The Darlington Building Society have been awarded a one star accreditation from employee engagement specialists Best Companies for work in 2016.

The society in the previous year had been awarded the ‘one to watch’ accreditation showing the desire of the company to be an excellent place to work for people in the local area.

Best Companies have been recognising great employee engagement in the workplace for almost 20 years, basing their model on the Michelin Guide star system for restaurants.

The Society was awarded for its high score through the Best Companies survey, which measures how engaged staff are at work and how they directly feel around their employer. All surveys are done anonymously online and are not viewed by employers, resulting in the Best Companies receiving the most accurate information from employees.

Niki Barker, HR manager at Darlington Building Society said: “Our staff are the heart of Darlington Building Society and make us who we are. All of our employees deserve a massive pat on the back for the hard work throughout the last year and continued ongoing work into 2017.

“As a small token of our gratitude towards our staff the Society participated in the National Best Companies Day on Friday 3rd March and hosted a number of fun activities throughout the day across the Society network, we hope this goes some way in showing how grateful we are to our amazing staff.”

Last year saw Darlington Building Society increase engagement within the organisation through a variety of initiatives whilst also making a major impact within the local area. The Society made three pledges to the local community in their milestone 160 anniversary year, offering 160 staff volunteering days to local organisations, supporting 160 local causes whilst also helping to raise over £160,000. All three of these pledges were comfortably exceeded, demonstrating the commitment and involvement of Society staff.