What are companies doing with regards to 'Leadership'

The last Friday of every month at DMC Canotec is dress down and this promotes a relaxed working environment. They have a no tie policy which the men the organisation love! The company have a local gym that offers their staff members a corporate discount if they wish to join. DMC Canotec offers their staff corporate prices on AA car membership and also offer staff Costco membership through the company. DMC Canotec has an open door policy and anyone can speak to any senior manager or Managing Director at any time. The Director's Forum helps staff with any issues they may have and DMC Canotec feel this works very well for the company. DMC Canotec's MD walks around their office daily making sure everyone is ok and will even offer to make staff a cuppa!

The last Friday of every month at DMC Canotec is dress down and this promotes a relaxed working environment. They have a no tie policy which the men the organisation love! The company have a local gym that offers their staff members a corporate discount if they wish to join. DMC Canotec offers their staff corporate prices on AA car membership and also offer staff Costco membership through the company. DMC Canotec has an open door policy and anyone can speak to any senior manager or Managing Director at any time. The Director's Forum helps staff with any issues they may have and DMC Canotec feel this works very well for the company. DMC Canotec's MD walks around their office daily making sure everyone is ok and will even offer to make staff a cuppa!

Workplace Listening We have a devoted team of Workplace Listeners that have been trained to listen to other employees. A Workplace Listener is someone that employees can go to for a confidential chat to talk about something which may be bothering them. They offer a safe haven within the workplace when there is no one else that they can talk to. Employees can expect from a Workplace Listener respect, empathy, acceptance, openness, transparency and honesty. There is a dedicated Workplace Listening Room which ensures that there is always a private, confidential and safe environment for Workplace Listening Sessions to take place.

Workplace Listening We have a devoted team of Workplace Listeners that have been trained to listen to other employees. A Workplace Listener is someone that employees can go to for a confidential chat to talk about something which may be bothering them. They offer a safe haven within the workplace when there is no one else that they can talk to. Employees can expect from a Workplace Listener respect, empathy, acceptance, openness, transparency and honesty. There is a dedicated Workplace Listening Room which ensures that there is always a private, confidential and safe environment for Workplace Listening Sessions to take place.

One initiative the company have found to be particularly effective in enhancing the wellbeing of their people has been our Up For Fit team. They provide fresh fruit, organise sporting activities and social events. A combination of both sporting and social elements is the annual beach games which they have taken part in for the last three years. It provides people with an opportunity to exercise, socialise and develop relationships with their colleagues in a fun yet competitive atmosphere.

Cornish Mutual is passionately committed to giving back to their community. This year alone, they have raised over £12k for charitable causes as a result of more than 50 fundraising events ranging from a month of activity coinciding with Comic Relief, to regular “Bake-Offs” and Bingo Nights at Head Office. It's not just about fundraising though, the company also incorporate a “Volunteering Day” into their induction, where a team of new starters give up their working day to volunteer for a local charity – a recent group spent time painting the headquarters of a local children's charity. The company have also raise awareness of issues in their core community – the farming and agricultural sector in the South West. They have recently arranged 3 Health & Safety Workshops for both Members and Non-Members which cover a series of issues, with talks from expert speakers. These events are free to attend and are endorsed by the Health & Safety Executive.

Annually, each year Line Manager at Compassion UK can submit nominations for team members who have contributed in an outstanding way. The formal rewards are given on an employee receiving outstanding on their appraisal. The financial gift for last year was a £250 cash bonus. The company also allow informal rewards up to the amount of £25, which is in the form of a voucher.

At Compassion UK, their primary purpose, mission and values are promoted worldwide throughout all the partner and field countries through the global meeting held every six months. This is also video conferenced all over the world and staff come together to watch this. It is also reiterated through marketing to staff as well as being available in pdf and booklet form through company's intranet and is also included in the company's annual reports.

Each of the Columbus Senior Management team has worked at Columbus for more than 10 years. The Managing Director, 17 years, the Service Director 15 years and the Consultancy and Sales Director have both been employed by Columbus for over 10 years. They are all passionate about Columbus as a company, the employees and the customers. Throughout that time as the company has grown there has been a common goal around driving continuous improvement into all aspects of the company. The latest goal sums this up, “Employees and Customers for Life”. The management team continuously seek feedback from employees and customers, through surveys, roundtables, face to face meetings, suggestion boxes and brainstorming, and they act on the results. All of the team are extremely approachable and their door is always open. A key initiative for the team at present is a mentoring programme for other managers so that they can gain greater insight in to business and to help them with their career aspirations.

Many of the company's employees work on customer sites and it is therefore vital that they give them sufficient support to help make them successful and satisfied. The company does this in two ways. Number one is technology. Team members need to have access to relevant resources, collaborate with team members no matter where they are in the world and have up to date information. Along with Skype for Business, Yammer and an Intranet they also use OneNote from Microsoft. This gives every member of the project access to all the working notes, and as it is hosted in the cloud it is always available and up to date. Every project is broken up into sections such as must does, escalations, technical plans, communications, meetings and every one of the project inputs all their information. Projects can last for multiple months and involve many Columbus consultants, plus there are up to 30 projects on the go at any one time. So this collaborative tool has proved to be a great success. We also use a number of mobile apps to help the team, for example an expenses app helps the whole interaction with finance. The second key ingredient is people. The consultants in particular may not see much of their team mates even when they are working on the same project. So it is essential that the company bring the teams together on a regular basis to help build the bonds that form amazing teams. This is done on a departmental level and companywide level.

CHS's approach and decision making is reflective of the values of the organisation, with great emphasis on how they do things and how their customers feel about them. Respect - their Senior Management worked closely in developing and facilitating the company's behaviours based programme called 'Living our Values'. This workshop encourages participants to consider their approach and the impact it has on others. Through the workshop, the senior managers openly share their own personal and work related experiences, both positive and negative. Approach – CHS' Directors regularly go on 'Back to the Floor' visits to spend time with employees in different parts of the organisation. These are positively received by employees and the Directors. Partnership - in direct response to Best Companies feedback, they have launched an Employee Wellbeing Action Group. This is led by representatives from across CHS and jointly sponsored by two of their Directors. Directors attend operational team meetings across the organisation, building their connection to other teams and sharing knowledge. Openness - we have a truly consultative approach which runs throughout the organisation with staff, service users, customers and their wider community. Deliver - senior managers have refreshed their corporate vision, mission and logo, making them more accessible and representative of the organisation and allowing a clearer understanding of what employees need to do. They have gone back to basics and the emphasis is now on what, why and how they do it.

CHS' face to face training averages at 4 sessions per annum, per employee. With industry standards for Care Certificate being introduced in April this year, CHS have taken the opportunity to look at how they can provide the most practical and interactive induction process for experienced and new carers, in line with the standards within the Care Certificate. They have trained managers and Deputy Managers in Assessment methodology and introduced a 12 week programme that can be tailored to individuals experience and level of knowledge. They have chosen to go further than the minimum requirement to ensure that their staff are equipped with the skills and behaviours to deliver person centred care, in line with the company's Values. They have a policy commitment to develop the skills of their staff through study and a number of people have taken the option to study occupational qualifications. Diplomas/NVQs are actively encouraged and participation in Diplomas, in particular, in Care and Childcare. In the previous 12 months, 25 employees have completed their qualification and a further 52 are progressing, some of which are through apprenticeships.

Details on intranet of various events - bacon butties last week, Movember etc. All details of various events are on the staff intranet, recently the company took part in Movember, had charity donations for bacon baps to raise money for a local lady for cancer treatment in America,they also took part in the NSPCC HACK in the Mourne mountains and sponsored a local primary schools 10k fun run to name a few.

The company Values Do it Right, Do it Safe, Do it Now. This underpins every decision that is taken in the organisation. This has assisted greatly in the recruitment of new people as it allows the company to qualify applicants based on the cultural fit within the organisation. It also provides a mechanism for the management of existing CDE people and defining what they expect. Commitment to Innovation & the Environment the values say we will continually developing world beating products through innovation and will protect the environment. CDE Global was the first company in Northern Ireland to be accepted onto the Eco-Innovation programme from the EU. This programme supports the development of environmental technologies that have been successful in one EU member state but as yet have not achieved widespread adoption across the EU. Diverse company culture: The company values state they should never be satisfied with the status quo. As recently as 3 years ago English was the first language of everyone in the company. There are now 11 different languages spoken in the office on a daily basis. The company's Health & Safety Culture values state that they keep themselves and others safe. Following a recent HSE inspection the report commented on how Health & Safety was part of the culture in our organisation. Following the HSE inspection the company has joined a group of only 5 companies in Northern Ireland who have achieved the highest Health & Safety standards.

Caritas take the training & development of all staff seriously and recognise not only the benefit to the company, but the benefit to the employees themselves and how valued they feel by the business. Critical to identifying any areas requiring further development, each new starter has a monthly meeting for the first 6 months with their line Manager and their Director. These meetings are essential to monitor performance in line with expectations (new starter KPIs), and to identify any areas where an individual may need further support and/or training. Following a successful six month / probation review meeting, team members have a quarterly appraisal with these individuals in order to focus on achievements and to ascertain future goals and the training plan to underpin their appropriate career path. Underpinning these meetings, are weekly one-2-one meetings with line Managers, again with a view to identifying any training support needs. The company have an annual timetable detailing training courses for all staff for the year ahead, delivered by the in-house trainer, with follow up sessions including role play and refresher scenarios. In addition to the identification of staff training needs through regular one-2-ones and appraisals, the company use regular surveys to request opinions from their customers on their experience, so they can tailor their service offerings at a company level and gauge areas for development at a business level.

Caritas take the training & development of all staff seriously and recognise not only the benefit to the company, but the benefit to the employees themselves and how valued they feel by the business. Critical to identifying any areas requiring further development, each new starter has a monthly meeting for the first 6 months with their line Manager and their Director. These meetings are essential to monitor performance in line with expectations (new starter KPIs), and to identify any areas where an individual may need further support and/or training. Following a successful six month / probation review meeting, team members have a quarterly appraisal with these individuals in order to focus on achievements and to ascertain future goals and the training plan to underpin their appropriate career path. Underpinning these meetings, are weekly one-2-one meetings with line Managers, again with a view to identifying any training support needs. The company have an annual timetable detailing training courses for all staff for the year ahead, delivered by the in-house trainer, with follow up sessions including role play and refresher scenarios. In addition to the identification of staff training needs through regular one-2-ones and appraisals, the company use regular surveys to request opinions from their customers on their experience, so they can tailor their service offerings at a company level and gauge areas for development at a business level.

The leadership team regularly engage in a huddle to talk through business performance, highlight any concerns, and share important updates with one another. They are always very collaborative in their approach, and role model exemplar behaviours in the way they manage and lead the business. They each individually attend team huddles on a regular basis to understand how the teams are performing, listen to their concerns, and provide support and guidance where needed. The leadership team also always dedicate time for an FAQs session at the quarterly Company meeting, On The Horizon as an opportunity for employees to ask questions and voice their ideas or opinions. The culture is very inclusive, and this is driven by the leadership team.

Last year saw the introduction of New Ways of Working which has continued to inspire a cultural change in the way the company thinks about agency workflows at an individual and collective level. Essentially, it provides teams with a new set of techniques to approach every day issues experienced. Teams are equipped with a whiteboard, known as an ‘Information Centre', designed to drive discussion at regular huddles. The huddles have continued to be a success in driving team interaction throughout this year, opening up a forum to discuss performance, share successes and highlight any concerns. They have been an integral part of improving communication and ensuring everyone is kept informed of targets and progress against these. Alongside team huddles, everyone at Carat comes together on a weekly basis to share important updates or successes, showcase campaigns, and introduce new starters. Similarly, the leadership team hold On The Horizon on a quarterly basis to communicate how Carat have been performing and what's next for them, as a business. Employees have the opportunity to ask questions and share thoughts to gain the most from these sessions.

They work closely with other organisations to make their community engagement more meaningful, and frequently get involved in their activities and fundraising, from a financial and practical point of view. Where they have most success though is where they provide time and resources to help community organisations, who would otherwise not have access to such facilities. The MD donates a lot of his own time in a unique way, he is regularly approached to make speeches and presentations for business events. Their Infrastructure & Shared Services Director is Chair of the Pride of Tameside Business Awards and a member of the local Authorities Prosperous Board which is about sharing the resources and knowledge of a large employer in the local region with smaller businesses, to generate growth and investment in the local community.

They hold annual Health & Wellbeing events, where colleagues can access a variety of services and information relating to their personnel health and wellbeing. These are very popular in the company, and are well attended and supported events. Amongst the things that are accessible to staff are head & neck Massages, advice on quitting smoking, advice on weight loss, taster sessions of sports and activities, advice and samples of healthy food, sight and hearing tests, help and advice on personal safety, help and advice on motoring/driver safety, blood pressure checks, access to help and advice on men's and women's health issues and many more depending on colleague requests, and relevant topics. As a result of their various activities on Wellbeing they were awarded a special recognition from Investors in People.