What are companies doing with regards to 'Leadership'

This year the Head of HR and an external consultant visited all of the projects and gave feedback on the Best Company results for last year. These sessions gave a chance for all of their employees to discuss openly what was important to them. They discussed the positives and negatives of working at Langley House Trust. From these sessions employees were encouraged to suggest solutions to the challenges that they have been facing, this has been crafted into a working document that is reviewed monthly by senior management and the progress of all the solutions being implemented is monitored.

Langley House have Senior Management talkbacks with all of their project teams. These have helped to improve communication within the Trust. Many of their project workers did not understand why some of the changes that had been implemented had to be done. It was good to be able to explain how the legislation that regulates them means Lanagley House sometimes have to make changes and get employees to do this in a different way. They introduced a credit card with their values on which has been well received and their senior team ask for feedback to make sure they are demonstrating these values by the actions they are taking.

Kumon Educational UK provides an appraisal framework which includes details of the objectives for the forthcoming year. This is signed by both parties, to ensure that what is being requested is agreed and manageable. Through the objective process, Associates can earn up to 25% of basic salary through the achievement of objectives. There is also a Staff Recognition scheme, which runs at the end of the year to reward Associates who have gone above and beyond in their roles. In addition, Associates are rewarded ad-hoc if they go above and beyond the normal expectations, for example weekends away, retail vouchers, wine and flowers.

Kumon Educational UK provides an appraisal framework which includes details of the objectives for the forthcoming year. This is signed by both parties, to ensure that what is being requested is agreed and manageable. Through the objective process, Associates can earn up to 25% of basic salary through the achievement of objectives. There is also a Staff Recognition scheme, which runs at the end of the year to reward Associates who have gone above and beyond in their roles. In addition, Associates are rewarded ad-hoc if they go above and beyond the normal expectations, for example weekends away, retail vouchers, wine and flowers.

Kiln promotes healthy living by providing free fresh fruit every day, the aim is to get staff to avoid sweet snacks and help them take a healthy option instead. The company also provides coaching from outside of the company to help employees address issues that are impacting on their work life, they organise a yearly flu jab programme which takes place in the office, all employees over the age of 35 are able to attend a Well Man/Woman medicals, those who are over 45 are able to attend an Executive Health Assessment, an even more exhaustive medical. Kiln also provide a 75% contribution to yearly gym membership fees with selected gyms partners that are located close to the office locations, to enable staff to go to the gym during lunch breaks if they wish to.

The Kiln Group hold an annual lunch every January. This is an important date in the calendar for all staff, but particularly the leadership team as this is their way of thanking staff and celebrating the success of Kiln. The leadership team make the commitment to hold the lunch every year, and close the office for half a day. The event is viewed as the social highlight of the year by employees and the details, including the venue, are kept a closely guarded secret until the last minute. This is an example of how the leadership team at Kiln engage with the staff and make them feel truly valued for their efforts.

The company provides initial and ongoing in-house training, specialised training from external providers and access to formal qualifications.

Hansel Group of Charities provides an independent and confidential employee counselling service, available to all staff. Flexibility in working arrangement is available in response to individual factors.

Foolproof is led by the Managing Director, Leslie Fountain. What is distinctive about her approach to management is how she applies her own and the company's values through all levels of the company. Leslie demonstrates how she expects people to work and behave by leading by example. Leslie is continuously on the office floor and sits within the open plan office, to support a true open door culture. Leslie takes opportunities to add her own touches to individuals' work and engages in creative discussions to broaden the employees' views on projects. In summary, Leslie's management style encourages Foolproofers to adapt a more open and creative approach to work as demonstrated by her.

Foolproof is led by the Managing Director, Leslie Fountain. What is distinctive about her approach to management is how she applies her own and the company's values through all levels of the company. Leslie demonstrates how she expects people to work and behave by leading by example. Leslie is continuously on the office floor and sits within the open plan office, to support a true open door culture. Leslie takes opportunities to add her own touches to individuals' work and engages in creative discussions to broaden the employees' views on projects. In summary, Leslie's management style encourages Foolproofers to adapt a more open and creative approach to work as demonstrated by her.

The leader of the organisation is able to master a lot of detail as well as being an excellent strategic planner but what sets him apart is the emphasis on communication and engagement. This manifests itself in terms of open communication about the plans, performance and challenges facing the company as well as his personal commitment to the development of interpersonal communication skills through Festo's internal Fit for Change training programme. He really believes in investing in the people and this is a core strategy for the success of the company. He is personally committed to and drives forward the company's internal training programmes for the develoment of coaching skills and a coaching culture as well as their management development programmes. He demonstrates a high level of leadership, integrety and trust on a daily basis and is a clear role model in the business when it comes to the effective use of communication and coaching skills.

All employees in the company have a target minimum number or hours that must be spent on training and personal development each year. Many people have a portion of their bonus scheme related to meeting this target. Topics for training and development are driven by the employee following a self assessment against their Balanced Scorecard and a needs audit. The employee is responsible for defining their development needs in relation to their own requirements as well as standard competency models for their roles.

Last year the company organised for a nurse to come into the London office to administer flu vaccinations for any staff who wished to get it for free. They want people to know that they care about their well-being and think that initiatives like this really make that point clear. They also ensure that their staff are provided with fresh fruit which is delivered to the office every week.

Being a fairly small and informal organisation, employees know that they can always be open, honest and candid with their feedback. The company actively seek to recruit people with opinions, who are willing to speak out and make a difference! That said that they also appreciate that sometimes people need a bit of help or support in saying what's on their mind. They therefore conduct an anonymous employee survey every year which covers everything from management style to reward and recognition. Alongside this they run employee participation and suggestion schemes, usually with a theme so they can really focus people's energy into helping solve key matters.

The company's comprehensive internal training schedule supports the specific requirements of their employees in a way that an external provider couldn't necessarily do, as it is so specific to their business, run by people within the business. They have a true knowledge sharing focused approach, which helps to keep costs down, but has proven to be highly successful with increased percentage scores in their annual employee survey for Training & Development. It has raised skill levels across the business and supports the development plans of all employees, as it provides employees with the opportunities to learn new skills and gain further understanding of industry relevant information.

The company's comprehensive internal training schedule supports the specific requirements of their employees in a way that an external provider couldn't necessarily do, as it is so specific to their business, run by people within the business. They have a true knowledge sharing focused approach, which helps to keep costs down, but has proven to be highly successful with increased percentage scores in their annual employee survey for Training & Development. It has raised skill levels across the business and supports the development plans of all employees, as it provides employees with the opportunities to learn new skills and gain further understanding of industry relevant information.

At Corven they offer a comprehensive bonus package to all of their employees across all career bands/grades. It consists of a number of different elements measured against individual and company performance. One of the elements of their bonus package that they believe is unique, compared to other similar sized organisations, is the eligibility of anyone within the organisation to receive a sales bonus for their contributions to gaining new business. Sales bonuses are not linked to status or career levels but based on individual contributions towards winning new business for Corven and can greatly enhance individual remuneration packages.

At Corven they offer a comprehensive bonus package to all of their employees across all career bands/grades. It consists of a number of different elements measured against individual and company performance. One of the elements of their bonus package that they believe is unique, compared to other similar sized organisations, is the eligibility of anyone within the organisation to receive a sales bonus for their contributions to gaining new business. Sales bonuses are not linked to status or career levels but based on individual contributions towards winning new business for Corven and can greatly enhance individual remuneration packages.

Whilst the team building events always contain a social element and are memorable due to their uniqueness, the most memorable event is the “Monthly Muster”. This is a free form social held at the end of the day on the fourth Thursday of every month in the London office. CloudSense provide simple food and some drinks, but the organisation and content of the get together is run entirely by the employees in a democratic manner. They use the internal collaboration social tools to discuss and promote the "Monthly Muster". The majority of employees work remotely or on customers' premises so this is very much a monthly social, and what makes it so memorable and enjoyable is the enthusiasm people have for it and the bonding it creates beyond normal work.

For CloudSense listening to employees and seeking their ideas and feedback is at the core of engaging with them. The introduction of their social collaboration tool “Chatter” has created a mind shift at CloudSense. All of the senior management team are on Chatter and can post messages, files, videos, etc instantly to the whole company. Any employee can also direct post a message directed to each other, including the senior management team. That message is public so anyone within the company can view the response. They have found that this has created a real time conversation that has driven engagement as it has driven instant public conversations from the management team that everyone can see and respond to. The company no longer use email as their communication tool internally as Chatter has opened up the internal conversation through becoming a social enterprise.