What are companies doing with regards to 'Leadership'

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.

The senior management team constantly promotes core values to their current customer and prospects as it is part of their organisation presentation and introduction. The core values are indeed a real competitive advantage and are definitely part of their strategic objectives and are reflected in their employees individual objectives too.

L&D programmes include: Trusted Advisor (which challenges assumptions they should come up with the right answer in order to build trust with others); Persuasive Communication (challenges a natural reliance on PowerPoint heavy presenting, to instead present in a meaningful, memorable and enjoyable way to the audience); and Coaching Conversations equipping employees with valuable questioning and listening skills so that clients can fully explore their business issues in a supportive way. They also have a programme that aims to equip consultants to feel confident to talk externally about their skills and experience. Shortlisted for CIPD Award Best L&D Initiative, 'Go to Expert' enables individuals to embrace the opportunity to share their expertise, whilst remaining authentic and to think differently about the world of sales - understanding the different stages of the buying cycle, recognising that every conversation is, in some way, a sales conversation and to be viewed as ‘Go to Experts' in their field and effectively equip them to position themselves externally in this way. This programme contributed to achieving ambitious growth targets. Furthermore, they have seen a step change in the way their consultant's position themselves to clients with a greater emphasis on how they help businesses in their terms.

The company host an annual quiz inviting many businesses in Reading to take part which is increasing in popularity year on year. They take part in the annual ‘Legal Walk' in Reading along with other organisations that have an interest in the law. Blandy & Blandy also submit an annual team to the town's ‘Pancake Race'. Their probate team participate in many initiatives including ‘Dementia Friends' and recently in a Reading event organised for supporting older people. The last Friday of the month is a MUFTI day with employees donating £1 to wear more casual clothing. In addition to this the company have a Christmas jumper day, Jeans for Genes and have a toy collection for Helen and Douglas House hospices.

Blandy & Blandy encourage junior staff to pursue qualifications to enable them to become fee-earning legal executives or assistants. Other functions are encouraged to pursue professional qualifications such as marketing and finance.

Being an international company with offices all over the globe, Blackbaud are lucky to be able to offer their employees ‘international placements' as rewards for outstanding performances. It is not unusual for them to have colleagues from their Charleston, Sydney and Brisbane offices doing regular stints in London and vice versa. The company find that this not only fulfils lifetime ambitions for their employee's but it is also a great way of intercompany skill and knowledge sharing.

Being an international company with offices all over the globe, Blackbaud are lucky to be able to offer their employees ‘international placements' as rewards for outstanding performances. It is not unusual for them to have colleagues from their Charleston, Sydney and Brisbane offices doing regular stints in London and vice versa. The company find that this not only fulfils lifetime ambitions for their employee's but it is also a great way of intercompany skill and knowledge sharing.

BKL want team-members to develop their careers and progress at the firm. The company take pride in being a meritocracy. They have a dedicated talent team, creating clear job descriptions, competency frameworks and targets so team-members receive frequent, useful, on-going feedback. They use a range of tools such as team appraisals, regular reviews and 360 feedbacks to ensure the team get the right level of support. BKL encourage team-members to track their own development and give them the tools to do this, such as work/training passports. Passports help trainees understand expectations for work and training opportunities they have whilst studying with BKL and follow on into qualifications. This provides a detailed plan of what training they should receive and when, the type of work they will be exposed to and responsibilities they will take on. The passports are reviewed on a regular basis with the HR team to ensure each individual's development is kept on-track. This is integrated into their appraisal (PDR) system and is a valuable tool for setting targets. For trainees, they provide full study support, including paid time off throughout their training contract, through highly-regarded study providers. Team-members have access to a wide range of training and development opportunities, including external professional qualification courses, practical skills, management training and CPD level training. There are regular internal programs like Induction sessions, Tax seminars (run by their award-winning Tax team), audit master-classes, IT skills and personal development sessions. All new team-members are assigned a buddy to help support them.

The values of the firm are integrated into everything they do and the senior management team lead by example. The partners see the values as paramount to the success of BKL. The partners were instrumental to the values launch at Chickenshed; and actively continued discussions about the values through follow-up sessions with team members. The values form a fundamental part of how BKL interview, recruit and select new team members; their induction process involves a partner providing an introduction to their values to all new team members. In the PDR appraisal process, values are integral to setting targets. They also use them in their competency profiles and how they measure behaviours. Partners regularly nominate team members for exemplifying the values of the practice and encourage others within the firm to nominate colleagues. The values are highlighted in the company regular communication sessions - ‘From the Horse's Mouth', to which all team members are invited. They are used in a wide variety of communications within the firm, such as articles in their newsletter, often produced by senior management. Even their tea and coffee mugs help remind them of their values, as well as the art work in the boardrooms, signage in the stairways and BKL stationery. Key decisions for the practice are always made using the values. When faced with difficult decisions on how to proceed, the partners use the values as a framework for deciding on the best possible options for the firm and encourage team-members to do the same

At Bindmans, the business plan has recently been updated for the next 3 years and presented to all their colleagues. There is also a competition for colleagues to describe 'Bindmans in a nutshell', there is a prize for the best catchy phrase that can be used to describe and market the firm.Also, a welcome pack is sent in advance of a new employee's start date that has details of facilities around the firm's location (lunch time venues, dry cleaners etc.), key policies and an introduction to the firm with the induction schedule. New starters have a full day of induction with follow up sessions. There is an organisation chart with photos. New starters are also introduced around the firm.

At Bindmans, the business plan has recently been updated for the next 3 years and presented to all their colleagues. There is also a competition for colleagues to describe 'Bindmans in a nutshell', there is a prize for the best catchy phrase that can be used to describe and market the firm.Also, a welcome pack is sent in advance of a new employee's start date that has details of facilities around the firm's location (lunch time venues, dry cleaners etc.), key policies and an introduction to the firm with the induction schedule. New starters have a full day of induction with follow up sessions. There is an organisation chart with photos. New starters are also introduced around the firm.

In an industry where only 10% of staff work part time, Berkley PR support over 30% of their staff to work part time hours. The radio is on playing music that only the under 30's know the words to. It is interrupted every once in a while by a ‘whoop' or a ‘shriek' as someone sees that they have secured a great piece of press coverage for their client, some of their staff are especially good at doing this. The highest paid 24 year old earns £29,600. It's a young and dynamic atmosphere but a nurturing one at the same time. While the vagaries of the school run, the under 10s' football squad and chicken pox may be alien to their cohort of young aspirational millennials, they benefit from the culture and the example set by the (mostly part time) senior team that a successful, hardworking career and a happy, balanced personal life can go hand in hand.

The company's quarterly offsite meetings are a time to relax and raise consciousness about the fantastic company they are all part of. Over the many years of running QRMs they have experienced a wide range of activities varying from making James Bond films in the grounds of luxury hotels including an evening Oscar ceremony, Watersports, Boat Trips along the Thames, trips to Marbella, Longleat, etc. This is a unique opportunity, within working hours, for staff to interact and communicate outside of the confines of the workplace.