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.
Managers undergo a five-day leadership development programme. Personal goals are set and measured each year or more frequently as appropriate. Discussion between leaders and their managers were the keystone of support offered through the pandemic. The frequency of conversations increased while working from home and ideas were gathered and implemented.
The pandemic was a catalyst for a significant increase in communication, particularly to deliver fast information direct to every employee. It initiated “All Hands” calls to explain the company approach to working from home, coping with home schooling, furlough and temporary reductions in working hours.
Solid Solutions offers an end-of-year company bonus to maximise achievement in the final months of the year. Benefits for staff include free dental and life insurance and staff discounts.
A positive outcome of the pandemic is that communication within and across the company is better than ever. Good communication was key to maintaining high levels of engagement and CEO Georg Ell led from the front with weekly All Hands meetings that kept everyone informed.
Though this was paused it from April to September 2020, an individual training budget for every employee has since been reinstated. Smoothwall recently recruited a software engineer apprentice who will complete a DevAccelerator upskill programme with Northcoders – a bespoke apprenticeship scheme – for 16 months. The executive team supports managers' with personal coaching.
Salary sacrifice scheme Tusker supports employees to buy electric or hybrid cars, and the company installed four charging points in the car park. There were two further salary-sacrifice schemes to help eco- and health-minded staff fund the purchase of bicycles.
The senior management team launched their Inclusion Pledge and initiatives including a quarterly inclusion survey. A Leadership Mentoring Scheme has also been introduced. This scheme invites applications from everyone, however, it particularly encourages them from employees from underrepresented groups and those who struggle to be heard or who think differently.
SB&G has created a central budget for peer-to-peer recognition, in the form of “Now That” rewards. Staff can recognise their colleagues in the moment with a personalised “Now That” reward of up to £50 with staff sending e-vouchers and deliveries to their colleagues throughout the pandemic.
During 2020 staff raised more than £45,000 for charity partner Macmillan Cancer Support through virtual fundraising including a day-long Coffee Morning, with escape rooms, bake-alongs, live quizzes and online bingo. Employees did skills based volunteering throughout the pandemic working with social enterprises and charities.
The senior management team lead by example, by living the organisation's values and principles. They demonstrate this through their behaviour and how they interact with staff. They have a friendly, honest and open approach and staff have regular opportunities to engage with them and ask them questions.
Scarf has introduced a further learning support policy which encourages staff to take courses that lead to a recognised educational or professional qualification. The organisation loans employees up to £1,000 in course fees.
Last year, Scarf set up a support fund for householders struggling with fuel debt. The Heat Fund has distributed more than £7,000 to help residents heat their homes, mainly through buying prepayment meter credit.
The company is passionate about creating digital products that are truly purposeful and effective, and the contribution of individual Spuds is regularly acknowledged. Potato also says: “As our head of the business, MD Phil Wright has been a rock, and he and our leadership team have received much positive feedback.”
Benefits include an enhanced pension scheme; Bupa; an employee assistance programme; and access to NABS, the support organisation for the advertising and media industry. Parental leave is above statutory; there is life assurance and group protection insurance; and corporate accounts cover wellbeing and mindfulness coaching by the likes of Headspace and Fidlleaf.
Potato donated food to NHS Heroes at University College London and matched staff donations to several funds in the wake of the death of George Floyd. It continues to support and promote black-owned organisations and initiatives through the agency's online presence
Managing director Sam Mudd led from the front as soon as the government advised people to work from home, sending regular videos recorded on her phone to keep people up to speed on issues such as getting hold of home office equipment. She also sent business updates and recommended Ted talks to keep people motivated.
A Friday quiz at 4.30pm has kept colleagues interacting over the past year, the £50 prize up for grabs donated to the winner's chosen charity. Staff have also united for virtual fitness classes, bingo sessions and ‘tea and toast' chats, while funny hats have lightened the mood of some team meetings.
Recognising that not-for-profit organisations were being hit hard by lockdown, due to the lack of fundraising opportunities, Phoenix extended its Azure Essentials Managed Service to these clients for free to help keep their IT systems running. All employees have a day per year to volunteer.
Managers helped people set up home offices during the pandemic and organised regular team meetings and online updates. Employees were given options to work flexibly to support home schooling or looking after dependants. New technology was brought in to facilitate e-learning and training management.
More regular company meetings and one-to-ones have been introduced, at which everyone is encouraged to use their camera. There are plans to divide the business into teams across functions and countries, to help build relationships and ease communication between staff who would otherwise have no opportunity to interact.
PHASTAR has a paperless office policy under which files are digital wherever possible. Last year digital signature was introduced for internal forms to reduce the need to print out documents. Offices have energy-saving lights and sensors to limit unnecessary usage, and recycling is the norm.
Staff were kept informed about health and safety issues and Oprema's sales figures during the pandemic. Update meetings took place on Microsoft Teams and, on the social side, there were remote quiz nights. Managers maintained contact and recognition by sending gifts to staff in the post.
Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp groups help colleagues to communicate with each other when they are not at work together. Company e-cards, which were designed in-house, have been a hit and enable the team to say thank you, well done and happy birthday.
Mind Cymru remains the company's charitable partner this year as it was unable to raise as much money in lockdown-affected 2020 as in previous years. In 2019 it donated nearly £10,000 to Macmillan Cancer Support. During the pandemic, it raised funds through the on-site tuck shop which it ran.
Moneypenny still runs on the family ethos embedded by its sibling co-founders. Everyone treats each other with the same respect, from director to visiting delivery driver. Everyone rolls up their sleeves: from CEO Joanna Swash manning reception or CTO Pete Hanlon picking up laptops for people when everyone moved to remote working.
The company had an 81.5% internal promotion rate last year, with 103 new roles created, of which 84 were filled internally. Moneypenny says: “We learnt so much from our last survey in 2018, which highlighted a concern by staff about personal development. We launched our Leadership Development Programme and 163 people participated in 2020.”
Company co-founder Rachel Clacher set up national charity WeMindTheGap to provide support and opportunities for young people. Moneypenny adopted 26 different species of animals and raised £1,170 after a Chester Zoo appeal and its charity committee, Raising Pennies, gave £1,000 to a local foodbank, hospital and the Salvation Army.
The management structure at Made Tech is based on coaching and mentoring. Guidance for line managers has been written into its handbook to ensure everyone knows how to get someone promoted or handle the annual review and pay increases. Staff wellbeing is central to decision-making.
The business stepped up its online communication with all staff when it moved to fully remote working last year. Managers took the initiative in providing information and support, answering questions in video chats and emails. Its wellbeing Slack channel has never been more active.
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