What are companies doing with regards to 'Leadership'

Learn about the Factors Effect Model

What effect will focus on the 'Leadership' factor have?

Leadership - How employees feel about the head of the organisation, senior management and the organisation's values and principles

Leadership has the biggest influence on how employees feel about the organisation.

Leaders need to create inspiring visions and provide clear direction to positively Impact the My Company factor.

When it comes to Wellbeing, no amount of free fruit or stress busting classes are going to address an imbalance. Employee Wellbeing is a by-product of the leadership and management culture.

If there’s pressure at the top of your organisation, it won’t take long to be felt throughout.

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Utilities

Octopus Energy Group

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A steel drum band was invited into the London office for a Rum and Drums night. The Brighton office has a Pride party before taking to the streets for the parade and, in Leicester, an annual Christmas Lights party celebrates Octopus being part of the city "switch-on" celebration.
Staff can move around the business. This has led to someone who started in customer service as a graduate going on to lead the launch of the customer service in Texas, a smart-meter specialist consulting as an ecologist for tree-planting schemes and a billing specialist heading its green marketing strategy.
If team members want to raise an issue they can approach any one of the senior management team directly, including the chief executive. An important aspect of the company's culture is that it is open, transparent and accessible, so that anyone can speak up if they have problems or ideas they would like to discuss.
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Consultancy

Proxima

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The charity and wellbeing committees often join together to create events, such as the Wellness Fortnight in July, when everyone was encouraged to join in wellbeing initiatives, such as a "lunch and learn" on the benefits of physical exercise, a company-wide "plank" challenge or a 24-hour team charity row.
Chief executive Gareth Evans and the board have daily leadership meetings to ensure there is clarity between them. From these daily meetings, there are regular video updates from Gareth that are posted on our company’s Workplace platform so staff can watch these video updates at a time that works best for them.
The X Fund is run by a committee of six employees, who manage a budget for non-essential training needs. Throughout the year, staff can submit applications to the X Fund to request funding. Paid study leave is given to attend the course.
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Marketing & Media Agencies

Exposure Ninja

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In 2021, most of the management team took an MBA-level course through Nottingham Trent University. The course included modules on women in leadership and effective change management.
A formalised personal development plan process aims to encourage the team to complete a self-reflection exercise before their PDP discussions. Through the employee assistance programme, employees can discuss their career anonymously with a third party who will support them with their ambitions and offer advice.
Last year, the company introduced 20 hours' paid volunteering time a year for each staff member. They can use if for a charity or social enterprise of their choice, or to volunteer for Exposure Ninja’s digital marketing mentoring programme and/or charity event.
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Recruitment

Orion Electrotech

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Office layouts have been reorganised so that senior staff work in an open-plan setting. The move ensures that they continually interact with other employees and creates the sense that everyone is involved in the day-to-day working of the company.
"The beating heart of our business is our people. They are Orion and represent everything that Orion stands for. Therefore, employee engagement is central to our business decisions as we strive to build an environment that our employees both admire and flourish within," says director Ross Benham.
Staff with two or more years' service can take up either free health insurance or gym membership. Employees who are off sick continue to receive full pay, removing the stress caused by a drop in income.
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Charity's

Creative Education Trust

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In a video, Marc Jordon explained to staff the reasons why he created the trust and outlined a new strategy. In March last year, headteachers ran the workshop in their own school. It was part of a mission to embed each school's role within the purpose of the wider organisation.
Last year's Best Companies survey revealed that staff, particularly those in the support (non-teaching) roles did not have sufficient development opportunities. As a result, the trust conducted a training-needs analysis and is in the process of building a development programme.
Middle leaders in the trust's schools have been involved in the development of a trust-wide curriculum, which has been important in recent Ofsted inspections. Senior leaders have the chance to be involved in improvement boards for another school as well as their own to widen their exposure to other ways of working.
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Housing Associations

Port of Leith Housing Association

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During the pandemic, managers held more frequent one-to-ones with staff to offer support and identify any further measures that might be taken to support wellbeing during the lockdowns. Some examples of actions taken include referring staff members to free counselling, providing information on mindfulness and other coping mechanisms, and altering workloads and objectives.
The association promotes an “open-door” approach to all members of the leadership and management teams. The chief executive, directors and managers attend team meetings across the organisation regularly. Discussion and focus groups are run, and shadowing and mentoring opportunities are offered to staff.
Funding of £150,000 was secured from the Scottish government to aid food poverty in the area. Food was distributed though a wide network of local organisations. The association topped up the amount by £57,000. It also ran a community engagement programme in Granton with Granton Gardeners.
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Housing Associations

Southern Housing Group

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A new set of company values have been embraced by colleagues, thanks to them being relatable for everyone in the business. These values are used when launching new initiatives, from projects and programmes through to general announcements and events to help add clarity and purpose for employees.
Following a Group-wide awareness exercise for World Menopause Day, which was accompanied by a personal blog from one of the company’s directors, several initiatives have been launched. These include managers menopause guidance, live workshops for menopause awareness and a Yammer page for menopause support, amongst many others in what is an ongoing campaign.
Thanks to Chief Executive, Alan Townshend’s natural leadership style, authentic engagement with colleagues in the Group is achieved through monthly meetings with managers and regular email communications to staff. He also attends staff forums where he invites open questions from all colleagues, enabling him to keep in touch with how colleagues are feeling.
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Not For Profit Body's

Swale Borough Council

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The council operates hybrid working and promotes the benefits of this new style when advertising job vacancies. It hopes the new strategy will aid the retention of staff who have expressed support for a more flexible way of working.
The Developing Everyone Framework, provides a tool for managers and their team to discuss performance and career aspirations, and discover the appropriate training and development for all. It has helped to identify the top talent and rising stars, as well as those who need additional support.
Chief executive Larissa Read says: "Our commitment to staff engagement is that every member of Swale Borough Council and our Mid Kent colleagues will be supported to make their voice heard, be it positive or negative."
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Charity's

The Charity for Civil Servants

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The Charity runs social hubs for staff to share their interests and hobbies while building relationships and supporting each other. For those who love singing, there is a staff choir.
Everyone is encouraged to speak to Graham Hooper, the chief executive, and offer ideas, ask questions or raise any issues. He has introduced all-staff away days, which now take place online, and invite staff to have a say in how the organisation develops.
The Charity partners with others, from Anxiety UK and Dementia UK to Relate, to support those in the civil service community. Many staff support charities on a personal level. One took part in the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation’s Strictly Ballroom event to raise funds with the backing of his colleagues.
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Retail

Sofology

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Senior leaders often engage with others on the workplace platform by adding comments on posts from others, commending them and encouraging staff. Feedback is welcomed and leaders openly promote the Sofologist Say forum, which enables people to submit ideas, suggestions or ask questions for response from leaders and stakeholders.
Charities supported by Sofology include Papyrus, which works to prevent young suicide, Cancer Awareness for Teens and Twenties and Grace House, which provides a home for children with disabilities. In partnership with the Woodland Trust, the company also planted a tree for every order it received last year and more than 115,000 were planted.
The company runs immersive campaigns across the workplace platform, providing information and signposting on a range of themes. It encourages staff across all business areas to interact and share stories with each other. A great example of this was Sofology's Pride campaign.
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