What are companies doing with regards to 'Leadership'

What effect will focus on the 'Leadership' factor have?

Leadership - How employees feel about the head of the organisation, senior management and the organisation's values and principles

Leadership has the biggest influence on how employees feel about the organisation.

Leaders need to create inspiring visions and provide clear direction to positively Impact the
My Company factor.

When it comes to
Wellbeing, no amount of free fruit or stress busting classes are going to address an imbalance. Employee Wellbeing is a by-product of the leadership and management culture.

If there’s pressure at the top of your organisation, it won’t take long to be felt throughout.

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GLH Ltd

GLH are more than happy to make any necessary adjustment to employees' working hours, conditions and arrangements, including installing a BT line, providing a laptop and network access to support employees with working from home. Again their Second Eleven meetings are important component of this work – employees are invited twice a year to give feedback directly to the Directors. They provide subsidised memberships to sports clubs and have company wide tennis and football teams.

GLH Ltd have two major community investment partners, who they work closely with to develop and run initiatives. At the Archer Academy they provide them with more strategic level support and assist in embedding sustainability into their three year Development Plan. They are also co-creating and delivering a series of thematic learning sessions based on sustainability and stakeholder engagement with this academy. This involved their lead for sustainability sharing her experience of addressing sustainability. Within the last three months they have fully funded the new library and ran an employee engagement campaign to secure hundreds of donated books. GLH are now in the process of establishing a Literature Buddies Scheme. At Totteridge Academy GLH support the on-going development of the John Scott Nature Reserve. This challenging project has seen students, teachers and their employees convert an untamed and unused wilderness area of the school grounds into a thriving eco-system and outdoor learning space, that is accessible to around 3000 students locally. Activities include undertaking a thorough litter pick, mapping and sampling the biodiversity across the seasons, clearing lots of brambles, creating habitats, a pond area and small vegetable growing site, as well as installing benches and tables for learning. Alongside this they run workshops to build students understanding of biodiversity and eco-systems. This project is part of the wider Eco-Mission sustainability education programme, this enables young people to secure the knowledge, experience and skills to become leaders in the emerging sustainable economy, as well as providing employee volunteering opportunities.

GLH are more than happy to make any necessary adjustment to employees' working hours, conditions and arrangements, including installing a BT line, providing a laptop and network access to support employees with working from home. Again their Second Eleven meetings are important component of this work – employees are invited twice a year to give feedback directly to the Directors. They provide subsidised memberships to sports clubs and have company wide tennis and football teams.

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Gentoo Group Ltd

Gentoo's Group Chief Executive Peter is a very conceptual thinker and uses this to challenge and inspire those people around him. He regularly asks both his direct team and those in the wider organisation to re-imagine how they work or the services that they offer. He is very good at spotting talent and taking people out of their day job to work on projects or activities. Peter was central to the development of Genie, their product that is neither a mortgage or rental but a brand new way of owning a home without the need for a mortgage or deposit. This has resulted in 86 people to date choosing this as their way of owning their own home in Sunderland. This product was developed by Peter locking a team away for 6 weeks to come up with a solution to the current housing crisis. He has recently been asked to be an ambassador for HRH the Prince of Wales as a reflection of the work that Gentoo have done as a ‘responsible business' and he is focused on making an impact in the next two years that he will have this role.

Gentoo believe in celebrating all of their successes as well as the hard work and dedication of their staff. Each year their Chief Executive hosts their annual Grafta's black tie dinner. This year's event saw 190 of their staff attend and some receive awards from one of nine categories which include the Phoenix Award, the Bright Spark award, the Facilitator Award, the award for Collaboration, an award for Blue Sky Thinking, the Acrobat award, outstanding leadership and the One to Watch award for their up and coming stars. The awards have been designed to inspire the right behaviour in their employees. At the event they also celebrate the academic achievements of colleagues and the long service of colleagues. The Housing sector has faced a very challenging year and like many organisations both within their sector and across the UK in general, Gentoo has had a tough year but they've survived. In fact they've grown, and continue to make a huge difference to the lives of the people who live in their properties. In order to do this Gentoo's staff have given all they've got to deliver their challenging goals. In recognition for this hard work the Groups Chief Executive has given all staff an extra days holiday which is not only to recognise their hard work and commitment but also to improve their art of living by enabling them to spend more time away form work with their family and friends.

Gentoo believe in celebrating all of their successes as well as the hard work and dedication of their staff. Each year their Chief Executive hosts their annual Grafta's black tie dinner. This year's event saw 190 of their staff attend and some receive awards from one of nine categories which include the Phoenix Award, the Bright Spark award, the Facilitator Award, the award for Collaboration, an award for Blue Sky Thinking, the Acrobat award, outstanding leadership and the One to Watch award for their up and coming stars. The awards have been designed to inspire the right behaviour in their employees. At the event they also celebrate the academic achievements of colleagues and the long service of colleagues. The Housing sector has faced a very challenging year and like many organisations both within their sector and across the UK in general, Gentoo has had a tough year but they've survived. In fact they've grown, and continue to make a huge difference to the lives of the people who live in their properties. In order to do this Gentoo's staff have given all they've got to deliver their challenging goals. In recognition for this hard work the Groups Chief Executive has given all staff an extra days holiday which is not only to recognise their hard work and commitment but also to improve their art of living by enabling them to spend more time away form work with their family and friends.

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Forum Housing Association

The Association holds an annual dinner and all staff are invited to this. It is paid for by the Association and during the evening staff are rewarded with a certificate and financial reward for the five different categories relating to the Association's values. During the evening a special award 'Learner of the Year Award' is presented to an employee who has demonstrated a willingness to learn whether this be through their job, education or training.

Christine Allen, the CEO is a truly inspiring leader who takes the time to get to know all her staff team on a personal level. It is true to say that staff know she genuinely cares and has an interest in what is happening in their families. Chris operates with an open door policy and staff know they can access her should they need to. Chris is very keen for all staff to develop their learning and encourages staff to develop their talents and expand their knowledge. Staff have confidence in the leadership skills of Chris and acknowledge that she steers the 'Forum Ship' allowing them to give their best everyday. In May 2013 Chris received a British Empire Medal in recognition of her tireless work across a wide range of communities.

Christine Allen, the CEO is a truly inspiring leader who takes the time to get to know all her staff team on a personal level. It is true to say that staff know she genuinely cares and has an interest in what is happening in their families. Chris operates with an open door policy and staff know they can access her should they need to. Chris is very keen for all staff to develop their learning and encourages staff to develop their talents and expand their knowledge. Staff have confidence in the leadership skills of Chris and acknowledge that she steers the 'Forum Ship' allowing them to give their best everyday. In May 2013 Chris received a British Empire Medal in recognition of her tireless work across a wide range of communities.

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Flamingo

The most high-profile initiative for fostering their values is their annual team–building and strategy Expo: In 2014, all 235 staff from across Flamingo's 7 offices came together for their global Expo, themed around Intersections (in Istanbul, the City of Intersections). This is by far the most unique and innovative way to reward and recognize employees and the most anticipated event in the Flamingo company calendar. It brings together their global team to share knowledge and achievements, foster relationships between offices and strengthen their distinctive culture. It strongly reflects their company values of connecting culturally providing a common sense of purpose, community and inspiration. Flamingo's key to success in reward and recognition also lies in their focus on the career paths of team members and the creation of a sense of community. Flamingo continue to achieve staff retention rates of 90%+. Employees value the reward of learning including time off to attend inspiring internal talks, overseas learning exchanges as well as budgets to pursue language and learning goals which tie into commercial aims. Flamingo's secondments programme include overseas exchanges as well as to client organisations, marketing communication agencies and charities. A recent innovation has been a quarterly Promotions Board which brings the senior team together to ensure that promotions are timely, fair and well considered . There is a new quarterly Salary Board which ensures consistent and equitable decision making. In September 2014, they launched Total Reward Statements which have had very positive feedback across the whole company.

This summer Flamingo embarked on their annual Expo; following last year's three-day trip to Lake Como in Italy, this year's chosen location was Istanbul. Expos act as a ‘thank you' to their employees for the work they carry out throughout the year, bringing everyone together in a cultural setting far away from the office to socialise and unwind. These meetings communicate the company vision, and the values that help maintain Flamingo's success, both in terms of the work they do for clients, and the company culture they work so hard to nurture and develop. The trips allow employees from across their offices to develop team spirit and lasting business relationships and brings people together as one united group. Their Co-CEOs deliver many of the sessions personally, and this has had a significant impact in enshrining excellence in their daily business, and making this available to all employees at all times.

Staff development takes many forms at Flamingo: They believe learning and development should be broad, encompassing, and tailored to the needs of each individual. They deliberately use the language of ‘learning' rather than ‘training', to communicate that staff development should be ongoing, self-directed, and participatory. The core of their business lies in understanding people, culture and brands, and their learning programme encourages staff to develop their understanding of these pillars in the broadest way possible. So, naturally, Flamingo senior staff run regular sessions on core skills internally, and they encourage staff to attend external sessions, but they also encourage a wide range of activities which, though they may not look like ‘training' as such, are hugely beneficial for staff development. Flamingo encourage staff secondments to both their own and their clients offices, all over the world. They encourage staff to write for their blogs, and present internally on subjects of interest to them in informal, lunchtime sessions. Flamingo encourage staff to learn languages, to read about the industry, to mentor other staff, internally and externally, to attend conferences, and museum exhibitions. Crucially, they acknowledge these as great learning experiences, ensuring their staff feel they have both individual freedom, and a wide range of resources to help their development in a way that is right for them. Flamingo share all of their learning resources on their intranet (which also provides a space for discussion and commentary), and discuss staff development at each review, ensuring open and continuous discussion and guidance

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EMaC Limited

EMac encourages wellbeing by the Support for Stop Smoking, Free flu jabs a Clean, fresh, light environment which is decorated /painted twice a year and they have Bright furniture.

EMaC is a hands-on highly personal business. The experience delivered to customers is consciously personal. This ethos is reflected by the SMT. The SMT walk the floors and walk the talk. ‘Catching people doing things right' is an approach designed to reaffirm confidence and empowerment. Having grown from 2 to almost 100 people in ten years, the Values are very much part of the business DNA. Deeply embedded into business processes and procedures under the banner of ‘doing the right thing' team members are empowered to act in a way that supports the values and the needs of EMaC's multiple customer layers.

EMaC is a hands-on highly personal business. The experience delivered to customers is consciously personal. This ethos is reflected by the SMT. The SMT walk the floors and walk the talk. ‘Catching people doing things right' is an approach designed to reaffirm confidence and empowerment. Having grown from 2 to almost 100 people in ten years, the Values are very much part of the business DNA. Deeply embedded into business processes and procedures under the banner of ‘doing the right thing' team members are empowered to act in a way that supports the values and the needs of EMaC's multiple customer layers.

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Cross Keys Homes

The H&S Forum meets every 6 weeks and includes wellbeing as part of its agenda. Actions that have arisen are improving the environment so that employees can make the most of their break times, sharing information on mental health and well-being as well as promoting seasonal flu jabs which are funded by the organisation.

The H&S Forum meets every 6 weeks and includes wellbeing as part of its agenda. Actions that have arisen are improving the environment so that employees can make the most of their break times, sharing information on mental health and well-being as well as promoting seasonal flu jabs which are funded by the organisation.

The Annual employee conference recognises employees for their exceptional contribution either to Cross Keys customers or colleagues. This year's conference celebrated their achievements over the past ten years (in celebration of their tenth birthday), and included special 'ten year awards' and a celebration in the afternoon. The conference was also be followed by the staff Christmas Party.

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Creditcall

Company information and success is shared with all in the organisation, so as to enable decision making processes and also show the bigger picture of working towards a common goal. Creditcall's CEO runs entire staff updates on average 3 to 4 times per year, where free lunch is provided, and various people in the company present what is going on in their part of the organisation. Their CEO also has regular monthly meetings with all the other various managers and this information is then disseminated to other team members. In addition, the company has an open door policy and all staff are encouraged to ask questions on anything they don't understand. There is also a ‘no blame culture' at the company. All colleagues are treated as equal, no matter of any other factors and encouraged to come up with new innovative and efficient ways of dealing with any work challenges they face.

Regular, and whenever necessary, daily meetings are held to discuss objectives, progress and obstacles. Underlying these meetings is the philosophy that it is the managers' responsibility to ensure that their reports have the best possible environment in which to succeed. Notice is also taken of individual working preferences and where possible these are accommodated. The current flexi time policy was a direct result of manager feedback and a desire by the company to accommodate individual preferences. The company ethos is to demonstrate how they are all working towards a common goal and how all the various working parts are vital to the overall success. Informally, managers are encouraged to hold informal sessions with their team or individuals within the team if they see any signs of under performance or symptoms of any kind of problems and difficulty.

All staff have flexi-time options and just have to be in the office for the core hours of 10.00am-4.00pm. Other than that, staff can come in as early as 8.00 am and stay as late as 6.00pm as long as they do a minimum of their allocated 7 hours per day for their 35 hour week. Any type of medical appointment i.e. doctor/dentist are also no issue with staff just asked to make up the time missed into their work schedule.

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Corbin & King

Employee development is supported through Paid Training Active Succession planning, in which 4 out of the 5 general managers and 3 out of the 5 head chefs have worked their way up through the ranks to these senior positions. They have a rising stars initiative where they develop and train individuals at junior level who have been identified as having the potential to grow into their future managers. 60 senior and middle managers have completed an inventory of individual work attitude, motivation and behaviours assessment and as a result have then had a personal development and training plan specifically designed around their needs and skills shortages. From this process around 20 management development training modules have been drafted and are open to all people within the organisation, regardless of their position level. There are training journeys in place for each and every position level in the business with a series of core and developmental training modules which act as steps on the ladder to their next promotion. Such courses are run with sufficient frequency on the monthly training calendar so that everyone can take their journey at their own pace.

Employee development is supported through Paid Training Active Succession planning, in which 4 out of the 5 general managers and 3 out of the 5 head chefs have worked their way up through the ranks to these senior positions. They have a rising stars initiative where they develop and train individuals at junior level who have been identified as having the potential to grow into their future managers. 60 senior and middle managers have completed an inventory of individual work attitude, motivation and behaviours assessment and as a result have then had a personal development and training plan specifically designed around their needs and skills shortages. From this process around 20 management development training modules have been drafted and are open to all people within the organisation, regardless of their position level. There are training journeys in place for each and every position level in the business with a series of core and developmental training modules which act as steps on the ladder to their next promotion. Such courses are run with sufficient frequency on the monthly training calendar so that everyone can take their journey at their own pace.

The organisation seeks to reward employees through supplier and cultural trips on an annual basis where approximately 160 staff have the opportunity to go on overseas trips to places such as France, The Netherlands, Italy and The Czech Republic, to meet at first hand the producers of the food and beverages that they prepare and serve in the restaurants and hotels. This is a highly prized reward and has numerous benefits: it feeds the passion their staff have for their product; it increases their product knowledge; it engages them in a relaxed and social environment with other staff from other locations that they perhaps do not know; allows them to learn from each other; fosters friendships and team spirit and it creates opportunities for career advancement, exposing staff to possibilities in the other restaurants. The trips are highly prized. Staff are nominated by their Heads of Department and decisions on the final nominations are made by the Directors.

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Coastal Housing Group Ltd

The senior management team, as part of a workshop to decide how best to lead in a systems thinking organisation, have agreed a set of principles which guide their daily practices and which they share with staff , for example they are put up on the wall and used to inform behaviours in meetings and in the work. These principles show how the values inform their work in practice and that senior managers, are clear about organisational purpose and communicate it, understand the work and remove obstacles so that they can deliver the right service at the right time, make decisions based on knowledge and learning, trust that people doing the work are the best placed to understand it, ask the right questions, are comfortable with challenge, manage the external environment pro actively, act based on measures and data, will not judge or blame and when things go wrong see this as an opportunity to learn, will not assume what matters to people, facilitate change by giving people direct experience, and opportunities to try things out and innovate Senior managers appreciate that frontline staff understand our customers best and therefore managers are there to help, support, mentor or deal with external issues. Managers trust and empower staff to get on with the job. Because they are still learning and growing the principles are also open to discussion, challenge and re-working if they think this helps us live our values better.

Coastal Housing's decision making process is bottom up which means on most occasions employees don't need to feedback ideas or suggestions as they are empowered to make decisions themselves / try new things, without the need to consult with managers first. However, there are a number ways thier employees can feedback ideas and suggestions to the wider organisation if they so wish. These are both formal and informal. Many ideas come from discussions between colleagues within the office. Employees are encouraged to get away from their desks and discuss ideas over a cup of tea in the kitchen. We have a number of social business platforms staff can use to present ideas and gain feedback from members of the whole organisation. Staff can share ideas and suggestions on the intranet and Yammer as well as comment on posts from others. Employees can setup cross-department working groups for specific initiatives/projects. This is extremely important as opinions are sought from each department and means ideas are not just confined to one area. Each department holds regular team meetings. Furthermore, individual staff members have a chance to feedback ideas and suggestions to their managers at their monthly one-to-one meetings. They also have a cross organisational communications group, made up of representatives from each department, which meet once a month to discuss ideas relating to communications within the organisation. This is a chance for all departments to feedback ideas and suggestions. Staff can also present ideas to the heads of service which are then presented to the management team.

Coastal Housing Group believe the key to wellbeing is to ensure employees enjoy their jobs, playing to their strengths, ensuring they are in the right job, provided with the resources and training to undertake their work, involved in projects across the organisation. Lean/systems thinking means that employees are empowered to make decisions, providing a rapid customer response without bureaucracy. When problems are encountered or employees need additional support, they have an absolute right to delegate upwards. Coastal Housing Group demonstrate that people come first by ensuring everyone feels valued and recognises that their efforts are appreciated by offering a positive, upbeat and comfortable working environment where the sound of lively chatter and laughter is welcomed, as they believe that informality induces creative, innovative behaviours. They offer competitive terms, including flexible working for all employees, encourage a healthy work life balance through discouragement of long-hours and actively promote a lively social life to help build good relationships. They provide a range of support: funding of various practitioners offering differing ways to combat stress; free annual health checks, BP, cholesterol and weight clinics; free yoga classes, rugby and football; a range of workplace fitness classes and complementary therapies; corporate gym membership, cycle-to-work scheme; car club, parking facilities; salary sacrifice initiatives and staff retail discounts. They enable staff to ‘give something back' through work – there's no better feeling than knowing you have just changed a life by giving them the home they want - as well as a whole range of fund raising events chosen by staff.

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Coast & Country Housing Limited

Coast and Country's biggest community initiative this year has been the development of a Furniture Reuse Scheme, Refurnish Emporium. The scheme, at the site of former sale rooms, was opened in September 2014 by Wayne Hemingway. Offering low cost household goods that were otherwise destined for the tip, it reduces the amount of furniture going to landfill but also offers training and volunteering opportunities. Over the few weeks of being open, 15 volunteers have joined, taking up a range of training courses including first aid, manual handling, paint effects and furniture restoration. The volunteers get involved in the repair, cleaning and sometimes the up cycling of the goods to get them ready for resale as well as the helping in the shop. Their community hub, Westfield Farm, continues to support people in the community. People come along to get involved in their local community and volunteer in the garden for example, growing food for the local food bank. Some come along to get themselves on-line with help from Coast and Country's digital champions and their free IT suite. Most come along to get help with finding training and employment opportunities through their work hubs, a range of free training courses and their employment initiative, Forging Futures. Forging Futures, part of the Journey into Work Project, offers up to 70 guided learning hours in self-enterprise skills and then offers a number of paid work placements to the participants to help them gain valuable experience that they can use on their CV.

Coast and Country Housing know that their people are their most important asset. They have a Health and Wellbeing focus group that meets regularly. The group have set up bike maintenance workshops so employees can have their bikes maintained and fixed. Also, the wellbeing group also suggested the Laughter yoga and Hypnosis sessions. These have been a great success with high take up. They support employees who take part in races, sporting activities. It is also acknowledged that focus on health and wellbeing and excellent customer service go hand in hand. People who are engaged in work are able to offer better quality service. As such Coast and Country Housing offer excellent opportunities for flexible working as they realise they are a huge help to people with children and those responsible for caring for others. They recently paved the way with their partnership with Carers Together. They are a local charity who seek to support Carers. Since this partnership was formed they have been able to support two Carers to remain in employment with Coast and Country Housing. This includes a year long sabbatical so the employee can take time to care for their disabled child. By supporting employees with a holistic approach Coast and Country Housing find the overall wellbeing of their workforce is vastly improved.

Coast and Country Housing know that their people are their most important asset. They have a Health and Wellbeing focus group that meets regularly. The group have set up bike maintenance workshops so employees can have their bikes maintained and fixed. Also, the wellbeing group also suggested the Laughter yoga and Hypnosis sessions. These have been a great success with high take up. They support employees who take part in races, sporting activities. It is also acknowledged that focus on health and wellbeing and excellent customer service go hand in hand. People who are engaged in work are able to offer better quality service. As such Coast and Country Housing offer excellent opportunities for flexible working as they realise they are a huge help to people with children and those responsible for caring for others. They recently paved the way with their partnership with Carers Together. They are a local charity who seek to support Carers. Since this partnership was formed they have been able to support two Carers to remain in employment with Coast and Country Housing. This includes a year long sabbatical so the employee can take time to care for their disabled child. By supporting employees with a holistic approach Coast and Country Housing find the overall wellbeing of their workforce is vastly improved.

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