State of Engagement 2026 Report |
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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.
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.
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.
The Charles Russell Bard Award is BARD's premier recognition and reward program for outstanding corporate and community citizenship. Winners receive an all-expenses paid trip to New York with a partner. The Eureka award is for an employee who has a moment of brilliance. Maybe they have come up with a cost saving suggestion of significant consequence or put together a new process/initiative that contributed to a successful end result. The Outstanding Service Award is for the employee who exudes Bard's values of ‘Quality, Integrity, Service and Innovation'. The Allstars Award recognises and reward exceptional results and contributions of a team that had a significant impact on the business. The Presidents Club is for sales employees who have maintained their target 3 out of 4 years consecutively and receive a trip of a lifetime to the Four Seasons Resort on the island of Mauritius and partners. The Directors Club includes £3,000.00 bonus on entry, extra day's holiday, a 2 day annual meeting full of treats such as helicopter rides, wine tasting etc. The One is the quarterly sales person of the quarter and includes criteria other than sales numbers i.e. additional training, supporting colleagues. The winner receives their name in lights and £500 John Lewis vouchers.
By engaging in the best companies survey process it has demonstrated that engagement is on the strategic agenda for the business. The focus is on receiving employee feedback and acting on it, rather than on the score they receive. An employer branding initiative has been launched by the company.
By engaging in the best companies survey process it has demonstrated that engagement is on the strategic agenda for the business. The focus is on receiving employee feedback and acting on it, rather than on the score they receive. An employer branding initiative has been launched by the company.
They have a dedicated training budget open to all employees to develop their careers. Progression plans are put in place, allowing all employees to monitor and track their development in their role. Quarterly and annual appraisals are offered to all staff as well as 360 feedback sessions with an independent, external representative. In addition to this, all employees are encouraged to take part in internal training sessions, from Social Media Academy classes, to French Club, Code Club and professional masterclass sessions in PowerPoint and Excel. Managers are also encouraged to participate in management training courses to help them progress their careers and develop stronger people skills.
The Avecto induction process takes place over a week. All employees go through this process regardless of role or experience. The induction process includes presentations from every department in the business so all new staff have a thorough understanding of the company. Their employees are cut from the same cloth: hard-working, passionate and driven individuals.
They have a dedicated training budget open to all employees to develop their careers. Progression plans are put in place, allowing all employees to monitor and track their development in their role. Quarterly and annual appraisals are offered to all staff as well as 360 feedback sessions with an independent, external representative. In addition to this, all employees are encouraged to take part in internal training sessions, from Social Media Academy classes, to French Club, Code Club and professional masterclass sessions in PowerPoint and Excel. Managers are also encouraged to participate in management training courses to help them progress their careers and develop stronger people skills.
The company's mission, vision and values are communicated in all that they do, in their actions, what they say and how they say it and in their interactions with one another, and relationships with those they work with.
The company offers a range of learning and development opportunities. At the early stages they contribute between 80 - 100% of the cost of formal qualifications and provide time off for study, as well as making studio facilities available for colleagues and their fellow students. For mid-level colleagues they offer many opportunities to get involved in the day to day activity of practice life, to gain experience, tap into creativity, and to build knowledge through sharing activities. Activities range from weekly CPD events, evening master classes with external experts, team presentations, external led training workshops, and many different fun design competitions. They run surveys asking colleagues to select the topics and areas that they are interested in learning more about and programmes are created from there to included voice coaching, presentation skills master classes, time management sessions, and leadership training. All of these are developed in tandem with the strategic business plan for the UK each year. Most training is open to all colleagues, however there are a few initiatives which are aimed at certain groups or individuals according to skill level or role within the company. Management and leadership training for example is a perfect example of this whereby learning the ropes of people management and team leadership is important to certain colleagues and not others, depending on the stage they are at within their careers.
The company offers a range of learning and development opportunities. At the early stages they contribute between 80 - 100% of the cost of formal qualifications and provide time off for study, as well as making studio facilities available for colleagues and their fellow students. For mid-level colleagues they offer many opportunities to get involved in the day to day activity of practice life, to gain experience, tap into creativity, and to build knowledge through sharing activities. Activities range from weekly CPD events, evening master classes with external experts, team presentations, external led training workshops, and many different fun design competitions. They run surveys asking colleagues to select the topics and areas that they are interested in learning more about and programmes are created from there to included voice coaching, presentation skills master classes, time management sessions, and leadership training. All of these are developed in tandem with the strategic business plan for the UK each year. Most training is open to all colleagues, however there are a few initiatives which are aimed at certain groups or individuals according to skill level or role within the company. Management and leadership training for example is a perfect example of this whereby learning the ropes of people management and team leadership is important to certain colleagues and not others, depending on the stage they are at within their careers.
The company has their values printed on blocks and placed around their offices in the UK, Australia and America. They use these tiles all over their collateral and are all constantly reminded of their purpose and goals.
If an employee has given an outstanding contribution to the organisation they will be recognised by the management team for their efforts. They can receive a bronze. silver or gold award which represents varying monetary rewards. Gold 5%, Silver 3%, Bronze, 1% (percentage of annual salary). The managing Director delivers the awards to the selected employees and their pay slips are adjusted accordingly.
Constantly at the forefront of technology, they are Market leaders in the implementation of Skype for Business and innovators within the UC hosted market. The leaders' commitment to staff development is consistent and rewarding allowing the company to be competitive and exceptionally knowledgeable in their field of expertise. They respond to the customer quickly and efficiently and work quickly with partners to meet customer demand. Leaders are always available and constantly consider suggestions from the business. Processes are created with the customer experience in mind, understanding them and our value to them. The company is dedicated solely to one channel partner and they develop strategies and forecasts in support of this partner without having to compromise to accommodate other parties. Their commitment is dedicated to their service which has been determined by their leaders. The company deliver the best available service, on time and within budget and are able to do this because of the level of commitment from their leaders with regard to their on-going training and support.
The company has a senior management team with a very open and honest attitude, and particularly that the Founding Partners live and breathe the values, and demonstrate them. It starts with the welcome induction from their founder. They do lots to support and engender a push towards innovation and being remarkable; tangible initiatives like the Tech Bench (an area that holds pioneering edge tech gadgets that aids our research and development) to intangible things as having a simply open door policy for advice. The company focus less on departments and instead on small ‘pods' of people who are committed to a project from start to completion. The small teams approach extends beyond client projects and into agency operations where responsibility is devolved down to the level of the people on the ground to make decisions they seem appropriate. Each quarter the senior management team host a compulsory attendance company gathering.
The company has weekly departmental meeting for staff to become empowered with the freedom of idea and knowledge share in the agency. Monthly open door sessions are held with HR on an informal basis and follow up meetings and progress reports are produced to that staff can see their opinion counts. The company believes an open culture promotes a feeling of freedom. A programme called AnalogFolk Labs gives all staff an opportunity to spend part of their time working on innovation projects of their own. In addition to being a big morale boost, they have found AnalogFolk Labs to be a great way to keep the mind sharp, not to mention produce a few incredible products along the way.
One of the core values as a company is ‘Be Remarkable'. On the surface this sounds like a grand statement that rewards BIG achievements, but this is not the case. ‘Be Remarkable' is about approaching every part of your day with the same enthusiasm and always striving to go the extra mile (or meter, or centimetre). Their platform for rewarding Folk follows the same ethos. Whilst they do have big rewards for some of the biggest stars like our Global Exchange Programme, the opportunity to work in our micro-network of offices in London, NY, Sydney, Portland and Hong Kong they are passionate about ensuring Folk are rewarded for doing the little things. Nothing symbolises this more than their Weekly Nominations where Folk submit their nominations for a remarkable performer of the week. Nominations are read out at the Friday meeting with each nominee receiving a warm ovation and the winner a playful prize. We reward our Folk for their dedication and loyalty by celebrating their AnalogFolk birthday by gifts and gestures. Service is also rewarded with enhanced benefits.
The Senior Management Team takes pride in demonstrating the company values through their own behaviour and leading by example. The 2014 Employee survey showed that communication of future Company plans by the Senior Management Team to all staff inspired people in the workforce to perform well. Their approach and the employee's confidence in the Senior Management Team gets the best from their people. They have an excellent approach to open and honest communication – no-one fears voicing an opinion or challenging ‘the norm'. All Senior Managers have an open door policy. Quarterly staff meetings are held to keep everyone abreast of both Company and Fairfax group information, company performance, financial figures and other relative industry news. They also have weekly underwriting meetings to share and discuss progress, business wins, etc.
Investment in people is paramount to the organisation and its success. Having a budget to spend on staff development is as important as a budget for IT, facilities, etc. The current annual Learning and Development budget is in the region of £300,000. As part of the performance review process a learning and development plan is designed for each member of staff for the forthcoming 12 months. These plans typically include skill development, technology, professional education and qualifications, coaching and mentoring, management development, overseas secondments. They also invest in the Emerging Talent Programme and in 2014 developed and introduced the Advent Graduate Programme, which offers an 18 months placement with a structured training and development timetable which encompasses secondment in each area of the business. Financial support is given to all employees studying for all relevant professional qualifications, which includes paid study leave and time for examinations. Requests are welcome from staff for any qualifications or external training courses that they feel would enhance their personal development and/or the business. The company pays for annual professional membership fees and training courses are regularly held and run by external providers for development of the Managers. At the beginning of each year the Senior Management team goes off site for a three day strategic business planning and objective setting seminar which ensures that business and personal development objectives are aligned to support the overall business objectives and goal.
As well as being embedded in day to day culture and work life, employees are aware of the company ambition and primary purpose from the first day that they join the company. They are advised of the company values at their first day HR induction session, and again when they have a meeting with the Head of HR within their first two weeks of employment, where they are talked through the guiding principles and values of the company and the background of how they were derived. They celebrate actions that embrace these values by sharing news of such successes throughout the company, either in person at staff briefings, or by email communication from a senior manager. These help to reiterate and promote values and principles on a regular basis.
Mark Brown, Managing Director, hosts quarterly improvement meetings with the objective of meeting the challenges consultants face on a day-to-day basis. Each representative canvases their colleagues for challenges and suggestions which are communicated at the meeting. Action points and minutes are distributed with timelines for suggestions that can be implemented. The quarterly Marketing forums allow consultants to feed back ideas they have about that aspect of the business. They also have a suggestions box. All suggestions are taken seriously and many of them have been implemented as a result.
Mark Brown, Managing Director, hosts quarterly improvement meetings with the objective of meeting the challenges consultants face on a day-to-day basis. Each representative canvases their colleagues for challenges and suggestions which are communicated at the meeting. Action points and minutes are distributed with timelines for suggestions that can be implemented. The quarterly Marketing forums allow consultants to feed back ideas they have about that aspect of the business. They also have a suggestions box. All suggestions are taken seriously and many of them have been implemented as a result.
Mark Brown, Managing Director, hosts quarterly improvement meetings with the objective of meeting the challenges consultants face on a day-to-day basis. Each representative canvases their colleagues for challenges and suggestions which are communicated at the meeting. Action points and minutes are distributed with timelines for suggestions that can be implemented. The quarterly Marketing forums allow consultants to feed back ideas they have about that aspect of the business. They also have a suggestions box. All suggestions are taken seriously and many of them have been implemented as a result.
Every year UKRD hold full day training events for every team across the company which focuses upon their core values and ambitions and in addition, at each location, business teams are also taken out of their environments for team building days whether it be survival training, sailing or a day at the races.
The manner in which UKRD operates and are required to do so by the company's core values necessitate operating in a way that aligns their management style and how they manage with company's values.
Every year UKRD hold full day training events for every team across the company which focuses upon their core values and ambitions and in addition, at each location, business teams are also taken out of their environments for team building days whether it be survival training, sailing or a day at the races.
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