve been committed to building a business where people come first. As a B Corp-certified firm, supporting our employees, clients and local communities isn’t just part of our culture – it’s central to who we are.

EMW is a Milton Keynes-based law firm with offices also in London, Northampton and Watford. They’ve been operating for over three decades, and as a B Corp-certified business, one of their goals is to work with and support the local community wherever possible. Their latest MK-based partnership is with Incentivesmart – the experts in employee engagement, reward and recognition.

Why employee engagement matters to EMW

We’re a people-first business. Looking after our team isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s also a practical and commercial responsibility. We know that no organisation can afford to lose good people, so we’re committed to creating an environment where our people feel valued, supported and recognised.

Over the years, we’ve introduced a number of initiatives designed to support our employees. We believe that small changes can make a big difference to the things people value most, including two-way communication, timely recognition, wellbeing and a healthy work-life balance.

“These are all fundamentals,” says James Geary, Managing Partner at EMW. “For example, EMW supports flexible working, and we have a work-from-anywhere policy that allows people to spend some of their year working from other locations. We’ve also recently reduced the length of the working day, which has gone down really well.”

Taking reward and recognition to the next level

Alongside initiatives such as giving employees an extra day’s holiday for certain achievements, we’ve seen over the years how even the simplest acts of recognition, like our Smile Cards, can have a real impact.

As we looked to build on that success, we wanted to take our approach to employee engagement, reward and recognition even further. Recognising that this is a specialist area, we chose to partner with Incentivesmart.

“When it comes to employee engagement, reward, recognition and all the positive culture-building stuff that we wanted to achieve, we aren’t experts – we’re a law firm,” says James. “So it made sense to partner with Incentivesmart: the local team with decades of experience in rewarding relationships.”

Working together, we’ve launched our own branded employee engagement platform, giving our people a central hub for reward, recognition and team building while strengthening our company culture.

The platform is a place to share updates and good news, celebrate achievements, access incentives, and take part in team events and activities. It also provides a cost-effective way for us to recognise and reward our people little and often, helping to sustain engagement over time.

Employees can earn points not only through recognition but also by completing activities, many of which are linked to wellbeing or learning. With a vast rewards catalogue, there’s plenty of choice, whether someone wants to redeem points regularly or save them towards something bigger.

“Importantly for us,” James points out “if someone wants to save their points up for a big-ticket item, such as a holiday, it isn’t expensive for our business.”

A Partnership Built on Shared Values

We’re proud to be collaborating with another local, people-first business that shares our values and commitment to creating positive workplace cultures.

James Geary, Managing Partner at EMW, commented:

“At EMW, we’re delighted to be collaborating with another local, people-first company. Incentivesmart is based in Unity Place, which has a lovely vibe; it’s the perfect environment for the business that Richard White has built with great people — and a true sense of authenticity.“

Richard White, CEO, Incentivesmart, commented:

“Like EMW, we’ve been part of the MK landscape for a long time, and we love working with local organisations. It makes it even easier to forge meaningful connections; and we’re proud to share our approach to culture building with others in the business community. We’re all about creating mutual success, and everyone becomes all the stronger for it!”

The Results So Far

The launch of the platform was seamless, supported by a thorough onboarding process and a team that has been helpful every step of the way.

“Even when we need prodding, they prod us nicely,” says James. “It all just works, and works really well.”

Although we’re still in the early stages of our journey with the platform, the response from our team has been extremely positive. We’re seeing more people engaging with the platform as they receive regular updates, recognise one another and get involved in the activities available.

Like becoming B Corp-certified, investing in employee engagement is another way of demonstrating our commitment to our people and our culture. It also sends a clear message to our clients that we genuinely care about the experience of our employees. We believe that a positive, engaged workforce delivers better service, helping us stand apart from our competitors in the professional services sector.