What are companies doing with regards to 'Giving Something Back'

MEC offer learning and development opportunities at all levels throughout the organisation to appeal to all learning styles, from soft skill practical training in presentation and negotiation skills, to e-learning training on digital technical skills, to experiential learning through charity opportunities, language lessons and Thrive projects. They take their commitment to learning seriously in terms of budget investment and time, to ensure MEC offers opportunities to thrive. MEC have a focus on everyone educating each other, whether that's through Big Breakfast where teams share pitch work in an informal setting, or the annual EXPO, a day when the agency stops for a series of talks and workshops on different pieces of work, tech or learnings. Creative champions who attended ‘Upping Your Elvis' creativity training last year continue to run sessions for the agency on creativity and creative brainstorming. They want to ensure that everyone gets the opportunity to learn and develop their skills no matter what level they are. Everyone gets the opportunity to sit a variety of IPA qualifications and they offer leadership training at all levels throughout the agency. Graduates and apprentices have a full training programme to complement their journey with the company, which kicks off with an experiential team building exercise on the streets of London. MEC's management team spent a week at a residential course earlier this year learning advanced sales and influencing techniques to help them work better with clients.

This year MEC introduced ‘Town Hall' sessions to boost team interaction and communication. As part of the staff survey feedback employees provided the company with, it was clear that they get a great deal of value and enjoyment from the all staff ‘MEC in Motion' company meeting sessions. However, they asked for more regular company updates as the MEC in Motion meetings are 3 months apart and things move quickly around here. The Management Board thought quite hard about the best way to do this, not wanting to resort to email communication as the obvious route. As a result, they introduced Town Hall. This is a new update session held in the open office space covering off any pressing agency, industry, client and people news. No slides or fanfare, just senior people from the management team updating people on important and interesting news, real time. They also introduced Collaboration Coffees as part of their initiative to embed behaviours and improve perceptions of approachability of the Management Board, again responding to staff survey feedback. This is an opportunity for anyone at any level to sit down for a coffee and informally talk about the agency, obtain career advice, tips on leadership or anything else they wish to discuss. MEC ask people to share their Collaboration Coffee time with everyone on the MEC social media channels.

At Mcginley's, individual and team efforts are recognised and rewarded on a regular basis, with the most prestigious being the company's long-established Pinnacle Club. The Pinnacle Club is for the over-achievers and recognises and praises performance excellence across the business. It is certainly a key motivator, encouraging a little healthy ‘peer' competition and inspiring team performance. It is held every quarter and on an annual basis. This year's annual prize consisted of an all-expenses-paid trip to Vegas, with all winners staying in suites at the opulent Palazzo Hotel, dining at various exclusive 5 star restaurants and spending three VIP evenings at Omnia nightclub, Caesar's Palace, with world famous DJ Calvin Harris, all whilst being transported everywhere in a hummer limo. Some of the quarterly incentives included a private hospitality box at the Royal Ascot, Club Hospitality at Premier League football fixtures, the ultimate cook and dine experience at L'Atelier des Chefs, VIP box seating at the ATP Tour Finals, T20 cricket at the Oval, a unique human and sensory experience at the famed ‘Dans le Noir' and dinner at the chef's table at Gordon Ramsay's swanky Michelin star restaurant, Maze. As well as qualifying for the Pinnacle Club, each employee also receives uncapped commission and vouchers up to and including the value of £200.

Mcginley's weekly fresh fruit drop and healthy treats like energy and cereal bars, which are always provided at meetings, encourages staff to eat healthily. The company provides clean and well-maintained areas for employees to prepare and store their own meals too. McGinley have embraced the notion of actively encouraging employees to take proper lunch breaks and hit the gym at lunchtime. The company also offers the flexibility of a slightly longer lunch break so it's definitely worth it! Moreover, for those that wake up early to squeeze in a morning workout session, the company is always accommodating to a slightly late start. Mcginley's have even partnered with Incorpore to offer all employees a discounted gym membership scheme across 2980 health clubs in the UK. They have also created a staff breakout area with pool and ping-pong tables where staff can relax away from the PC screen and unwind. There's even some good quality coffee and coffee machines, which helps to brighten the mood and is probably one of the quickest pick-me-ups! All of offices are given the option to listen to music whilst they work, as playing music instantly relaxes the mood and stress levels. The daily morning huddles also help teams and individuals to reach out to fellow colleagues to lend a helping hand, providing support, guidance and ultimately reducing stress.

McDonald's are aware that no single factor is more important to their success than the dedication and efforts of their employees. As a result of this the company operate the “Employee of the Month” (EoM) award in all restaurants. Every year 12 employees per restaurant have the chance to win this accolade and a gift box to go with it. Every employee of the month receives a range of prizes ranging from an Employee of the Month gold name badge and a personalised congratulations card to a specially designed ‘Make It Special' USB stick, an engraved black Congress pen in a presentation case and an engraved black A6 mole notepad to name but a few. Four times a year each restaurant will select an employee from the EoM winners to be their Employee of the Quarter and winners from all restaurants are then entered into a competition to find the “Employee of the Quarter” for each Operations Manager group. The winners of this quarterly competition are then considered for the Director of Operations “Employee of the Year”. Finally, each person selected as the Director of Operations overall winner will go forward to compete to become McDonald's Employee of the Year final, which takes place at McDonald's Head Office with the COO and Senior Vice President. As finalists they receive £250 worth of Love to Shop vouchers and the overall winner will also receive £2,500 worth of Travel Vouchers. All also receive recognition trophies.

The Wellbeing programme offers McDonalds employees a variety of support and helpful information to enhance their wellbeing both at work and at home. A dedicated Wellbeing Hub on ourlounge contains handy articles and information about what employees can do to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle. It has advice and support on topics like staying active, eating well, work/life balance and mental health. As part of the Wellbeing Programme, the team research and feature apps of the month, which have included apps like HeadSpace. Every employee receives a ‘How's it Going Chat' with their direct reporting Manager on a regular basis. This provides an ideal opportunity for the employee to have an open and frank discussion with their direct reporting Manager. Employees have the opportunity to discuss any issues that could be causing workplace stress and discuss what support or changes are needed. In recent Senior Leadership Engagement Drop In sessions, workload and workplace stress were some of the discussion topics to enable employees to openly discuss concerns and solutions with Senior Leadership.

Maxus believes strongly in professional and personal growth for employees. Their Never Stand Still programme offers a suite of initiatives for their staff under three core pillars; “For Work, For Life and For Growth". As part of the “For Growth” activity, they introduced an annual pot of money called the Growth Fund. The Growth Fund is their commitment to supporting employees in their own professional and personal development, offering sponsorship up to £250. The fund could be used flexibly for personal development and subsidise or pay for anything from a professional qualification to driving lessons or a wine tasting course. In 2016, to help inspire people to take advantage of the fund, Maxus facilitated a number of sessions including hosting language classes and a coding course in their offices. The fund is available on an annual basis for all employees with 12 months' service. Whilst Maxus ensure that the growth fund is ultimately supporting personal or professional growth, it is completely up to the employee to decide how they want to spend it. Maxus also offers professional coaching to all employees - coaching can be used for both personal and professional growth. From a professional development perspective, Maxus offer a suite of learning opportunities. In 2016, the focus has been on creativity and they hosted a number of sessions and events focused on creative excellence. Culminating in a week of activities across the agency, from internal subject matter experts giving talks to external companies showcasing their inspiring stories.

Maxus believes strongly in professional and personal growth for employees. Their Never Stand Still programme offers a suite of initiatives for their staff under three core pillars; “For Work, For Life and For Growth". As part of the “For Growth” activity, they introduced an annual pot of money called the Growth Fund. The Growth Fund is their commitment to supporting employees in their own professional and personal development, offering sponsorship up to £250. The fund could be used flexibly for personal development and subsidise or pay for anything from a professional qualification to driving lessons or a wine tasting course. In 2016, to help inspire people to take advantage of the fund, Maxus facilitated a number of sessions including hosting language classes and a coding course in their offices. The fund is available on an annual basis for all employees with 12 months' service. Whilst Maxus ensure that the growth fund is ultimately supporting personal or professional growth, it is completely up to the employee to decide how they want to spend it. Maxus also offers professional coaching to all employees - coaching can be used for both personal and professional growth. From a professional development perspective, Maxus offer a suite of learning opportunities. In 2016, the focus has been on creativity and they hosted a number of sessions and events focused on creative excellence. Culminating in a week of activities across the agency, from internal subject matter experts giving talks to external companies showcasing their inspiring stories.

Marketing Sciences have monthly whole service meetings, in addition to regular team and individual meetings, where everyone gets together at the end of the day for drinks and nibbles. Directors and others provide a brief update of what has been happening and what is coming up within the business. As part of this they collect “shout-outs”, where colleagues and clients provide praise for a job well done, which is highlighted at the monthly meetings. They also have quarterly “values awards”, which recognises achievement and anyone who is working in accordance with company values and going the extra mile. The values are communicated and discussed with all staff via one to one meetings, as part of appraisals and on top of this all new joiners are given all information necessary. Meeting rooms are named to reflect the company values. Finally the Managing Director meets all new starters to provide an overview of the company and share the values.

Marketing Sciences Unlimited have an annual local charity that they raise money for, normally through team events and social evenings. People propose a new charity each year and everyone votes for this. In 2015 it was Muffin's Dream, a charity dedicated to helping families who have a child or young adult with a disability or illness. In 2016 it was Simon Says, a child bereavement support service. They are a sponsor of the Theatre Royal in Winchester and have been for many years. Jane, Marketing Science's MD, is an Honorary Fellow of The University of Winchester and they have an on-going relationship with the Business School. Jane recently sat as an external member of the validation panel, scrutinising two new degree programmes and sponsoring two apprenticeships for each of the programmes starting this year. Furthermore Marketing Sciences are involved in Southampton University's mentoring scheme and offer work experience placements from local secondary schools.

Motiv8 is Markerstudy's central point for charitable activity, coordinating events like Markerstudy Day, the annual group wide activity fun day where staff raise money for local causes. Staff are also able to apply to Motiv8 for a donation towards their personal charity achievements and fundraising targets, offering up to £1,000 per quarter to good causes. Group charity initiatives from the last six months have included but are in no way limited to ‘Margo the Mini', a £16,000 restoration project which will see the 1969 Mini auctioned at the Classic Motor Show in November with all proceeds going to Prostate Cancer UK. There is also National Pet Month, where employees collected hundreds of tins of animal food and donated it to their local pet charities. Staff are encouraged to take a paid working day to support a charitable cause once a year. They are also able to volunteer for a charity for a week without the need to use their holiday entitlement. Markerstudy have developed two free road safety awareness programmes supported by Kent County Council that prepare children for life as a driver. Delivered to more than 24,000 young people, the programme is being delivered to an average of 500 children per week in Kent, which the company are keen to expand. Markerstudy also take care of their staff, for example they have supported some medium term absences while the employees seek drug and alcohol rehabilitation services and have also provided welfare support as and when needed. In one particular case they've also supported an employee to get off the homeless list.

Senior Managers are role models and consistently represent Markerstudy's V10 (values), building the organisation and ensuring they have a legacy for the future. They do this by encouraging monthly discussions to praise and provide feedback and support in demonstrating V10 behaviours, linking reward and recognition across the group to consistently demonstrating V10 and introducing their customer charter principles that take the values beyond the office environment to external customers. Managers also listen to ideas from staff and actively encourage feedback during ‘team forum' sessions and ‘walk the floor' opportunities. Many new ideas are elevated to the Board and developed. They also actively encourage fun as a part of the Markerstudy company ethos. Kevin is passionate about communicating with staff on a personal level. He is a people person, fascinated by what makes his organisation tick, devoted to improving benefits and dedicated to building a legacy. He has implemented a monthly ‘Messenger' column called ‘View from the Top', consistently voted favourite in staff surveys. There are also regular emails from him on important business announcements and rewards including prizes for internal competitions such as finals tickets at Wimbledon, VIP tickets to football and a box at the Rugby World Cup. He participated in the MSG Football tournament, led his own Dragon Boat Team at MSG FEST Dragon Boat Racing and even judged competitions including Markerstudy's Got Talent, Stars in Our Eyes and singing competitions/dance offs with large cash prizes. These are just a selection of the ways in which Kevin is hugely involved with his employees, something that also strengthens his leadership and positive impact within Markerstudy.

Lush donate products good for multisensory purposes to a local charity that cares for the elderly suffering with dementia and Alzheimers. The company also have a staff member whose son has to attend a local special needs school. The children there love Lush products, so the company regularly donate products to them and their families to use. Products are also sent to Women's prisons to help build their self-esteem before coming out to the real world in hope that this kick-starts a new life for them. Regular donations are made to small local charities, campaigns and organisations working in the areas of environment, animal protection and human rights, with funds raised from Lush's Charity Pot hand and body lotion. During the last financial year in the UK, the company donated over £1.6 million. Lush's Green Team also volunteered at Livability in Holton Lee and helped to set up a composting bin made from recycled bottles. Livability is a charity that supports people with special needs or disabilities and at Holton Lee they have the opportunity to learn about gardening and to be immersed in nature. Last year Lush also fixed a solar dehydrator for them and will be helping to repair it this month for another year of service! The charity can use it to dry herbs.

Lush donate products good for multisensory purposes to a local charity that cares for the elderly suffering with dementia and Alzheimers. The company also have a staff member whose son has to attend a local special needs school. The children there love Lush products, so the company regularly donate products to them and their families to use. Products are also sent to Women's prisons to help build their self-esteem before coming out to the real world in hope that this kick-starts a new life for them. Regular donations are made to small local charities, campaigns and organisations working in the areas of environment, animal protection and human rights, with funds raised from Lush's Charity Pot hand and body lotion. During the last financial year in the UK, the company donated over £1.6 million. Lush's Green Team also volunteered at Livability in Holton Lee and helped to set up a composting bin made from recycled bottles. Livability is a charity that supports people with special needs or disabilities and at Holton Lee they have the opportunity to learn about gardening and to be immersed in nature. Last year Lush also fixed a solar dehydrator for them and will be helping to repair it this month for another year of service! The charity can use it to dry herbs.

With a real focus on team interaction and to support the delivery of Plan A, livin's new business strategy this year launched 'Connected Leaders.' All participants undertake a transactional analysis questionnaire to identify individual behaviour preferences and how these effect relationships. Through a series of coaching sessions staff are then equipped with skills to effectively manage their own and others behaviours to improve relationships. Ongoing team interaction is supported through livin's internal social media platform, Yammer. 100% of staff have profiles and the platform has 98% engagement rate, with 44 subgroups of cross department teams working of specific projects. 'Eurofever' was a companywide employee engagement event which demonstrated livin's multi-cultural awareness at the height of the European football event in 2016. Teams were selected randomly at a FIFA-style grand draw, with the Chief Executive presiding. Departments were challenged to display not only their own football team's colours in their work areas but to also come up with innovative ways of promoting the countries culture. Flags were raised, fascinating weird and wonderful facts were presented in wall art, histories were written and fun was had through quizzes and interactive art. The Berlin Wall was raised once more and staff were encouraged to write slogans on it - even The Hoff was resurrected (but didn't appear for a visit). Staff even brought in sweet and savoury food they had made to share with their team from their 'countries', including German sausage, pizza, pasties and goulash.

With a real focus on team interaction and to support the delivery of Plan A, livin's new business strategy this year launched 'Connected Leaders.' All participants undertake a transactional analysis questionnaire to identify individual behaviour preferences and how these effect relationships. Through a series of coaching sessions staff are then equipped with skills to effectively manage their own and others behaviours to improve relationships. Ongoing team interaction is supported through livin's internal social media platform, Yammer. 100% of staff have profiles and the platform has 98% engagement rate, with 44 subgroups of cross department teams working of specific projects. 'Eurofever' was a companywide employee engagement event which demonstrated livin's multi-cultural awareness at the height of the European football event in 2016. Teams were selected randomly at a FIFA-style grand draw, with the Chief Executive presiding. Departments were challenged to display not only their own football team's colours in their work areas but to also come up with innovative ways of promoting the countries culture. Flags were raised, fascinating weird and wonderful facts were presented in wall art, histories were written and fun was had through quizzes and interactive art. The Berlin Wall was raised once more and staff were encouraged to write slogans on it - even The Hoff was resurrected (but didn't appear for a visit). Staff even brought in sweet and savoury food they had made to share with their team from their 'countries', including German sausage, pizza, pasties and goulash.

Lightsource moved from its former base at Old Bailey to a new custom-built office space to accommodate its in-house team. The fast-paced and dynamic nature of the solar industry means that team interaction is key to the company's success. The open plan office space of more than 30,000 sq ft allows for quick and easy communication between teams, including the Senior Management Team, ensuring everyone can work together closely in order to meet often tough deadlines. But the work hard/play hard ethos is echoed in the Lightsource Social environment. The offices large breakout areas, complete with retro arcade games and table football, are where you'll find table football tournaments in full-swing or maybe one of the Senior Management trying to hit top spot on Pac-man! Open and honest interaction between staff and teams is led by the CEO, who hosts regular company update events for all staff. These updates include the latest news on a business front, upcoming events and candid Q&A sessions, where all staff are encouraged to ask any question they like with the promise of an open and truthful answer from the Senior Management Team.

Since 2014 Lightsource have supported the community of Koh Krolor in Cambodia. Through payroll giving, the company donated £100,000 to Koh Krolor last year alone. The support Lightsource has provided to this project has meant meaningful and lasting change for the families and children of these 40 villages in the Koh Krolor district, as more than 11,000 people have directly benefited from work that World Vision is doing. In 2015 a Lightsource team and many members of the local community installed a 10kW solar array on the local high school, providing enough renewable energy to the school to power the sewer, a couple of computers, lights and fans. The solar installation further improved the local environment through also powering a water pump for the community, as well as providing a reliable and clean source of electricity. The company are committed to benefitting the host communities in which all their solar farms are developed, so offer a Community Benefit fund for all solar developments. So far Lightsource have committed over £7million to communities around the UK.