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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.
The Operational Board have increased the level of authority that managers and team leaders have in relation to employee relations and budgetary control. This was done to empower the lower tiers of management. In addition to this they are the people that work closest with staff members, they know them as individuals and by allowing them more authority to make decisions based on what they feel is best for their staff has helped to boost staff morale, productivity and in turn engagement.
Brookson Ltd held a 15 Year Party in September 2010 to celebrate the 15 year anniversary of the company. There was a large focus on how the company had progressed over the 15 years it has been in operation and awards and special mentions were given to staff that had helped to contribute to the success of the business. The event celebrated both the achievements of the company and also the achievements of individual staff members. There was a three course meal, free bar and lots of entertainment this combined with the awards demonstrated that the company recognised and wanted to reward staff for their hard work over the past 15 years which collectively has resulted in the company's success.
Brookson Ltd held a 15 Year Party in September 2010 to celebrate the 15 year anniversary of the company. There was a large focus on how the company had progressed over the 15 years it has been in operation and awards and special mentions were given to staff that had helped to contribute to the success of the business. The event celebrated both the achievements of the company and also the achievements of individual staff members. There was a three course meal, free bar and lots of entertainment this combined with the awards demonstrated that the company recognised and wanted to reward staff for their hard work over the past 15 years which collectively has resulted in the company's success.
Supporters regularly refer to the role profiles ensuring that the employee is clear about their role and responsibilities and the company's expectation of them, recognising the effort and contribution everyone makes by saying thank you at Team Meetings and away days.
In March the company had an away day at Foxhills Golf Club in Ottershaw, Surrey. The day's theme was 'World Book Day Characters' and the whole team came in fancy dress. There were all the characters out of Alice In Wonderland, Charlotte's Web, Winnie the Pooh, Where's Wally? and The Cat in the Hat to name a few. The day's activities focused on developing their Knowledge Management systems and processes as well as sharing information and best practice. The evening's activities involved pre-dinner drinks, team quiz and a dinner. Everyone sat on round tables with people they don't normally work with to increase connectivity. There was a tremendous spirit all day and everyone came away feeling energised.
At an Away Day in April the Senior Management Team spent the day facilitating the whole team in the development of the 5 year plan. This was done by first asking the team to step into the tardis, and via various stimulations, come up with their vision of the future both professionally and personally. The team were then split into groups and each group had a lense to explore the future through and brainstorm what the business would look like in that area. The groups were then asked to present their thoughts back to the whole team at the end of the day. These thoughts and ideas were then used back at the office by the Senior Management Team in the final write up of the 5 year plan. The inclusiveness of the day had a huge impact on the team which was reflected in the very positive verbatims recieved in their bi-yearly employee engagement survey.
All staff are actively encouraged to put forward ideas to the Leadership team. This is made easier by the fact that they have face to face contact with all the Directors on a very regular basis. The speed with which good ideas are followed up and implemented is outstanding. Boodles plan to fully understand the results and identify the topics with the biggest impact. The Directors and HR Manager will devise an action plan with clear goals and a timescale. They will then communicate the results and share their commitment to an action plan to all staff, linking it to the business plan. Continuous monitoring of the action plan and celebration of successes.
Employees recieve handwritten cards from the Managing Directors for exceptional work. Staff are proud to receive them and it really encourages motivation and commitment.
Boodles genuinely and sincerely care about staff uplifting and motivating. They are 100% hands on and accessible to all staff, setting high standards and leading by example.
Blue Rubicon has created a unique reward scheme that recognises the efforts of individuals while at the same time reinforcing the culture of thirst for knowledge and knowledge sharing. The scheme is called R&R – Rest and Relaxation through Reward and Recognition. The purpose is to recognises the effort put in by every member of staff to delivering great work by encouraging time out for work life balance. All 130 staff are given an annual pot of £200 to draw down from over the year to encourage time out from their daily routine. The money can be spent on gaining new insights, a fresh perspective, indulge their passions or enhance wellbeing. £100 must be spent on taster classes/experiences set up by the company on a quarterly basis. These events are social and encourage people to spend time with colleagues who they may not work with and get to know them learning something new together –from ghost walks of London to wine tasting or yoga. The other £100 can be spend on anything the individual chooses as long as it supports gaining new experiences or enhances their well being. The things people have chosen to spend it on range from; learning how to be a cookery writer, buying a sewing machine to indulge a passion for clothes design to enlisting a personal trainer to get ready for a marathon. All of the activities are a thank you from the company for the individuals contribution to Blue Rubicon's success whilst encouraging time away from their desk to learn, have fun and encourage work life balance.
Blue Rubicon place a huge emphasis on the sharing of knowledge and thirst for knowledge within their culture – facilitating and encouraging this at the most senior level of the company. This is reflected in knowledge sharing forums that have been part of their DNA for over a decade: Their Thursday lunchtime ‘brown bags' are open to the whole company to come and learn from inspiring internal and external speakers over lunch. The company constantly look for ways to extend this principle to provide new and exciting opportunities for employees – and this was behind the launch last year of Blue Rubicon's ‘Exchange'. This has been established with three different types of agencies within the marketing sphere including advertising and experiential, to provide opportunities for their people to exchange ideas and knowledge. In a formal way this involves shared training on a wide range of topics. On an informal level, the Exchange provides a network of peer to peer contacts to act as sounding boards, test ideas out on, invite to brainstorms and simply create new inspiration and shared knowledge. The Exchange also provides opportunities for mentoring with very experienced senior people from across the marketing mix to explore personal development from a broad perspective
The company recognised the need to re-visit some of the fundamentals of their 5 year business plan: the market had changed significantly, they had been through a tough year financially and needed to re-ignite some of the passion employees felt about working for Blue Rubicon. They consulted and engaged everyone in this process – and ultimately re-shaped a bolder and ambitious growth plan for the next 5 years. This was presented by the senior management to the whole agency where we were clear about: Where the company was headed and why, Identifying the opportunities for individuals to have personal progression. As a result this inspired debate across the agency – at the Q&A session and during the following days. Specific feedback was sent directly to their CEO and included: “Thank you for today's presentation – I found it really inspiring. It's really exciting to be part of an agency with such bold ambitions!”
The company provide employees with their own, personalised mug upon joining the firm to eliminate waste from the use of paper cups.
All partners and directors attended a workshop designed to help them to motivate, recognise and retain their employees. The Senior Management team have also approved a firmwide strategy session off site for May 2012. This is currently in the planning stages. Bob Rothenberg became Senior Partner at the company in 1997. He has an approachability and warmth that make him very popular with everyone within the organisation. He successfully lives the firm's values and has managed to nurture a firm that cares about its staff whilst also being supportive of new and innovative approaches to the way they do things.
The company provide employees with their own, personalised mug upon joining the firm to eliminate waste from the use of paper cups.
Bank Machine has a number of ways in which it rewards its employees but one of the most effective is their 'Employee of the Quarter' awards. Nominations are provided by employees for employees (not necessaily from their own department) who they believe have gone the extra mile in their job. Nominations have to be well detailed with explanations of specific instances or situations that have prompted the nomination. The winner or winners each receive £1,000 whilst the runners-up receive £500 each.
Bank Machine has a number of ways in which it rewards its employees but one of the most effective is their 'Employee of the Quarter' awards. Nominations are provided by employees for employees (not necessaily from their own department) who they believe have gone the extra mile in their job. Nominations have to be well detailed with explanations of specific instances or situations that have prompted the nomination. The winner or winners each receive £1,000 whilst the runners-up receive £500 each.
Bank Machine has a number of ways in which it rewards its employees but one of the most effective is their 'Employee of the Quarter' awards. Nominations are provided by employees for employees (not necessaily from their own department) who they believe have gone the extra mile in their job. Nominations have to be well detailed with explanations of specific instances or situations that have prompted the nomination. The winner or winners each receive £1,000 whilst the runners-up receive £500 each.
Aquamarine Power believes everyone's voice should be heard, whether it's coming up with a new idea or feeling able to challenge the status quo. As part of their commitment to genuinely listen to staff, Aquamarine Power has conducted bi-annual anonymous staff surveys for three years. This has proved a highly effective way of listening to staff and has allowed the company to make business improvements based on staff feedback. Participation in the staff surveys has consistently been between 95 and 100% which demonstrates the value staff place on this opportunity to give their views. In addition to their surveys, the company also hold regular focus groups and workshops to explore issues raised within the survey in more detail. They also listen to staff queries, which can be raised anonymously at their All Staff Update – a monthly get-together, which encourages two-way communication and is the cornerstone of their staff engagement strategy.
CSR is integral to the unique culture at Aquamarine Power where they ensure their staff can thrive and have fun while making a significant contribution to the wider community and socio-economic climate. 100% of employees were proud of the CSR activities the company was involved in according to the Staff Survey in December 2010. Since then they have strived to improve CSR on an internal, local and global scale; building partnerships with RSPB, Engineering Aid and the Marine Conservation Society, funded a six-month internship to establish a robust model to analyse their carbon footprint and life cycle analysis and setting the standard for wave energy site consenting with focus on community consultation. Aquamarine Power has a broad framework of activities involving sport, social activity, environmental initiatives, charitable and community contributions, and supplier partnerships. They promote charitable working by supporting staff to take paid time off to do voluntary work.
Aquamarine Power believes their people are their company and that fulfilled people lead to a successful company. They value learning, sharing expertise and expanding their knowledge and skills. As such, they are committed to a range of initiatives which develop their people professionally and personally. One of the key initiatives which they have introduced to support employee development is their accredited professional development programme, which is designed to help the company's young engineers achieve Chartered status. Almost 30% of their staff are involved in the scheme and it provides a framework for the development of the company's junior staff who are mentored by senior members of staff. The main objectives of the scheme are to ensure that young engineers develop the technical and business competence, innovation and interpersonal skills required to contribute to the company's success and to achieve corporate membership of the IMechE and registration with the Engineering Council.
The leader of Aimia Foods operates an open door policy; any staff wishing to speak to him will feel very comfortable and can do this quite informally during any working day. He is very family orientated and will always take into consideration people's personal circumstances, which has ensured Aimia has been able to maintain its family culture. He is also happy to share the success of the business with staff. This is apparent by the large number of benefits on offer to all staff. As the Managing Director, he is extremely passionate about customer service, quality and health and safety.
The company provides a heath cash plan, which contributes towards the cost of everyday healthcare treatments such as dental, optical chiropody and specialist consultations up to a set policy limit. They also have a Occupational Nurse, Chiropodist Acupuncturist and Physiotherapist who visit the site on a bi-monthly basis. The company have a long term absence policy, to ensure all employees have the full support they need when suffering from any long term illnesses. They offer counselling to all employees through an independent councellor, which is funded by the company.
Aimia Foods Rewards and Recognition programme has two categories, one for rewarding innovation and the other for rewarding employees who go the extra mile. The annual winner receives a brand new car.
Agrovista's chairman knows everyone's name and is happy to make time to see or call any member of staff if they wish to discuss something with him. He interacts well at all levels and always makes time for anyone who wishes to see him. An example of his involvement is that he always makes a point of contacting every employee on their birthday to wish them 'Happy Birthday'.
Agrovista's chairman knows everyone's name and is happy to make time to see or call any member of staff if they wish to discuss something with him. He interacts well at all levels and always makes time for anyone who wishes to see him. An example of his involvement is that he always makes a point of contacting every employee on their birthday to wish them 'Happy Birthday'.
Agrovista's chairman knows everyone's name and is happy to make time to see or call any member of staff if they wish to discuss something with him. He interacts well at all levels and always makes time for anyone who wishes to see him. An example of his involvement is that he always makes a point of contacting every employee on their birthday to wish them 'Happy Birthday'.
To ensure employees feel rewarded they send Thank you letters and hard work is always acknowledged .
To ensure employees feel rewarded they send Thank you letters and hard work is always acknowledged .
Leads by example, ultimate professional, consistent and fair and commands respect without having to ask for it.
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