What are companies doing with regards to 'Leadership'

Financial Planning Manager and Head Office working groups are groups that represent views of all regional teams and Head Office teams to act as a sounding board and help implement new initiatives. These groups have been responsible for the implementation of many new activities to make working life better at SFS. Every quarter briefings are run for Head Office staff by senior management to give an update to all staff on what is going on within the business. It demonstrates the values in which the business is run on and keeps everyone informed of how the business is performing and what its key priorities are.

Andrew Barker joined SFS over 22 years ago as their Technical Manager and has subsequently worked his way up to become Managing Director in 2011. Due to his experience of working in SFS, Andrew has extensive knowledge of the whole business and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by staff in each area. With this in mind, he maintains open engagement with his staff at all levels and has launched many innovative staff engagement initiatives such as License to Grill where staff can ‘grill' him in team meetings and License to Chuck. Andrew is committed to attend every Financial Planning Manager Roadshow nationwide and is a guest at department team meetings once a year. He also holds quarterly business update briefings to all HO staff and issues a monthly update email with his personal thoughts. Upon his appointment to MD, he abolished the MD's private office and remains seated with his colleagues. Andrew asked for this room to be used for study purposes to help staff who want to gain further qualifications to enhance their career. Andrew is well liked by many staff due to his ability to engage with people on all levels. Whilst he is already well respected for his knowledge of the business, he is well known for encouraging a ‘fun element' to working for SFS by organising many staff events and competitions and with his references to popular culture, which he often demonstrates in his presentations to staff. At previous conferences, Andrew has taken part in a comedy video and the outtakes often sees him at the end of a joke, and for this, amongst many other things he does, he is respected by staff for not taking himself too seriously and they see him as very approachable.

Salford Royal operate an annual Staff Awards scheme which last year saw more than 200 individuals or teams nominated for being compassionate, supportive and dedicated to providing excellent patient care. More than 600 staff attended their most recent event, which saw awards for Collaboration, Administrative worker, Doctor, and Team of the Year. Staff nominated people within the award categories and they then vote for their preferred winner when the shortlist is announced. The Patient's Star Award gives patients and relatives the opportunity to nominate a team or individual who had gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide exceptional care, support or treatment. The shortlist is then put to the public vote in the local paper.

Salford Royal operate an annual Staff Awards scheme which last year saw more than 200 individuals or teams nominated for being compassionate, supportive and dedicated to providing excellent patient care. More than 600 staff attended their most recent event, which saw awards for Collaboration, Administrative worker, Doctor, and Team of the Year. Staff nominated people within the award categories and they then vote for their preferred winner when the shortlist is announced. The Patient's Star Award gives patients and relatives the opportunity to nominate a team or individual who had gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide exceptional care, support or treatment. The shortlist is then put to the public vote in the local paper.

In October 2013 Robin Partington & Partners introduced an employee benefit trust element into their limited company structure. Any member of staff who is with them on a permanent appointment and after one year's employment is entitled to call themselves a Partner of the firm. Once a Partner, they are eligible to receive dividends, if the Company makes profit in excess of that needed to be retained for future growth and investment. Their dividend structure is based on a points system whereby members 'earn' more points (thus a larger share of the pot) for increased salary and length of service.

To assist in giving structure to their team members development, Robin Partington & Partners implemented a career guideline which has six levels within their Company and each level has nine grades, split equally between ‘Arrivals', ‘Duty Free' and ‘Departures' . Each level has a Job Description that explains what is expected from that role. To explain the method to their madness…Arrivals is for those who have just moved into a new level and are getting used to the respective role and responsibilities, but are not yet proficient or adept and are busy finding their feet. Duty Free is for those who are comfortable in that role and are busy banking experience and expertise with Departures being for those who are ready to move up to the next level and are busy acquiring the necessary launching skills for that move. Robin Partington & Partners believe that the levels and job descriptions they have in place provide a clear and transparent structure for the practice, encouraging a strong sense of ownership of projects and the Company as a whole. They take professional development very seriously and hold performance appraisals twice annually to provide an opportunity for all their staff to review their performance from the previous year, and consider opportunities to develop and grow in the year to come, including any help, support or training that the Company can provide. Robin Partington & Partners have designed the process to help their team to think about their role using a combination of self assessment and peer feedback to encourage real, meaningful and helpful conversations….it is always good to find the time to talk. They have found that regular reality checks work for all concerned, the individual and the Company, helping to ensure that skills are recognised and individuals are valued at an appropriate level within the Company, using the job descriptions as a guide. They do their best to avoid any potential mismatch between expectation and reward. Their performance appraisals are intended to be simple, engaging and painless, but do require time and careful thought to get the most out of it. A combination of self-assessment and peer feedback encourages real, meaningful and helpful conversations, so that you know where you stand, what is expected and what to do next in order to progress.

Since their last engagement survey Powertecnique have implemented a dress down Friday policy to allow staff a more casual day in the office. This has improved morale without negatively affecting productivity. A win win! They are also currently in the process of investigating improved private health & pension offerings for their staff. A company wide pay review is also due to be commenced as pay was raised as a concern from the latest survey.

Their managing director does his utmost to engage with staff at all levels in a friendly manner. He's not afraid of being the butt of a joke & their regularly published internal newsletter (PowerNews) often leads with a terrible picture of Darren.

Junior consultants are given rewards such as tailor made suits, watches and pens when they achieve certain milestones in their career. This has proven particularly successful allowing them to feel successful and to have visible reminders of their success. These rewards are very sought after. They have also run incentives for colleagues around additional training and enhanced training personal budgets for individuals which have proven popular.

Potensis's internal coaching is very strong. New starters receive 6 months of training and development with a buddy/mentor, formal training, training assignments, weekly reviews and personal projects. This scheme has been really well received by their new starters and has allowed them to hire people with no previous recruitment experience.

Overbury have various channels for feedback and continuous improvement. The most direct is through Delivering Exceptional Experience Tours. These are run fortnightly and give members of staff an opportunity to visit their sites and see how sites are being managed and run. The tours facilitate and promote the sharing of ideas and best practice. Another important source of feedback comes from their clients. Customer Experience Questionnaires (CEQs) are completed on every job and the feedback is shared across the business so others can see what the client has liked and not liked. Ideas can be filtered to management through team meetings, forum meetings or in ad hoc one to ones. Culturally they consider themselves to be an open organisation where innovation and challenge are encouraged. This is manifested physically in the open plan nature of each of their offices.

As an organisation with little hierarchy the CEO Chris will regularly work directly with delivery teams preparing for bids and/or act as a point of contact for clients to build senior relationships as required. As part of normal practice the teams hold regular meetings that Chris will always make himself available for. In addition Chris, and his Board support their Induction Programme facilitating discussion on the company's core values. At a more strategic level Chris provides oversight and guidance to the team MDs as required but more importantly provides the space and resources for them to deliver against divisional and group targets and objectives. Chris focuses on initiatives that cut across teams and helps prioritise activity across Overbury to best support team delivery and maximise resource efficiency. This is managed through a business forum governance structure.

Every year Nucleus sponsor a nominated charity, chosen by the staff. Throughout the year they do various different fund raising events in order to raise awareness for the charity. By doing so, this also reaches out to their wider community, and helps them raise large amounts for causes close to their staff. This year they have had three key fund raising events, as well as regular smaller activities throughout the year. In June a large group of staff entered a Dragon Boat race at Ocean Terminal in Edinburgh, and raced against lots of different local companies. Their group successfully raised the most money for charity, despite the fact they lost out on the races themselves! At the end of August, four members of staff risked their lives doing a skydive to raise money for the charity! They overcame their fears, and raised a huge amount in the process. September saw a group of four staff, including David, their CEO, compete in the Great Scottish Run. A couple of people hobbled away from it, but they successfully raised thousands of pounds for their worthy charity partner!

Every year Nucleus sponsor a nominated charity, chosen by the staff. Throughout the year they do various different fund raising events in order to raise awareness for the charity. By doing so, this also reaches out to their wider community, and helps them raise large amounts for causes close to their staff. This year they have had three key fund raising events, as well as regular smaller activities throughout the year. In June a large group of staff entered a Dragon Boat race at Ocean Terminal in Edinburgh, and raced against lots of different local companies. Their group successfully raised the most money for charity, despite the fact they lost out on the races themselves! At the end of August, four members of staff risked their lives doing a skydive to raise money for the charity! They overcame their fears, and raised a huge amount in the process. September saw a group of four staff, including David, their CEO, compete in the Great Scottish Run. A couple of people hobbled away from it, but they successfully raised thousands of pounds for their worthy charity partner!

The leader of NYAS has an inclusive style of management, promotes a learning culture and not a blame culture. Employees learn from mistakes and move on. She genuinely seeks the views of others, actively listens. When suggestions are not taken up or implemented she always acknowledges them, explains the consideration process and the rational for the decision taken. She keeps to deadlines and has the confidence of staff as the organisational leader.

The leader of NYAS has an inclusive style of management, promotes a learning culture and not a blame culture. Employees learn from mistakes and move on. She genuinely seeks the views of others, actively listens. When suggestions are not taken up or implemented she always acknowledges them, explains the consideration process and the rational for the decision taken. She keeps to deadlines and has the confidence of staff as the organisational leader.

McFarlane Telfer operates performance management reviews - job chats every six months which provides an opportunity to feedback on their role and involvement within the company as well as their own individual performance. This is also an opportunity to raise any feedback to their line manager. Less formally everyone has the opportunity to and is encouraged to feedback ideas, thoughts or ideas for improvement. These are acted on and investigated. Examples being reviews to the processes within the tablets the engineers use to a review of the HR database. Staff surveys are completed at least once during each year. A significant part of involving people in decisions is the Comms meetings which are monthly and involve all employees. Presentations are given by a range of people always welcomed by the MD. This is a genuine and established way they engage people and seek their feedback either during the meeting or during smaller workshops afterwards. They believe this is a truly innovative way to enable people to feedback ideas and suggestions in person. Feedback from new starters after their first Comms meeting is really positive, seeing the whole company together in one room. This does cost the business - engineers off the road for half a day a month, but this is viewed as an investment that works.

McFarlane Telfer operates performance management reviews - job chats every six months which provides an opportunity to feedback on their role and involvement within the company as well as their own individual performance. This is also an opportunity to raise any feedback to their line manager. Less formally everyone has the opportunity to and is encouraged to feedback ideas, thoughts or ideas for improvement. These are acted on and investigated. Examples being reviews to the processes within the tablets the engineers use to a review of the HR database. Staff surveys are completed at least once during each year. A significant part of involving people in decisions is the Comms meetings which are monthly and involve all employees. Presentations are given by a range of people always welcomed by the MD. This is a genuine and established way they engage people and seek their feedback either during the meeting or during smaller workshops afterwards. They believe this is a truly innovative way to enable people to feedback ideas and suggestions in person. Feedback from new starters after their first Comms meeting is really positive, seeing the whole company together in one room. This does cost the business - engineers off the road for half a day a month, but this is viewed as an investment that works.

Malcolm Hollis want all of their employees to be confident and comfortable and to raise, ask a question or voice a concern. Malcolm Hollis understand that speaking up can be daunting for some, which is the reason they have an initiative called ‘AskJohn', a confidential system allowing them to anonymously pose your questions by email. The responses to these are published to all staff with the identity of the person asking the question remaining anonymous. Their open plan seating arrangements with senior members of staff seated alongside more junior members also naturally promotes ideas and feedback as do regular team and manager meetings across departments.

Malcolm Hollis want all of their employees to be confident and comfortable and to raise, ask a question or voice a concern. Malcolm Hollis understand that speaking up can be daunting for some, which is the reason they have an initiative called ‘AskJohn', a confidential system allowing them to anonymously pose your questions by email. The responses to these are published to all staff with the identity of the person asking the question remaining anonymous. Their open plan seating arrangements with senior members of staff seated alongside more junior members also naturally promotes ideas and feedback as do regular team and manager meetings across departments.