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.
Sweatshop believes running is a force for good. They know that they are able to help provide support for runners of all abilities. If you have never run before but want to start, or run but have no one to do it with, they can help by giving people a place to come to, free of charge, where you will have a chance to go running with supportive and friendly staff at Sweatshop plus other runners to share this experience, with a real community feel. They have created the Sweatshop Running Community, the SRC. It's an entry level running group within every store and runners are incentivised for regular participation. The Running Community doesn't just stop at this entry level running group with many stores offering a variety of running groups for all abilities. With over 20000 registered members in 3 years and over 2000 people running with them every week, they are the largest (and probably most inclusive) running group in the country. The community is growing as is the recognition and appreciation from their runners for providing this free community group. For many it has transformed their lives, enhancing healthier lifestyles with both mental and physical benefits.
Sweatshop took a team surfing to Croyde enabling them to spend a day out of store, let their hair down and have some fun. They held an outperform leadership programme in Wales over the course of a few days which helped managers develop key skills and behaviours. The company assisted with the Mo Farah 10K run as they currently support the Mo Farah Foundation and they also worked on a school running event in Woking for a day.
Last year Sweatshop launched a staff development programme called 'achieve'. This was in response to staff feedback and with a view to helping internal development of new managers. The company invited applications from staff and had over 20 applications and have had 6 people who started have already been promoted and a large part of this is down to the training and opportunities provided within the programme. They also have 10 people who will be starting Achieve going forward. After the great response to Achieve, they have developed a high performing manager's programme which will aspire those on it to achieve outstanding success. Those on the scheme have the unique opportunity to work closely with senior managers and the board of directors. The most successful managers will be given HPM mentor status and become an integral part in successive managers' development.
The senior management team work incredibly hard to demonstrate that their staff are valued within the organisation. Examples of this include an open door management style; regular walkabouts to chat and communicate with staff; being visible to staff in all locations, by doing regular visits to satellite offices and field workers and organising an annual away-day event for all staff which is purely about meeting colleagues and having fun away from the office.
The senior management team work incredibly hard to demonstrate that their staff are valued within the organisation. Examples of this include an open door management style; regular walkabouts to chat and communicate with staff; being visible to staff in all locations, by doing regular visits to satellite offices and field workers and organising an annual away-day event for all staff which is purely about meeting colleagues and having fun away from the office.
St Lyle's held a staff away day at Ashcombe Country Park for all employees. It involved a short presentation from the CEO followed by team building exercises such as archery and puzzle solving. It was an opportunity for staff to network and get to know each other as well as having a day of fun away from the office. It was a great success. Recently they held a foundation-wide event to bring to life their 2020 vision and strategic plan displaying how it influences their day to day roles and above all, how it can really change people's lives. Following this presentation, senior managers led facilitation sessions where they asked for active participation in delivering the strategic plan and shaping the foundation, specifically within areas such as structure; systems; staff and skill, both in number and capability and shared values. They also hold departmental away days to look at forward future planning.
Somo try to understand what the issues are, get a team together from all areas of the business to come up with ideas on how they can address them and try to agree how improvements can be measured.
Somo have started to record their weekly stand-up sessions so that those who cannot attend or are in different time zones can see what is said. The company has also introduced new wiki sites to accompany this.
Somo hold team building days for all new starters as part of their induction. This is a full day which is held offsite and looks at their values and also the way in which the company works. They also hold a summer and Christmas team building event, which includes a full day of information sharing and then an evening social event.
Although Seymour House scored quite well in this category last year, it is an area that as a company they are looking to improve on. They are currently building a team section within their intranet which will incorporate links to health campaigns, healthy eating and wellbeing initiatives.
Although Seymour House scored quite well in this category last year, it is an area that as a company they are looking to improve on. They are currently building a team section within their intranet which will incorporate links to health campaigns, healthy eating and wellbeing initiatives.
This year, taking on board feedback from employees, the senior management team agreed the introduction of a voluntary benefits scheme. "Seymour Rewards" offers all team members exclusive discounts and cashback deals on thousands of high street and on-line retailers. The take up of this scheme was very high within the first 2 weeks of launch and has been consistently used since then, creating a buzz amongst many staff.
In addition to its paid employees, the Hospice is supported by over 1,000 volunteers both at the Hospice itself, and in its retail outlets. The social capital created by these volunteering opportunities makes a huge contribution to the local community. Research by the Charity Retail Association highlights the very positive impact that charity shops have in their local community.
In addition to its paid employees, the Hospice is supported by over 1,000 volunteers both at the Hospice itself, and in its retail outlets. The social capital created by these volunteering opportunities makes a huge contribution to the local community. Research by the Charity Retail Association highlights the very positive impact that charity shops have in their local community.
As a charity their ability to use money as a reward is restricted, however they seek to celebrate success and additional effort by publicly thanking staff in their weekly all staff newsletter. In addition, their chief executive personally thanks staff who have gone the extra mile. They are keen to establish an employee reward and recognition scheme but want to do it in a way that is valued by all their staff so are planning to consult with staff so that they have a better sense of what would be meaningful to them.
In August 2013 Pearlfisher hosted their annual Creative Day. This is an event specially designed for their studio to get out of the office, out from behind their computers, and take part in activities that aim to inspire them in new ways and build team relations. They hire an external venue and provide food, drinks, transportation and materials for all their employees. Pearlfisher covers all costs for the team building creative event. For their team building event this year, they hired an old mansion house on the river in Hammersmith London, organised organic catering for the full day, including breakfast, lunch and tea/coffee/juice/snacks throughout the day. All Pearlfisher employees were picked up from the agency with a bus that they hired for the day and were transported to and from the venue. On the day, the team were set tasks by using the inspiring space/rooms of the Mansion House to fulfil design briefs. They promoted internal collaboration and co-creation resulting in some great future design concepts that have begun to inspire and influence the work they are now doing for themselves and for their clients. As an agency that designs the future, Pearlfisher also close the studio for 2 days a year and host internal days for the whole company in which their Futures Director presents big picture change in 1 of 4 areas – Taste, Luxury, Body and Connection. They are then tasked with breaking into smaller groups to come up with ideas for future design concepts based on the changes they've been presenting. These sessions are fantastic team building exercises because the whole company is encouraged to participate, present and work with people they don't usually work with.
It was suggested by one of Pearlfisher's Strategists that a good way to ask people for their feedback would be to use Survey Monkey. They now use the anonymous questionnaire email tool to ask for staff feedback about all aspects of the company from where they should host their next First Thursday social event to lectures their team would like to attend.
Pearlfisher host regular culturally relevant and inspiring exhibitions in their studio's dedicated gallery space. The exhibitions are open to the public and local community. They invite the schools in their wider local area to visit their exhibitions and give talks and lectures to ensure maximum impact and inspiration. Their recent example is Man&God, a thought-provoking and highly experiential exhibition that explores the relationship between Man and God. In addition, Pearlfisher annually support Peace One Day, a global movement advocating a day of world peace, with a Pearlfisher creative campaign called Create a Masterpeace. Create a Masterpeace asks children – the peace corps of the future – to re-appropriate symbols of violence in the name of peace. For this campaign they work with both local and global children, families, classrooms, communities and volunteers to use creativity to neutralise symbols of violence and display them on streets and screens across the globe. Working with communities in this way, the Create a Masterpeace movement is inspiring an ever growing, shared voice of protest.
The company has recruited an HR manager to help managers with employee engagement.
The company has recruited an HR manager to help managers with employee engagement.
The company has recruited an HR manager to help managers with employee engagement.
Over the past year North Highlands have launched a programme for High Performing and High Potential people, called HP2. Its main objective is to support and retain high-performing individuals and develop them as future leaders of the business. HP2 is a two way programme, where the organisation commits to additional focus on the group through targeted interventions to stretch and develop them, with a commitment from them to embrace the opportunities provided. The business has invested a significant amount into the individuals on HP2 - by providing 1-2-1 monthly coaching sessions from the People Team (working through an action plan); prioritising people and ring-fencing them for challenging project roles; external career coaching from a professional coach (including action based learning group coaching); additional time with their Directors, and sending them on external training and conferences eg - London Business Forum events. The programme is highly transparent to the rest of the business because they wanted it to be something everyone can aspire to be on. The organisation have communicated the names of the individuals on the programme so that people can see what ‘good' looks like and learn from them. Part of the criteria to be on HP2 is people showing personal alignment to North Highlands cultural values, being a role model and having exceptional client and team feedback on leadership behaviours. By being open about the people who possess these skills and behaviours, they ensure that everyone benefits and develops from the programme, not just those on it.
North Highlands spend approx. £150,000 per year on our quarterly ‘Action Days' and social events that follow. They bring the entire company together, taking them off client work and forfeiting revenue, for a day of brainstorming sessions, team building and competitive games (eg: sports day activities, scavenger hunts, treasure hunts) and business updates. There are regular team-building events for the Director group. These are usually two-day off-site events which focus on developing camaraderie and community amongst leaders. They include both interactive business sessions and team-building exercises in the form of outdoor pursuits, eg – tree-climbing in teams. Additionally, everyone in the organisation is part of a North Highland ‘Family', to encourage social belonging, a close-knit feel, and help individuals to establish networks across the business. Each family is given a budget per quarter for organised social events, they choose and arrange them. Events range from breakfasts and dinners, to activities like cooking lessons, laughter therapy and circus skills training. This year they introduced a competitive edge whereby families worked together to win points (called “Puppals”) throughout the year based on events they organised and competitions at Action Days. There was a leaderboard promoting the number of Puppals won, this culminated with a sports day at their r 10 Year Celebration event where large amounts of Puppals were awarded. The winning Family was announced, and the prize was an extra day of annual leave for each family member with money to spend on treating an actual family member!
Over the past year North Highlands have launched a programme for High Performing and High Potential people, called HP2. Its main objective is to support and retain high-performing individuals and develop them as future leaders of the business. HP2 is a two way programme, where the organisation commits to additional focus on the group through targeted interventions to stretch and develop them, with a commitment from them to embrace the opportunities provided. The business has invested a significant amount into the individuals on HP2 - by providing 1-2-1 monthly coaching sessions from the People Team (working through an action plan); prioritising people and ring-fencing them for challenging project roles; external career coaching from a professional coach (including action based learning group coaching); additional time with their Directors, and sending them on external training and conferences eg - London Business Forum events. The programme is highly transparent to the rest of the business because they wanted it to be something everyone can aspire to be on. The organisation have communicated the names of the individuals on the programme so that people can see what ‘good' looks like and learn from them. Part of the criteria to be on HP2 is people showing personal alignment to North Highlands cultural values, being a role model and having exceptional client and team feedback on leadership behaviours. By being open about the people who possess these skills and behaviours, they ensure that everyone benefits and develops from the programme, not just those on it.
The organisation encourages employees to take part in raising funds for charity. They normally match what they raise up to approximately £500 but in special circumstances, such as natural disasters, they have given £10 for every £1 raised by employees up to a maximum of £5000. As well as this the company would subsidise fund raising activities by way of supplying food and prizes for raffles. The company has a Charitable Trust where 10% of the company's profits go to different charities, mainly to help third world countries. They continue to support a hospital and school in Burkina Faso and a Children's Recovery Unit in the Philippines. Money is also given to support missionaries working in third world countries. The workforce are very generous and caring and are always doing collections for charity and taking part in charity events to raise money. Recently when one of their employees who was terminally ill was in hospital receiving treatment, the employees and the company raised money for the cancer ward of the hospital. They had a company BBQ which raised £1000 and with a whip round and company sponsorship the final total was nearly £2000.
The company is moving to new premises in December of this year and the Senior Team has included everyone in the plans for the new factory. Employees have been shown the plans from an early stage and have been taken in Groups to the new factory and have had considerable input to the layout of their working area. Patrick Hurst the MD has great rapport with employees. He communicates regularly with the entire workforce and while employees are informed of serious issues; there is goodwill and light-hearted banter at these sessions. He really cares about all the employees and looks on them as extended family. He is trusted and respected by all and this is very evident when they get feedback from employees. He has an open door policy and often employees drop by for a chat with him because he is so well liked. He meets personally with all new employees.
The company is moving to new premises in December of this year and the Senior Team has included everyone in the plans for the new factory. Employees have been shown the plans from an early stage and have been taken in Groups to the new factory and have had considerable input to the layout of their working area. Patrick Hurst the MD has great rapport with employees. He communicates regularly with the entire workforce and while employees are informed of serious issues; there is goodwill and light-hearted banter at these sessions. He really cares about all the employees and looks on them as extended family. He is trusted and respected by all and this is very evident when they get feedback from employees. He has an open door policy and often employees drop by for a chat with him because he is so well liked. He meets personally with all new employees.
As a partnership, ISIS is an employee-owned organisation. As such, growing and improving through the ideas and feedback of team members is embedded into their structure and their culture. Promotion and advancement within ISIS is explicitly linked to employees coming up with ideas and then acting on them which contributes to the overall growth and development of the organisation.
As a partnership, ISIS is an employee-owned organisation. As such, growing and improving through the ideas and feedback of team members is embedded into their structure and their culture. Promotion and advancement within ISIS is explicitly linked to employees coming up with ideas and then acting on them which contributes to the overall growth and development of the organisation.
As a partnership, ISIS is an employee-owned organisation. As such, growing and improving through the ideas and feedback of team members is embedded into their structure and their culture. Promotion and advancement within ISIS is explicitly linked to employees coming up with ideas and then acting on them which contributes to the overall growth and development of the organisation.
Looking for more information on our solutions? Let us know how we can help and the right member of our team will be in touch shortly.
