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.

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.

At 5 and 10 years service BIU send staff on luxury holidays.

Michael Saunders, the MD, has an open door policy and is genuinely open to ideas from everyone in the business. He gets out and about to all the teams in the business and gets involved in projects from the largest to the smallest. Once a month Michael hosts a group discussion where a small number of randomly selected employees get together to ask him questions about the company and make suggestions. Michael has a policy of sharing as much information as possible with the whole company which many employees have noted that the level of transparency is reassuring and they feel like trusted and valued members of the company.

To encourage BCM employees to report safety violations or close calls. They incentivise a periodic reporting system by raffling £100 every 4 weeks.

Arcus employees are wholly involved in projects concerning upgrading homes for various Housing Association clients. In this respect they are an integral part of providing decent affordable homes for people across the UK. Each employee also has the opportunity to volunteer for a charity of their own choosing for one day each year to help and support in any way they want. Offices are able to take a working day out to support specific initiatives in their local community if there is something they want to get involved with. Arcus have signed up to ProHelp which allows Arcus to commit their professional time as Project Managers, Architects, Building Surveyors and Cost Managers to making a difference in their local community by providing free advice and professional support. For example, we gave 250 hours of professional time to assist the development of a Community Centre and Synthetic sports pitch in Droylsden, Manchester. The centre will be used by various community groups as well as providing a learning centre for local adults and others within the community.

All staff receive BUPA care and have subsidised gym membership open to them. The firm is generous in its approach to staff illness and personal problems. The firm is able to offer flexibility regarding working hours either on a one off basis or as a longer term arrangement.

Employees have bespoke training programmes devised for their specific job role requirements. These are in various formats, however but follow the ethos of career and personal development. Top Talent is a programme for Consultants to apply for who wish to be promoted to the next level up and devised programme will allow them to gain experience and on the job training and be mentored by colleagues within the organisation to experience what the reality of Branch Managers role is. This development programme is a course to enhance the knowledge and skills of Consultants who based on their current experience and achievements against target are provided guidance and enrichment in their current role whether this leads to promotion to Branch Manager or elsewhere within the Company. Career Ladders is a document provided to all employees to advise them of the expectations in the current role and how they can be supported and what they need to do to get to the next role.

Absoft continue to commit to graduate recruitment and development. They have taken on 10 graduates over the course of this year and as a management team devoted considerable time and energy into a development programme to support this.