State of Engagement 2026 Report |
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Many company leaders have completed the Lane4 Coaching Performance Excellence programme, accredited by Middlesex University, and the Trans4m Programme was launched in 2017 to support new leaders transitioning into their first people-management role. Each course takes six to nine months and is designed and delivered by Lane4 consultants and senior managers.
Lane4's Magic Mondays business updates are now held virtually, with the leadership team joining the sessions. A monthly extended leadership forum includes all heads of department and above and allows for an hour's discussion on topics key to the company.
Company Days are held three times a year where everyone comes together for business updates, the opportunity to network and to have a bit of fun. Online social activities such as talent shows, coffee connects, pet pageants, cook-alongs and garden walk-arounds all also attracted good levels of attendance and feedback.
The company's values, which drive recruitment and its recognition and review process, are embraced by everyone but the senior team sets an example. Geekiness is about employees' passion for understanding what they do; generosity is about being generous with time to help people; drive is about commitment to action.
Kyan has two ways of recognising employees: a bonus linked to performance against living the company's values and a less formal "thank you" where staff are encouraged to thank team members on a personal level with surprise gifts such as a book or a new mug.
All team members have a self-directed development budget. Training and development is flexible and can involve studying team coaching and board dynamics at Henley Business School, training in practical skills via HubSpot Academy or having a go at improv to help with presentation skills.
The Leadership Development Programme is Karmarama's flagship training scheme, developed in-house by the HR team. It is designed to help managers build and develop their personal leadership skills and always receives fantastic feedback. The agency plans to roll it out again this year, virtually.
The weekly Assembly (all-hands meeting) was digitised from week one of the pandemic, so all staff members heard CEO Ben Bilboul and other business leaders deliver a combination of light-hearted announcements and presentations, as well as more serious business topics.
In 2020, an survey showed that colleagues wanted to see Karmarama do more to fight the climate crisis. So Green Karma – with a goal to minimise the company's impact on the world and maximise efforts for the world – was formed. With the support of the, Green Karma committed the business to be net carbon-zero by 2025.
At the start of the pandemic, all managers went through coaching sessions in relation to supporting their teams. This continued in a more 1:1 way as the year progressed. Knowing that the company's close-knit departments work so well together and support each other was a positive during some of the more difficult times.
Covid-19 placed huge concern and worry on the global workforce, so Kagool reassured its people on a personal and a professional level. Safety for staff and their loved ones was paramount and supported with a family-first approach. With the seismic impact of the coronavirus on the global economy, employees were reassured about job security.
All results of surveys are shared with the internal staff working group. In response to the feedback, a more flexible working system will be rolled out when employees start to return to the office – if, indeed, coming in is what they prefer. The agency has also reviewed holiday policies and created social interaction strategies via in-house tools.
Just has signed up to the Race at Work charter, each member of the executive team has a personal objective to support its diversity and inclusion agenda and the firm has also established a network of D&I Champions to drive forward its strategy in each business area.
There are a number of local recognition schemes in place within the organisation, tailored to the employee base and types of roles those employees perform. They include a Hi 5 or HUB hug as a way of saying thank you, as well as other monthly and quarterly awards where vouchers can be won.
Development opportunities include in-role development, coaching, mentoring and in normal times face-to-face training programmes. The company also provides LinkedIn Learning membership to all employees and has launched a management development apprenticeship for people managers. They also run regular lunch and learns on topics from Dementia Friends to Plain English.
Through the pandemic, the leadership team has provided daily updates as well as weekly catch-ups for those on furlough. It has provided additional training for furloughed staff to help them keep active and avoid mental health decline. Their salaries were also topped up to 100%.
For its software and development teams, iVendi listened to feedback and chose to conduct a trial on remote working for the foreseeable future. This means that half of the company's workforce is now remote working and it appears to be working well.
Two days of paid leave have been offered to employees to volunteer in the local community and there has been a big uptake during the pandemic. One volunteer spent the time building a website for a charity to give them online presence. The company facilitated staff donations to food banks as well as providing toys.
Additional programmes have been rolled out to support managers, including Managing Insiders, which provides training on recruitment, communication, managing performance, managing conflict and employee engagement. Managers are additionally offered the chance to complete an MBA on a part-time basis. Regular “round tables” allow managers to raise any issues of concern.
Founder Simon Martin has led from the front on the company's diversity policy, launching a Changemakers programme to coach employees on what it means to be anti-rascist, not just non-rascist. More than 40 changemakers have been trained and a dedicated Diversity & Inclusion lead hired.
Team interaction has not been curbed by the pandemic with the company introducing a range of initiatives including a weekly kid's club for work-at-home parents, exercise sessions, dance classes and entertainment from a comedian and a professional singer. Online mixology classes and a “Quarantini” virtual bar night have proved popular.
Managing directors encouraged staff to take lunch breaks and gave everyone an afternoon off to relax and do something fun instead of working. Each member of the leadership team also headed up a team in the 24 days of advent challenge completing 24 minutes of physical activity every day.
The bonus scheme is based on company performance and individual performance against personal objectives. As 2020 was such great year, everyone achieved more than 100% of their bonus with the managing directors giving everyone another 10% to recognise the great efforts and achievements during such an extraordinary year.
As well as carrying on with the normal work-based coaching and development during the pandemic, the firm boosted staff skills in Excel, project management and innovation and launched a management training programme. Freixenet Copestick also provides a weekly recruitment update to showcase opportunities across the company.
Chief executive, Rich Keith and chief operating officer, Catherine Cheetham, have weekly or bi-weekly 1-2-1s with all managers offering coaching and mentoring and making sure they are listened to and supported. They also operate an “open door” culture with no need for people to wait for meetings.
Last year Fourth Floor Creative conducted a pay review and gave a pay increase to employees who had been with the company for longer than a year and passed their probation and it is planning to hold a company summer party whenever it can get the whole team together.
Fourth Floor Creative introduced an anonymous wellbeing support line and established a Wellbeing Warriors employee group who coordinates inclusive activities from book clubs, gaming nights and Friday night meets at the 'Online Arms' to daily #watercoolers online chats, a lunchtime scavenger hunt, pancakes and pumpkin carving
When a director joins the company they spend time on the shopfloor getting to know the business and meeting people across all sites for a wider understanding of the business and to increase approachability. All senior managers post updates and interesting facts about their roles on the in-house platforms.
Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Yapster, its in-house comms platform, were useful tools in helping drive engagement while the bulk of the Flat Iron workforce was on furlough. Weekly quizzes, Zoom Friday beer meetings and cooking competitions with everyone voting for their favourite dish became a weekly event.
Pre-pandemic, Flat Iron had selected Bread and Water for Africa, which helps to provide food, education and healthcare to some of the world's most deprived and vulnerable children, as its lead charity. Its second principal good cause was Cool Earth, which fights climate change – the company being conscious that beef production is part of the story.
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