What are companies doing with regards to 'Leadership'

New starters and all colleagues have access to the Leadership Team. There is an open door style of support and there are many mechanisms to ensure colleagues feel listened to and their feedback is taken on board. Flexible working ensures and enables an equalitarian style of working which enables both formal and informal messages to be relayed and is a two-way opportunity. Their Performance Screens at each site ensure clarity and consistency of messages, incorporating competitions on the screens, sharing good news as well as updates on the balanced scorecard, health and wellbeing initiatives to ensure a consistent approach to communicating effectively. The monthly brief is an employee briefing which seeks feedback with answers to questions and comments provided the following month. They also have a staff magazine, GRAPEVINE, which includes information and competitions and involves a cross section of colleagues to ensure a mix of attractive articles for everyone.

In the last 12 months there has been the formation of a Senior Managers' Group which means there is a core group of managers responsible for key aspects such as managing attendance and working together to support the Leadership Team as well as managers and colleagues within their teams. It enables idea sharing and a cohesive approach to guiding and supporting colleagues across the Trust, as well as an additional forum for sharing ideas and listening and learning from experiences. Nick Atkin the Chief Executive is an exceptional leader who is the driving force behind the performance, direction and success of the organisation. What makes him distinctive is his approach to business, to the customers; to colleagues and to the working environment he has created. In business, he is very driven and extremely determined. He leads by example, is very well respected and strives for excellence and success. He is innovative, encourages new ideas and radical thinking and embraces change. On a personal level, he is extremely personable and supportive, accessible and takes a personal interest in all colleagues.

Winning the Scottish Award for Business Excellence, Scotland's top business award, was a tremendous achievement for GHA in 2011. The Chief Executive was keen to show all staff his recognition of their hard work that made this happen. He wrote to all staff and personally thanked them for their hard work, passion and commitment and he decided to reward staff with an extra day's holiday. His personal address and the extra day off made every member of staff feel their part in the organisation was recognised right from the top.

GHA knows face-to-face communication is the best way to get staff involved. During periods of change or when new initiatives are launching, the Chief Executive Martin Armstrong takes time out to go round local offices having face-to-face meetings with staff. He talks to them in an honest, open and inspirational way, challenging staff to give their views and listening to their feedback. Teamtalk, their internal communications strategy, ensures information is cascaded to every member of staff to facilitate team discussion sessions and staff are encouraged to give feedback to managers. They have a strong culture of listening to feedback from all surveys and external assessments, celebrating successes and putting in place improvement plans to address all issues highlighted. Their journey to deliver excellent services for their customers has been hugely influenced by survey feedback and external assessment. Staff are involved in shaping the improvements they put in place, through their teams and in joint forums.

At Cunninghame Housing Association staff are rewarded for their efforts in a variety of ways. One good example of this is the staff Christmas shopping days where all staff are given paid time off during December to do their Christmas shopping.

Their Staff SVQ programme at their Homeless Person's Project, Victoria House is an excellent example of how the Association supports employee development. They have an annual programme in place for staff going through the SVQ Level 3 in Health & Social Care and to date they have over 75% of staff through the programme which is well ahead of the completion target set by the Scottish Social Services Council. To maximise the support for staff going through this training, the Association invested in training two members of staff as SVQ Assessors this has made a tremendous improvement to the training experience for the staff taking part and it has meant that their training is more focused and minimises travel requirements and disruption to work patterns in this shift working environment.

They have introduced an annual staff awards ceremony which they call the CRAFTAs (Clyde Valley Recognition Awards for Talent and Achievement). These awards are nominated and judged by staff from all areas of the business. Awards are hosted by their staff members in a mock BAFTA ceremony and are presented to the winners. They keep it fun and light hearted, however the nominations are serious and are well received given that colleagues are nominating and judging. Categories include: Team of the Year, Inspiration Colleague and The Extra Mile Award The DAFTA in recognition of someone who has been particularly daft at some point. Last year the judging panel chose the whole staff team as winner of Team of the Year. This was in response to a number of overall achievements which they felt that everyone had contributed to. Rather than give financial prizes all staff were given a Wish Certificate which they could trade in at any point during the year. Suggestions for some trades included duvet days, having your car valeted by the Chief Executive or a team building event.

They have an extensive health and wellbeing programme. The most recent event was the Clyde Valley 10K team. One of the Leaders sought participants in order to raise funds for the chosen charity. He got nominations from all areas of the business and the company paid for entrant's fees and corporate tops. They mixed staff from all areas of the company, who through fun training sessions, became more confident and closer, resulting in improved team working. The team developed a great bond and raised a significant amount of money. The participants were all at different levels of fitness, some ran, some walked, but they all encouraged each other and waited for each other at the finish line. They had a team night out to celebrate and have committed to doing it again next year and encouraging others to join them. The running club has continued and staff now go out for a run once a week. They also did the annual health walk, have an onsite gym, carry out annual health checks for staff and provide advice on general health issues.

During the past year the CEO, Mark Molden, has held a series of workshops, incorporating all members of staff, examining and considering their organisational values and the behaviours that they want to encourage within Care for the Family that are reflective of these values. These sessions have been enormously valuable and have seen staff engaging thoughtfully and passionately with what it means, in practical terms, to live out the values of the organisation. The leader sets the tone for the rest of the organisation and empowers managers to move from being risk averse to risk taking. He is distinctive in that he shares his personal story and openly acknowledges his own weaknesses, which engenders a culture of honesty and authenticity in the organisation.

During the past year the CEO, Mark Molden, has held a series of workshops, incorporating all members of staff, examining and considering their organisational values and the behaviours that they want to encourage within Care for the Family that are reflective of these values. These sessions have been enormously valuable and have seen staff engaging thoughtfully and passionately with what it means, in practical terms, to live out the values of the organisation. The leader sets the tone for the rest of the organisation and empowers managers to move from being risk averse to risk taking. He is distinctive in that he shares his personal story and openly acknowledges his own weaknesses, which engenders a culture of honesty and authenticity in the organisation.

In addition to flexible working opportunities, ASDAN also provides Work Life Balance days for staff to compensate for overnight stays (one day per three nights away). Centrally they have also responded to interest expressed in the Staff Forum and approved a Pilates class which is now available to colleagues on site after work.

In addition to flexible working opportunities, ASDAN also provides Work Life Balance days for staff to compensate for overnight stays (one day per three nights away). Centrally they have also responded to interest expressed in the Staff Forum and approved a Pilates class which is now available to colleagues on site after work.

Over the last 12 months, the Senior Management Team has been broadened and now includes a representative from all parts of the organisation and meetings are held monthly. This has enhanced communications between departments and also from the top down and has been driven by a desire to make sure that everyone in the business is informed about the decisions that are being made and developments within the business. The chairman, Tom Bloxham MBE is committed to hard work, fresh ideas and building relationships and he is well known and respected across the company for these reasons. He is open and available to all staff. One of the things he always tells new recruits is that no question is trivial and if a question is important to them then it is important to him. From his open door policy, induction presentations, staff lunches or quarterly staff meetings, he is open to ideas, feedback, criticism and questions.

In 2008, they set up the Urban Splash Charitable Trust. The overall ambition for the trust is to be involved with local organisations and charities that are poorly funded. It was set up to fund projects related to deprived communities, the arts and urban regeneration. The trust is funded from the profits of the Urban Splash Group. At the moment, the main activity of the trust is the operation of a scheme whereby each member of staff can nominate his or her favourite charity to receive a donation of up to £100 in any one year. Staff often request help with sponsored events in which they are personally taking part.

The Toolbank News Letter which is sent out every 3-4 months in the year has worked really well as employees are constantly informing them of any fund raising they have been doing, welcoming new staff, congratulating colleagues on their nuptials or new arrivals. The news letter has allowed employees to get involved and the feedback from employees has been that the news letter has been very well received as it is great to know what is going on in the other branches.

The Toolbank News Letter which is sent out every 3-4 months in the year has worked really well as employees are constantly informing them of any fund raising they have been doing, welcoming new staff, congratulating colleagues on their nuptials or new arrivals. The news letter has allowed employees to get involved and the feedback from employees has been that the news letter has been very well received as it is great to know what is going on in the other branches.

The company have a structured charitable giving approach which incorporates the following: * Duke of Edinburgh charity - as a company they donate 20k per year to the charity, as well as employees partaking in events, and raising money for the charity, during the course of the year. A charity and CSR committee that are dedicated to raising money for events and ensuring they are doing all they can as a business to reduce their impact on the environment.

The company have a structured charitable giving approach which incorporates the following: * Duke of Edinburgh charity - as a company they donate 20k per year to the charity, as well as employees partaking in events, and raising money for the charity, during the course of the year. A charity and CSR committee that are dedicated to raising money for events and ensuring they are doing all they can as a business to reduce their impact on the environment.

Managers at TAFC hold one to one discussions and team briefings with their employees. They also use articles in newsletters to recognise success. Managers nominate employees for the monthly employee of the month award which then goes into an annual award. They identify training and coaching needs, encourage their teams to provide 360 feedback, and use PDPs to help to assist to identify development needs.

TAFC are continuously looking for ways in which they can reward their staff. This doesn't always have to have a monetary value to it, but Authentic appreciate how hard their team work and want to make sure they feel valued and their loyalty and dedication to the business does not go unnoticed. Alongside bonus payments, pay increases and internal promotions, TAFC offer "spot rewards". These "spot rewards" include concert and football tickets, champagne, hotel breaks and shopping vouchers. These are presented by the MD and the company believe this is a great way of keeping their staff motivated as well as thanking and rewarding them for their hard work. These can be received for implementing a new process or simply being a supportive member of the team.