What are companies doing with regards to 'Leadership'

Skills Pledge is a partnership between the Government and Orchid. This is a public commitment to help all employees to develop their basic skills and enable them to work towards relevant, valuable qualifications. People are the lifeblood of the Orchid business, without their passion, commitment and motivation, Orchid would not continue to prosper. When times are tough, many companies make the mistake of viewing staff training and incentives as non-essential and start looking at ways to trim their overheads. This in itself is a false economy. Orchid believe by recruiting, training and motivating their staff they will reduce staff turnover, improve moral and motivation and increase productivity - ultimately leading to increased profits. This is a people business, nothing more and nothing less.

At Orchid they want everyone to enjoy working with them, both whilst they are at their place of work and also when they are enjoying their personal leisure time. Orchid understand that a work life balance is important and to give you an extra helping hand they have introduced “Orchid Concierge” which is a re launch of the Time & Knowledge brochure. Time & Knowledge are here to give you an extra hand to help you take care of all those jobs you have to do but don't have the time to sort out, or the knowledge as to who are the best people to use. They will put you in touch with suppliers who can accomplish the jobs you need doing, across a variety of services that range from the ordinary to the unexpected. Whether you're planning a party, looking for a plumber, arranging a holiday or searching for the perfect gift, they can help.

Nichols VIP Award – Valued, Inspiring and Proud. Employees are nominated by colleagues, visitors or customers, for individuals who have brought out the Nichols Plc. “spirit” in others, excelled as a team player or have gone above or beyond expectations. All nominees are congratulated and recognised at the company briefing, and the executive team pick a winner and they are awarded with a red letter day experience. There are one off financial rewards for outstanding achievement or contributions , recognition following the completion of a project that may have involved additional contributions and Nichols invite employee and partner to enjoy Dinner at a local restaurant of their choice. All employees can benefit from an additional weeks holiday or equivalent holiday pay for every 5 complete years of service. Although Nichols do not have a formal process for innovation, they do encourage all employees to “Share Ideas and Think outside of the Box” and they recognise individuals publicly and reward them as appropriate.

Nichols have twice yearly health awareness days at which health and well being professionals hold 121 assessments with all staff. On the back of this they recently completed a pedometer challenge, encouraging staff to increase the number of steps they took each day. They completed this challenge over a 12 week period and collectively they took sufficient steps to walk from their office to Brisbane, Australia (as the crow flies). Employees are encouraged to take part in sporting activities and Nichols have groups of employees who regularly play golf, football, netball and badminton or go running. Employees also go walking or to the local Gym/leisure centre for a swim at lunchtime and others walk or cycle to work. On site shower facilities are provided. For those who are not quite so energetic Nichols have a Wii console and their employees enjoy a game of virtual tennis or golf at lunchtime. Periodically Nichols hold Indian head or arm and hand massage, believing that it helps to relieve some of the day to day tensions.

Newton is committed to professional development. Employees learn fast and during the early part of their career, their development will be guided by one-to-one mentoring from the lead consultant on site. They are always free to contact anyone in the company at any time for extra advice and input. Newton have a formal appraisal process every six months to identify employees strengths, address any weaknesses and plan their skill development. Employees also attend in-depth courses off site, designed to build their confidence and expertise in specific areas such as sales and marketing, project finance or production planning.

Newton held a Summer Weekend which was 3 days down in Newquay doing activities that included surfing, coast steering, zip line, assault course/teambuilding, black tie dinner and beach BBQ. Partners were also invited. There was also a Winter ski-trip which was a long weekend skiing in the French Alps. There are quarterly activity days. These have included a spa day, Alton Towers, caving and gorge walking in Wales and go-karting. Bi-weekly Thursday night fun has included a casino night, going to the dogs, fencing, going for nice meals and themed BBQ nights.

The leaders of Metro are driven by a desire to create a caring company which delivers sustainable employment and supports the wider community. Metro use the services, on a part time basis, of 250 self-employed contractors, providing them with engaging work, often well beyond their normal retirement age. A key value is Metro's commitment to charity fund raising. Staff nominated SOS Children's Villages for this year, but they have raised over £40,000 for various charities over the years.

Line managers ensure that employees work loads are manageable and also monitor how many hours people are working. Also Metro are organising Personal Energy Workshops for all staff which are designed to investigate their personal energy levels through understanding the factors that either boost or drain one's internal energy battery and how the employee can influence their motivation drive and enthusiasm on a daily basis. There are a lot of flexibility arrangements of an informal nature, in operation. Metro have a flexibility policy which covers carers and people with children under the age of 16 or under 18 where disabled. This is where they grant flexibility on a more formal basis. Additionally, Metro have in the past, given extended periods of absence and/or flexibility for personal issues. A good example of this is where there has been bereavement.

Quarterly employee awards are announced in Meteorite's company meetings. Prizes include shopping vouchers, champagne and chocolates and activity such as a sailing day at Cowes. Employees are rewarded extra holiday after 3 full years and another 1 after 4 years and a Sabbatical after 5 years. Team leaders are empowered to reward team members with instant surprise and delight prizes including lunches, sweets and vouchers. Those who have achieved best practice are often made an example of in company meetings. Instant reward for New Business leads can amount to £100-£1000, recruitment £1000, award winning work - dinners, weekend away, spa days.

All managers have access to the industry body and seminars which are run for creatives, planners, account handling and finance. For example Meteorite's new Business Manager will attend seminars specifically for new business managers whereby they discuss best practice and how to ensure you get enough support for your company. Meteorite believe that they train all of their managers to manage people not subordinates. The HR Manager is responsible for their 'People Programme' and ensures that line managers receive quarterly training on team management skills and personal development.

The Mace Star awards are in their second year. Employees are given the opportunity to nominate a colleague or a team for a range of award categories. Winners are announced at the annual end of year celebration. Line managers are encouraged, through the Managing People @ Mace programme which this year is focussing on giving feedback, to reward employees informally by ensuring they are thanked for doing a good job and get the recognition that they deserve. Mace believes that this informal approach has a greater positive effect on employee engagement than a formalised system.

The Mace Star awards are in their second year. Employees are given the opportunity to nominate a colleague or a team for a range of award categories. Winners are announced at the annual end of year celebration. Line managers are encouraged, through the Managing People @ Mace programme which this year is focussing on giving feedback, to reward employees informally by ensuring they are thanked for doing a good job and get the recognition that they deserve. Mace believes that this informal approach has a greater positive effect on employee engagement than a formalised system.

The employee well being team and pharmacy division have linked up to offer all staff a free health check by a trained pharmacist. In 15 minutes, the pharmacist carries out a variety of key tests including blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol monitoring, body mass index assessment and general health advice thus covering all the types of test offered at a well man/woman clinic within the NHS. These tests can help identify serious conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.

Lincolnshire is a co-operative business, owned and run democratically by its members (including their employees), operating convenience stores, pharmacies, post offices etc. which puts them right at the heart of the local community. They have a team of 8 people dedicated to working with their members and the local community which enables them to work with hundreds of charities and community groups each year and they're in the process of recruiting for a new role in each of their food stores to work closer with the local community and to help charities.

Lakehouse's founder and Chief Executive has a very distinctive management style. He has always operated an 'open door' policy and all staff, from managers to site assistants know they are free to speak with him in his office anytime and always receive a warm welcome. He makes great efforts to get to know staff on a personal level and even feels frustrated that with such rapid expansion and recruitment he finds it hard to keep up with getting to know all the new faces. Most times people meet him they are completely unaware they have just met the owner of the company, as he is a very unassuming man, rarely wears formal clothes and introduces himself simply as 'Steve'. Steve also encourages others to dress informally and come to work how they feel best comfortable.

Lakehouse have developed the 'Lakehouse Management Academy'. This saw them partnering with an external training supplier to develop a management training programme tailored to the needs and culture of the company. Over 40 of their managers are part of this ongoing programme which includes elements such as 360 degree feedback, personality profiling, performance management, communication skills, time management skills and more. This academy programme sees Lakehouse managing not only their management talent more effectively but also has the knock-on effect that these managers can manage their teams more effectively too, identifying and nurturing the talent they find there. Lakehouse want to encourage everybody's talent so they have created a ‘Lakehouse Legacy'. Lakehouse have committed to training every single staff member to NVQ level 2 minimum. Together, this shows they are investing far more than their industry average in training their people.

Kitcatt Nohr hold regular "Digital Surgeries" when staff can ask their Technical Director and Digital Planning Director for advice on digital marketing. Based on staff feedback the leaders provide openness, caring for staff and a strong sense of values and they are good role models.

Kitcatt Nohr hold regular "Digital Surgeries" when staff can ask their Technical Director and Digital Planning Director for advice on digital marketing. Based on staff feedback the leaders provide openness, caring for staff and a strong sense of values and they are good role models.

At King Sturge, the Joint Senior Partners have involvement with staff at all levels. The culture of the firm is such that all Board Members are seated in open plan offices, sitting alongside other staff at all levels. It is only in rare cases that they will have an office due to confidentiality and necessity. The senior members of the Boards therefore are very visible in the workplace and this combined with the Open Door policy which is in operation ensures that staff can approach and discuss any issues with them.

Centrepoint is a charity working to improve the lives of socially excluded, homeless young people aged 16 to 24. King Sturge staff are involved in a mentoring scheme, meeting up with a young person for 1 or 2 hours a month (during working day) to provide motivation, guidance and support to help them achieve their potential. They also offer a work experience programme to Centrepoint, which has in the past resulted in a permanent position being offered and accepted by the young person in question.