State of Engagement 2026 Report |
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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.
LTE uses a performance appraisal process to measure manager performance throughout the year. This is based on a number of key factors including contractual compliance, learner achievement and staff engagement – and the group's Best Companies results support these action plans. LTE aims to develop its performance management process further over the coming 12 months.
A core LTE value is being one team, with staff collaborating and contributing to company goals. The organisation's senior leadership team of around 60 people represents its current and future leaders and meets times a year to share performance and development.
Each month or so there have been group-wide team sing-alongs and mini-competitions to raise everyone's spirits. Many Teams groups were set up to prevent people from feeling isolated – especially those working at home, and a fitness challenge helped competitive colleagues to track their overall kilometres and achievements.
The recruiter sees its business success as intrinsically linked to its ability to attract, develop and retain brilliant people. Each manager is measured and compensated against a selection of criteria, which includes their ability to achieve this – and the company is constantly looking to improve.
The company relaunched its values during lockdown with none of the management team or board involved in setting the tone of the organisation. These are strength in diversity, stronger together, challenging the status quo, and we never settle – a commitment to exceptional delivery.
Wilton & Bain helped to raise funds to provide laptops to needy children for home-schooling during lockdown. Many families didn't have access to the basic equipment that was required, with Ofcom estimating that more than 1m children weren't able to get hold of a laptop, desktop or tablet at home.
Managing Director Malcolm Vincent encourages colleagues to share knowledge and inspire people to care about their holistic health and overall wellbeing, so that they can lead healthier lives. The guiding principle at Lifeplus is to help people feel good and its vision is to help everyone around the world live well.
As part of its approach to hiring staff, Lifeplus creates short videos that summarise a job role and use this when reaching out to potential talent to stimulate a conversation. It also makes use of social spaces to showcase the company's culture and people.
The company helped staff to cope with feelings of uncertainty during the pandemic, using podcasts explaining the nature of anxiety and some CBT-based techniques. It also encouraged people to focus on their listening and noticing skills when using video-based online communication.
Managers send weekly status reports to the senior team and directors. Manager, customer and staff feedback is taken seriously. Last year the company set out a five-year strategy, outlining where it was going and how everyone had a part to play in getting it there.
The senior management team is heavily involved in talent nurturing, supporting career growth and development by mentoring employees and allowing everyone to reach their full potential. It also promotes family-friendly working hours, including flexible working, which was appreciated by staff during the pandemic.
Learning Pool is committed to behaving ethically, focusing on its local communities and on the development of continuous environmental initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint. As an online enterprise, it empowers customers to help create a more sustainable world by using its technology.
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