Pride Powers Performance

The Senior Management Team is committed to the values of the organisation and communicate this throughout the business. They hold team meetings with staff involvement, listen to employees and hold one to one reviews for constant improvement. They also work long hours to ensure they are accessible. The team lead by example and are very hands on. The CEO engages with staff at all levels and attends both private and business functions. He leads by example, is motivating and always inspiring. He will spend time in various departments getting to know staff and how they work. He will also ensure all new staff are introduced to him personally to make them welcome into the organisation. The CEO is a people person and enjoys engaging and listening to his staff. Employee development is encouraged through personal development plans and one to one reviews. Network Telecom is also accredited Investors in People, which emphasises the company commitment to developing and investing in their staff.

The Senior Management Team is committed to the values of the organisation and communicate this throughout the business. They hold team meetings with staff involvement, listen to employees and hold one to one reviews for constant improvement. They also work long hours to ensure they are accessible. The team lead by example and are very hands on. The CEO engages with staff at all levels and attends both private and business functions. He leads by example, is motivating and always inspiring. He will spend time in various departments getting to know staff and how they work. He will also ensure all new staff are introduced to him personally to make them welcome into the organisation. The CEO is a people person and enjoys engaging and listening to his staff. Employee development is encouraged through personal development plans and one to one reviews. Network Telecom is also accredited Investors in People, which emphasises the company commitment to developing and investing in their staff.

Collectively Needlers respect and treat everyone fairly; they hold team meetings which encourages working together and provide opportunities for people to put forward their ideas. In these sessions they also provide performance feedback, recognise individual efforts and those who are ‘going the extra mile', for example, they will send congratulatory emails highlighting which value the individual has demonstrated. They invest in people by providing training courses, such as NVQ's, excel courses etc. They also like to check-in on each team, just spending time just asking how they are, what they've been up to etc. so that it creates an open and approachable culture. Alistair has a very visible presence within the organisation and is central to the positive culture, plus the organisation is small enough that he is able to speak to each member of staff on a daily basis.

Collectively Needlers respect and treat everyone fairly; they hold team meetings which encourages working together and provide opportunities for people to put forward their ideas. In these sessions they also provide performance feedback, recognise individual efforts and those who are ‘going the extra mile', for example, they will send congratulatory emails highlighting which value the individual has demonstrated. They invest in people by providing training courses, such as NVQ's, excel courses etc. They also like to check-in on each team, just spending time just asking how they are, what they've been up to etc. so that it creates an open and approachable culture. Alistair has a very visible presence within the organisation and is central to the positive culture, plus the organisation is small enough that he is able to speak to each member of staff on a daily basis.

The company runs a branch Quality of Service award every quarter based on scores from client feedback forms, a mystery caller and spot checks for cleanliness and tidiness. The winning branches in each region are recognised with awards which are closely followed and create healthy competition between branches in each region.

The company runs a branch Quality of Service award every quarter based on scores from client feedback forms, a mystery caller and spot checks for cleanliness and tidiness. The winning branches in each region are recognised with awards which are closely followed and create healthy competition between branches in each region.

My Home Move's social responsibility scheme, ‘Do the Right Thing' (DTRT), encourages its employees to raise money for the good causes supported by the My Home Move Charitable Trust. Each of the causes support people dealing with the issue of homelessness and are located in the areas in which My Home Move operates. Charity fundraising events take place at least once a month, as well as annual charity events such as the My Home Move Charity Trek, which regularly involves over 40 My Home Move employees giving up their spare time to take on hiking challenges. My Home Move's employees have donated over £43,000 since the launch of DTRT in 2011, which has been raised predominantly through employee events. The company undertake not to discriminate unfairly against any subject of a disclosure on the basis of a conviction or other information revealed, including past addictions or periods of personal uncertainty including being outside of employment or homeless.

MHM's Leadership and Management Development Programme is an on-going strategy for developing key people across the business. It is continuous and focuses on specific individual needs during the year. The initial programme consists of sessions delivered as a Bite-Size programme, all endorsed by the ILM. Sessions are delivered by internal experts from across all business areas to increase exposure to all functions. Ongoing development and continuous improvement after the programme has been provided through an in-house mentoring programme with Senior Leaders. This is a vital component of the leadership development and is an effective way of sharing knowledge and experience. There are also positive psychology sessions delivered to all members of the Senior Leadership Team to enhance leadership styles and encourage positive outcomes both in work and at home. Managers also receive monthly one-to-one feedback and performance assessment, in addition to regular coaching from the Board Directors and Heads of Site.

money.co.uk offer 3 days' paid leave for team members to volunteer for a charity or organization of their choice. They value community and believe that work should not prevent those who want to, to volunteer for organisations who need help. They have a number of people on the team who are involved in organisations and charities outside of work such as the Brownies Association and Soroptimists International. This policy allows these individuals to get involved with the community and give back to organisations set up to help those most in need. This supportive policy is a sign that they support community and believe that it's important for the team to have interests outside of work. money.co.uk has allocated £2 million to donate to local and national charities this year and all employees are involved in deciding which organisations the donations go to. The team recently voted to collectively sponsor the Young Enterprise's “Learn to Earn” programme. This year Chris has empowered his team further by giving £5,000 to every member of his team to donate to a charity of their choice and so far 48 employees have embraced the opportunity to support an organisation that has special meaning for them.

The office space that money.co.uk work in is real castle which has recently undergone a massive refurbishment to give the team the best working environment that they can possibly give them. An emphasis on staff welfare and the environment has been taken into account in all designs and the team members themselves were consulted on the designs to ensure they were right for them and the way in which they work. The innovation includes an intelligent lighting and music system which can be changed according to where you sit to suit individual preference, a choice of 5 different chairs to optimize comfort and minimize back problems, meeting areas designed to complement the way in which they work as company, an overhaul of our gym with state of art technology and an on-site cinema has been built to be enjoyed by our staff for out of hours' relaxation. In addition, kitchen facilities have been designed with a large area for staff to group and eat together, there is a unique chill out area for staff members to relax in and quiet rooms for silent, for highly focused work. They believe a healthy body is essential for a healthy mind and understand the importance of encouraging our team to lead healthy and active lives. They do this by providing a free state-of-the-art gym on site, free one-to-one consultations with nutritionists, offer of counselling sessions or psychotherapy if going through challenging times, a paid for weekly game of indoor football, squash or basketball at lunchtime at the local leisure centre and a workout room so team members can arrange group classes like yoga or Zumba. Additionally, they also pay for in-depth Bupa health assessments for anyone that is struggling with a health issue.

Michael Page's Talent Development Directors provide phone support and face-to-face coaching to those who need additional help with applying the techniques and approaches. This, alongside the follow-up and support they receive from their directors, is the best way of providing support and embedding the learning. The management development programme extends across 9 months and the managers are encouraged to utilise peer support and share successes. Action points, from each day of training, are recorded in workbooks that the managers also use as reference guides. The company online performance management tool enables managers to record their key actions and development points at any stage in the year and these are reviewed twice yearly as below. Twice a year there is a midyear review in June/July and an annual appraisal in Dec/Jan. This includes reviewing performance against both goals and KPIs as well as behavioural ratings linked to the company's behavioural framework. They provide guidance documents and support on how to develop specific behaviours via a personal development plan.

Michael Page employ a blended learning approach in line with the 70/20/10 principle. They utilise new technologies such as online business simulations, videos and Phone Coach. At-desk coaching, mentoring and shadowing are ingrained in the way they on-board and develop people to maximise the efficacy of their classroom training. Michael Page's online performance management system incorporates behavioural review and development, in line with their behavioural framework, as well as the normal goal and KPI metrics. They utilise the Myers Briggs Type Indicator for personal development purposes and increasing self-awareness. The manager and leadership training reflects current trends such as the importance of trust, authentic leadership, unconscious bias and engagement. They have also developed an in-house diagnostic tool which enables the Talent Development team to help managers and directors identify training needs and motivational challenges. This process then results in advice and guidance on providing additional training or support or an at-desk coaching session with a member of the TD team. Michael Page have always utilised e-learning as part of their training and development offering and this year they have scoped, researched and invested in a new digital learning platform which gives employees the opportunity to learn in a way that suits them. The platform is agile and dynamic with social learning, gamification, video and mobile device capability. They are currently designing and creating learning pathways and digital content for their launch in early 2017.

Merlin run various team building events throughout the year, but the highlight on the Merlin Events Calendar is the annual Cricket Day hosted by the company's very own children's charity Merlin's Magic Wand (MMW) at Chessington World of Adventures Resort (CWOAR). In its 7th year, this event brings together Merlin employees from the company's attractions all over the UK for a day full of fun, food and cricket! Four cricket teams from Merlin take on four teams representing their sponsors and business partners in a titanic battle to take home the coveted trophy, fondly nicknamed ‘the Plastic Plate'. Umpires are dressed in ‘inappropriate costume' and spectators cheer on their favourite teams. The local CWOAR team also puts on an amazing spread of food and drink throughout the day to keep the teams fuelled for all the games of cricket played. As well as a great opportunity to build great team relationships both within employees own team but also with those from other attractions, it's an amazing fundraising opportunity for Merlin employees to ensure even more children will be able to enjoy magical and life-changing spaces. MMW creates hospitals and schools for those with special needs. This year they have raised a staggering £22,000 thanks to the generous contribution and excellent support from all of Merlin's teams, volunteers and suppliers.

Merlin run various team building events throughout the year, but the highlight on the Merlin Events Calendar is the annual Cricket Day hosted by the company's very own children's charity Merlin's Magic Wand (MMW) at Chessington World of Adventures Resort (CWOAR). In its 7th year, this event brings together Merlin employees from the company's attractions all over the UK for a day full of fun, food and cricket! Four cricket teams from Merlin take on four teams representing their sponsors and business partners in a titanic battle to take home the coveted trophy, fondly nicknamed ‘the Plastic Plate'. Umpires are dressed in ‘inappropriate costume' and spectators cheer on their favourite teams. The local CWOAR team also puts on an amazing spread of food and drink throughout the day to keep the teams fuelled for all the games of cricket played. As well as a great opportunity to build great team relationships both within employees own team but also with those from other attractions, it's an amazing fundraising opportunity for Merlin employees to ensure even more children will be able to enjoy magical and life-changing spaces. MMW creates hospitals and schools for those with special needs. This year they have raised a staggering £22,000 thanks to the generous contribution and excellent support from all of Merlin's teams, volunteers and suppliers.

All of the experienced employees of Merkle Periscopix are encouraged to get involved in delivering staff training, both to new joiners and for ongoing career development. Over 70% of staff with over twelve months' experience are involved in these sessions. In addition to staff training, the company has a mentoring and buddy scheme. Mentoring is taken very seriously within Merkle Periscopix and offers people a coach and guide to help them with technical on-the-job training. More importantly mentors offer employees career guidance, helping them to learn the company's best practice policy.

They actively encourage staff to makes friends within the office as this is where they spend a great majority of their time. To aid this process, they have a Social Committee who are responsible for planning internal events which take place every month including a Summer Weekend away and a Christmas Party, as well as Dodgeball, Bowling, Rounders and more. In addition to these out of working hours' activities, Merkle Periscopix have a snooker table and table tennis table in the games room in the office with a league table set up to encourage communication and friendly competition between employees. Monthly 'Food Fridays' and weekly 'Four Thirsty Fridays' provide the perfect opportunity for employees to catch up with one another and wind down from their busy week. The success is proven in the fact that so many employees socialise together outside of work.

At Mcginley's, individual and team efforts are recognised and rewarded on a regular basis, with the most prestigious being the company's long-established Pinnacle Club. The Pinnacle Club is for the over-achievers and recognises and praises performance excellence across the business. It is certainly a key motivator, encouraging a little healthy ‘peer' competition and inspiring team performance. It is held every quarter and on an annual basis. This year's annual prize consisted of an all-expenses-paid trip to Vegas, with all winners staying in suites at the opulent Palazzo Hotel, dining at various exclusive 5 star restaurants and spending three VIP evenings at Omnia nightclub, Caesar's Palace, with world famous DJ Calvin Harris, all whilst being transported everywhere in a hummer limo. Some of the quarterly incentives included a private hospitality box at the Royal Ascot, Club Hospitality at Premier League football fixtures, the ultimate cook and dine experience at L'Atelier des Chefs, VIP box seating at the ATP Tour Finals, T20 cricket at the Oval, a unique human and sensory experience at the famed ‘Dans le Noir' and dinner at the chef's table at Gordon Ramsay's swanky Michelin star restaurant, Maze. As well as qualifying for the Pinnacle Club, each employee also receives uncapped commission and vouchers up to and including the value of £200.

At Mcginley's, individual and team efforts are recognised and rewarded on a regular basis, with the most prestigious being the company's long-established Pinnacle Club. The Pinnacle Club is for the over-achievers and recognises and praises performance excellence across the business. It is certainly a key motivator, encouraging a little healthy ‘peer' competition and inspiring team performance. It is held every quarter and on an annual basis. This year's annual prize consisted of an all-expenses-paid trip to Vegas, with all winners staying in suites at the opulent Palazzo Hotel, dining at various exclusive 5 star restaurants and spending three VIP evenings at Omnia nightclub, Caesar's Palace, with world famous DJ Calvin Harris, all whilst being transported everywhere in a hummer limo. Some of the quarterly incentives included a private hospitality box at the Royal Ascot, Club Hospitality at Premier League football fixtures, the ultimate cook and dine experience at L'Atelier des Chefs, VIP box seating at the ATP Tour Finals, T20 cricket at the Oval, a unique human and sensory experience at the famed ‘Dans le Noir' and dinner at the chef's table at Gordon Ramsay's swanky Michelin star restaurant, Maze. As well as qualifying for the Pinnacle Club, each employee also receives uncapped commission and vouchers up to and including the value of £200.

Senior Managers are role models and consistently represent Markerstudy's V10 (values), building the organisation and ensuring they have a legacy for the future. They do this by encouraging monthly discussions to praise and provide feedback and support in demonstrating V10 behaviours, linking reward and recognition across the group to consistently demonstrating V10 and introducing their customer charter principles that take the values beyond the office environment to external customers. Managers also listen to ideas from staff and actively encourage feedback during ‘team forum' sessions and ‘walk the floor' opportunities. Many new ideas are elevated to the Board and developed. They also actively encourage fun as a part of the Markerstudy company ethos. Kevin is passionate about communicating with staff on a personal level. He is a people person, fascinated by what makes his organisation tick, devoted to improving benefits and dedicated to building a legacy. He has implemented a monthly ‘Messenger' column called ‘View from the Top', consistently voted favourite in staff surveys. There are also regular emails from him on important business announcements and rewards including prizes for internal competitions such as finals tickets at Wimbledon, VIP tickets to football and a box at the Rugby World Cup. He participated in the MSG Football tournament, led his own Dragon Boat Team at MSG FEST Dragon Boat Racing and even judged competitions including Markerstudy's Got Talent, Stars in Our Eyes and singing competitions/dance offs with large cash prizes. These are just a selection of the ways in which Kevin is hugely involved with his employees, something that also strengthens his leadership and positive impact within Markerstudy.

Motiv8 is Markerstudy's central point for charitable activity, coordinating events like Markerstudy Day, the annual group wide activity fun day where staff raise money for local causes. Staff are also able to apply to Motiv8 for a donation towards their personal charity achievements and fundraising targets, offering up to £1,000 per quarter to good causes. Group charity initiatives from the last six months have included but are in no way limited to ‘Margo the Mini', a £16,000 restoration project which will see the 1969 Mini auctioned at the Classic Motor Show in November with all proceeds going to Prostate Cancer UK. There is also National Pet Month, where employees collected hundreds of tins of animal food and donated it to their local pet charities. Staff are encouraged to take a paid working day to support a charitable cause once a year. They are also able to volunteer for a charity for a week without the need to use their holiday entitlement. Markerstudy have developed two free road safety awareness programmes supported by Kent County Council that prepare children for life as a driver. Delivered to more than 24,000 young people, the programme is being delivered to an average of 500 children per week in Kent, which the company are keen to expand. Markerstudy also take care of their staff, for example they have supported some medium term absences while the employees seek drug and alcohol rehabilitation services and have also provided welfare support as and when needed. In one particular case they've also supported an employee to get off the homeless list.

Maris have a monthly beauty treatment day, where a meeting room is taken over and staff can sign up for a free massage, a haircut or a manicure, it has proved to be a great way for staff to take 20 minutes out of their busy day to unwind. When the sign up list is put up staff always react excitedly and the list is full very quickly. They also provide a monthly lunch to employees. A local restaurant or food stall is selected, vouchers are printed and handed to staff to go and collect their free lunch. They give staff their birthday as a day's holiday, or a day within their birthday month. In addition, they close down between Christmas and New Year which is free time off for employees. The in house coffee shop, FOAM, provides fresh fruit, cereals, a daily snack and teas and coffees and is a unique and relaxing environment where staff can take a break at any time during the day. The office environment is also very comfortable with AC, plenty of natural light, comfortable seating and showers and lockers. Once a year employees are taken on holiday and gifted the time off. Any employee in a time of need is fully supported, Maris have paid for medical bills for four employees this year who have faced challenges. This year they decided to offer free health checks to employees where they brought in a doctor for a few days to examine vitals and discuss any issues with employees.

Maris base their business process around a Four Stage Plan. The Four Stage Plan takes the four different areas of the business; Finding it, Winning it, Adjudicating it, Delivering it, and sets out the ideal process and golden rules within each. Team leaders and department heads are responsible for communicating the process, ensuring the staff understand and employ it. At Maris, they are committed to continuous improvement, increased performance and quality standards and a desire to keep improving on their place in the Top 100 year on year. Their achievement of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 18001 has allowed them to engage the whole business, involving them in the setting up of new systems, training them in the operation of the systems and asking for input and suggestions for improvement. The prime objectives have been communicated company-wide and have really focused the entire company, as can be seen by the fantastic quarterly results that they have seen this year. It really affirms the commitment to the philosophy, CANI – Continuous and Never-ending Improvement, Maris' focus to be the best they can.

m/SIX understand that to attract and retain talent their people need to come first. By ensuring their people are happy, motivated and challenged they come to work inspired to create better work for their clients. The company put a lot of thought into developing a benefits package that promotes a collaborative work culture and strikes the right work life balance. Just some of the other benefits, processes and fun things that everyone working at m/SIX enjoys include Running Club, Monday Night Football, 3pm finish on a Friday during the Summer months, Childcare vouchers, an Employee Assistance, Life Assurance, Health Insurance, Private Medical Insurance, Season ticket loans, Free eye tests and Partner Discounts with companies like Apple and Majestic Wines. There are also Personal Finance Clinics, Film and Food nights and even a Book Club.

At the start of 2015 m/Six launched their "Beer Mats" programme. Every employee has been given twelve cards which they can award to anyone who has gone the extra mile for them. The mats can be redeemed for a free coffee or drink at the pub and this has allowed people to be recognised for their hard work. It has also afforded m/SIXers a new way to interact with one another, strengthen bonds between teams and individuals and to spread some positive vibes across the whole agency.

Lush donate products good for multisensory purposes to a local charity that cares for the elderly suffering with dementia and Alzheimers. The company also have a staff member whose son has to attend a local special needs school. The children there love Lush products, so the company regularly donate products to them and their families to use. Products are also sent to Women's prisons to help build their self-esteem before coming out to the real world in hope that this kick-starts a new life for them. Regular donations are made to small local charities, campaigns and organisations working in the areas of environment, animal protection and human rights, with funds raised from Lush's Charity Pot hand and body lotion. During the last financial year in the UK, the company donated over £1.6 million. Lush's Green Team also volunteered at Livability in Holton Lee and helped to set up a composting bin made from recycled bottles. Livability is a charity that supports people with special needs or disabilities and at Holton Lee they have the opportunity to learn about gardening and to be immersed in nature. Last year Lush also fixed a solar dehydrator for them and will be helping to repair it this month for another year of service! The charity can use it to dry herbs.

Lush works on a flat structure, which allows all employees to access Leaders in the company. Board members look to their teams for leadership and encourage them to take the lead where possible. All support and Senior Management staff are visible and available at any time to discuss ideas or concerns staff may have. Mark is heavily involved in the day to day running of the company, helping to develop the teams whilst also inventing fragrance and products. Mark always attends the European Communication Meetings, as well as travelling to other Communication meetings around the world so staff are able to see and talk to him on a regular basis. He visits and works on the shop floor from time to time, which really gives the staff a buzz, as well as openly telling employees that they can contact him via his personal Facebook page.

Lorica consider themselves to be a very baby friendly company. They have a very effective and accommodating system in place for all expecting parents. Once they are made aware of a pregnancy for a staff member they hold meetings to discuss their plans and run a risk assessment of their work station, providing back and feet supports where needed and generally making it as comfortable and suitable as possible. They also allow time to be taken for anti-natal appointments, which are fully paid. After the pregnancy they offer 'Keeping in touch days', whereby the employee will visit the office to catch up with everyone and often show off the new baby. Meetings are then arranged with Line Managers where they discuss returning to work conditions. The company are extremely flexible concerning the changing of hours or reductions from full to part time hours. They encourage employees not to check their emails whilst on holiday, instead naming team members/Line Managers to pick up important emails in their absence so that a holiday can remain a holiday.

Lorica consider themselves to be a very baby friendly company. They have a very effective and accommodating system in place for all expecting parents. Once they are made aware of a pregnancy for a staff member they hold meetings to discuss their plans and run a risk assessment of their work station, providing back and feet supports where needed and generally making it as comfortable and suitable as possible. They also allow time to be taken for anti-natal appointments, which are fully paid. After the pregnancy they offer 'Keeping in touch days', whereby the employee will visit the office to catch up with everyone and often show off the new baby. Meetings are then arranged with Line Managers where they discuss returning to work conditions. The company are extremely flexible concerning the changing of hours or reductions from full to part time hours. They encourage employees not to check their emails whilst on holiday, instead naming team members/Line Managers to pick up important emails in their absence so that a holiday can remain a holiday.

All London Diocesan staff are invited to a Summer BBQ in June and a Christmas Party in early December. Both are open to all and are a great way for staff from different business areas to meet one another. The organisation have a social committee who oversee the event but departmental teams are invited to get involved in the set up and to help build teams by laying tables, preparing food and overseeing the BBQ. 60-80 people would attend dependent on holiday etc. In between these events the Social Committee organise smaller social gatherings around a specific interest. These are usually after work or in a lunch break, for example Cheese and Wine Tasting and the Theatre.

Local Care Force constantly look to motivate their employees – the vision is that everyone looks forward to coming to work! They appreciate their team, thank them when they work late and continually express their gratitude and appreciation. They have a shift pattern to help avoid rush hour, help with child care and allow staff to go to the gym. A number of incentives run throughout the year, including activities to incentivise those who aren't targeted or on bonuses. Innovative Incentives for the administration team are taken just as seriously. A recent example is Bingo cards with customer-service related tasks to complete for prizes like luxury hotel stays, bar tabs, a parking pass and team meals out. There are often days dedicated to a given task like quality assurance or new business, where the team are given a week to plan, with prizes worth making a serious effort for, including recently an all-expenses paid holiday to Barcelona! The eventual winner of the holiday to Barcelona took a colleague with him to help celebrate his success, a real testament to Local Care Force's ethos of being friends and not just colleagues. The Management Team are dedicated to praising those who work hard, when a record or target is hit or someone simply goes over and above. The Management Team reward their entire team with a paid lunch or a meal after work to promote morale and strong relationships. Any praise is also emailed company wide, with the team positively commenting each time.

Local Care Force constantly look to motivate their employees – the vision is that everyone looks forward to coming to work! They appreciate their team, thank them when they work late and continually express their gratitude and appreciation. They have a shift pattern to help avoid rush hour, help with child care and allow staff to go to the gym. A number of incentives run throughout the year, including activities to incentivise those who aren't targeted or on bonuses. Innovative Incentives for the administration team are taken just as seriously. A recent example is Bingo cards with customer-service related tasks to complete for prizes like luxury hotel stays, bar tabs, a parking pass and team meals out. There are often days dedicated to a given task like quality assurance or new business, where the team are given a week to plan, with prizes worth making a serious effort for, including recently an all-expenses paid holiday to Barcelona! The eventual winner of the holiday to Barcelona took a colleague with him to help celebrate his success, a real testament to Local Care Force's ethos of being friends and not just colleagues. The Management Team are dedicated to praising those who work hard, when a record or target is hit or someone simply goes over and above. The Management Team reward their entire team with a paid lunch or a meal after work to promote morale and strong relationships. Any praise is also emailed company wide, with the team positively commenting each time.

With a real focus on team interaction and to support the delivery of Plan A, livin's new business strategy this year launched 'Connected Leaders.' All participants undertake a transactional analysis questionnaire to identify individual behaviour preferences and how these effect relationships. Through a series of coaching sessions staff are then equipped with skills to effectively manage their own and others behaviours to improve relationships. Ongoing team interaction is supported through livin's internal social media platform, Yammer. 100% of staff have profiles and the platform has 98% engagement rate, with 44 subgroups of cross department teams working of specific projects. 'Eurofever' was a companywide employee engagement event which demonstrated livin's multi-cultural awareness at the height of the European football event in 2016. Teams were selected randomly at a FIFA-style grand draw, with the Chief Executive presiding. Departments were challenged to display not only their own football team's colours in their work areas but to also come up with innovative ways of promoting the countries culture. Flags were raised, fascinating weird and wonderful facts were presented in wall art, histories were written and fun was had through quizzes and interactive art. The Berlin Wall was raised once more and staff were encouraged to write slogans on it - even The Hoff was resurrected (but didn't appear for a visit). Staff even brought in sweet and savoury food they had made to share with their team from their 'countries', including German sausage, pizza, pasties and goulash.

To celebrate livin's 52nd position in the Times Top 100 they ran 52 ‘Great People Moments.' The moments were designed to make staff feel good about themselves and their role in the business and ranged from fun activities to surprise treats. Examples include a One Direction ticket extravaganza, free health checks, free Starbucks, a hike in the Lake District and much more. In addition to the Great People Moments the company also invested significantly in the health and wellbeing of staff with the launch of the Every Penny Helps scheme. 85% of staff take part and the extra pennies from their monthly salaries has raised nearly £1400 for the Healthy livin Fund. Matched by livin, nearly £3000 has been raised to fund a range of activities, facilities and staff services. The funds are put towards fitness classes, fitness equipment hire, healthy lunches, bikes for use over lunch breaks, group walks, beauty and massage treatments and health checks. A telephone based Employee Assistance Programme is available 24/7 for all staff and their immediate families to access counselling and guidance on matters as diverse as financial worries, stress and household issues. Livin's commitment and approach to staff wellbeing was recognised last year with the award of the Better Health at Work bronze award and this year they've just been evaluated for silver status.

Since 2014 Lightsource have supported the community of Koh Krolor in Cambodia. Through payroll giving, the company donated £100,000 to Koh Krolor last year alone. The support Lightsource has provided to this project has meant meaningful and lasting change for the families and children of these 40 villages in the Koh Krolor district, as more than 11,000 people have directly benefited from work that World Vision is doing. In 2015 a Lightsource team and many members of the local community installed a 10kW solar array on the local high school, providing enough renewable energy to the school to power the sewer, a couple of computers, lights and fans. The solar installation further improved the local environment through also powering a water pump for the community, as well as providing a reliable and clean source of electricity. The company are committed to benefitting the host communities in which all their solar farms are developed, so offer a Community Benefit fund for all solar developments. So far Lightsource have committed over £7million to communities around the UK.

Lightsource moved from its former base at Old Bailey to a new custom-built office space to accommodate its in-house team. The fast-paced and dynamic nature of the solar industry means that team interaction is key to the company's success. The open plan office space of more than 30,000 sq ft allows for quick and easy communication between teams, including the Senior Management Team, ensuring everyone can work together closely in order to meet often tough deadlines. But the work hard/play hard ethos is echoed in the Lightsource Social environment. The offices large breakout areas, complete with retro arcade games and table football, are where you'll find table football tournaments in full-swing or maybe one of the Senior Management trying to hit top spot on Pac-man! Open and honest interaction between staff and teams is led by the CEO, who hosts regular company update events for all staff. These updates include the latest news on a business front, upcoming events and candid Q&A sessions, where all staff are encouraged to ask any question they like with the promise of an open and truthful answer from the Senior Management Team.

The partners and heads of department exemplify the values of LCF Law and demonstrate this on a daily basis. This can be seen in a number of ways, including through hard work, going the extra mile for clients, promoting their values through charity events and community involvement and in their interaction with every member of staff. They hold themselves to a high standard and are ideal role models for the team. Simon the CEO takes the time to get to know every employee, welcoming new starters to the firm personally, greeting and conversing with everyone as he walks around the office and always being available for a conversation or to give encouragement.

LCF Law understand that their people are their strength and as such they ensure that they support their development wherever they can. The company appraisal process is heavily geared towards personal growth and the development of skills both directly relevant to the employee's job role and those that are important for the individual. They fund courses for their team, ranging from soft-skills coaching all the way to professional qualification lasting several years. They have also embraced apprenticeships and currently support the development of seven, with three more being actively recruited for the Summer. They make sure that their employees have the time they need to fulfil their development goals with paid time off for studies, exams and activities in a wide variety of areas.

At Kohler, each associate is given a paid volunteer day which they can use either as an individual or a team. Previous examples include the Marketing department spending the day at the National Star College redecorating a Sports Hall and the Operations Team helping at the Butterfly Garden. Every year, Kohler associates nominate a charity to support and the business doubles any funds raised. Throughout 2016 many sponsored events have taken place, including a head shave, sponsored walks and a Skydive. As a final fundraising engagement activity for the year, a 4-week long fundraising interdepartmental competition is held in aid of Stand up to Cancer. This provides a great opportunity to increase internal engagement as well as the profile of individual departments, with events including a charity golf day, star prize raffle and a sponsored cycle challenge.

At Kohler, each associate is given a paid volunteer day which they can use either as an individual or a team. Previous examples include the Marketing department spending the day at the National Star College redecorating a Sports Hall and the Operations Team helping at the Butterfly Garden. Every year, Kohler associates nominate a charity to support and the business doubles any funds raised. Throughout 2016 many sponsored events have taken place, including a head shave, sponsored walks and a Skydive. As a final fundraising engagement activity for the year, a 4-week long fundraising interdepartmental competition is held in aid of Stand up to Cancer. This provides a great opportunity to increase internal engagement as well as the profile of individual departments, with events including a charity golf day, star prize raffle and a sponsored cycle challenge.

The Chief Executive has an inclusive leadership style, with a strong ability to speak and engage with people at all levels. He "walks the office" and spends time with staff at their desks or work locations, getting to know both the individual and what they are working on. Staff know Robert's style and openly discuss his open door approach. They are also aware of his desire for staff to feedback to him on any issues or concerns they may have. Robert's Executive Team are also visiting different locations and staff who are outside their usual teams. This has enabled both staff and the Executive Team to improve both their leadership and visibility within the organisation. Robert has conducted town hall style briefings and without exception these have all been well attended. The most recent had over 60 attendees at one session.

The Chief Executive has an inclusive leadership style, with a strong ability to speak and engage with people at all levels. He "walks the office" and spends time with staff at their desks or work locations, getting to know both the individual and what they are working on. Staff know Robert's style and openly discuss his open door approach. They are also aware of his desire for staff to feedback to him on any issues or concerns they may have. Robert's Executive Team are also visiting different locations and staff who are outside their usual teams. This has enabled both staff and the Executive Team to improve both their leadership and visibility within the organisation. Robert has conducted town hall style briefings and without exception these have all been well attended. The most recent had over 60 attendees at one session.

The nature of their business as an agency means that sometimes clients do put pressure on their employees. It is their priority to ensure employees maintain a health work life balance and as such they continuously invest in the wellbeing programme that was introduced in 2013. Kantar's wellbeing mission is to support people in seven key areas: financial, physical, mind, social, environment, ethical and spiritual. The latest enhancement to their wellbeing portfolio saw the introduction of free on-site weekly yoga classes, on-site massages, smoothie making classes and physiotherapy sessions. Kantar also continuously market the programme to ensure it is in front of mind for employees and managers alike. As mentioned above they have a comprehensive wellbeing programme which has been put in place to ease workplace stress. Each employee is unique and as such the business has a flexible approach and an open mind when it comes to dealing with a stressed employee. This approach is only possible because of the trust culture that is advocated by the senior management. The majority of their managers have attended a mental wellbeing programme run by the charity Mind which helps them identify any factors that may cause stress to Kantar employees and tips on how to support or manage it. The business also has a strong partnership with their private insurance provider, occupational health practitioner and an EAP service to support all employees should they need specialist help. This partnership allows them to provide prompt and personalised support to Kantar employees.

They offer a variety of learning support for their managers and this can range from informal on job shadowing to formal secondment opportunities so the employees can put themselves in real situations. New for 2016 was the introduction of the e-learning programme which was created to allow their line managers to manage and focus attention on their people management skills in their own time, without disrupting other business or client priorities which also form a part of their roles in the business. The e-learning programme now hosts over 30% of their courses. They strongly believe that managers are the key to employee engagement. A third of the population are line managers and as such in 2014 Kantar committed to transforming their role in business through the introduction of their three Line Manager Principles of Leads, Motivates and Cares and the Ten Behaviours. Colleagues are now only promoted or moved to “people management” roles once they have demonstrated their ability against these line manager principles, and this forms a part of the decision-making process during assessments. Learning gaps and needs are also identified in advance of an employee moving into a “people management” role. They are provided with the necessary support through job shadowing, coaching, classroom learning and the e-learning programme, which is then monitored and measured during the mid and annual performance review process. The annual employee survey results provide Kantar with a good measure of their line managers' performance both as a business and at department or team level. The data also provides Kantar with rich information about which teams and department need special attention and where the gaps are, so that they are able to improve and influence employees' experience of and engagement with the business.

Journeycall have a nominated charity which is decided upon by staff. This year it is Arbroath Infirmary Dialysis Unit. The company also do a lot to raise charitable funds for organisations like Macmillan Cancer Nurses. Most of the fun initiatives organised by the company Entertainment Committee have a charitable link, including charitable donations for dress down days. Last year Journeycall raised over £3200 for Angus Women's Aid. The company take part in careers fairs in the area and are one of the largest employers in Angus, being the biggest single employer in Arbroath. The company also have a longstanding and successful partnership with the Towards Employment Team, who they engage with to recruit candidates who have completed the Towards Employment programme. Further to this, Journeycall have an ongoing partnership with Triage, which supports those who have been unemployed for a long period of time getting back into work.

Senior Management frequently work extra hours, including weekends, to ensure consistent delivery of high quality services within SLA targets for all clients. They very much believe in "walking the talk". Having happy staff is vital to a successful business so employee engagement is key to the Senior Management Team. There is a weekly report to agents covering performance, upcoming forecasts, issues and anything else that is relevant. The Team Leader groups carry out team briefings on a weekly basis to inform individual teams of campaign specific matters and more detailed performance and forecast requirements. They also hold regular drop-in workshops where all team members are encouraged to contribute by making suggestions for improvements in respect of client services and processes. Journeycall even hold monthly Employment Engagement meetings, where elected representatives from each department meet and discuss issues and suggestions to improve services and the working environment. On top of this, Theresa Wishart was named Employer of the Year at the 2016 Scottish Business Women awards. In 2015 Theresa also collected the Dundee & Angus Chamber of Commerce award for making Journeycall the Most Enterprising Business of the Year.

From the start of an employees' journey with JDX the Senior Management Team is heavily involved throughout, from performing interviews and hosting training and induction courses to joining the “bootcamp graduation” drinks. Their involvement continues throughout staff's career, with management ensuring that at all levels employees feel involved and valued. Once consultants have completed their initial training and have progressed to a Senior Consultant they are enrolled into the Prodigy 35 training modules. These modules focus on developing consultants into the future leaders of the company, as JDX believe in promoting from within. Training sessions are run by Senior Management, as well as external trainers. JDX has two leaders, the co-founders JD and Tim. Both are energetic and passionate leaders who place high importance on socialising and building strong relationships within the company. JD is the driving force behind a number of innovative approaches to communicating important messages, such as his use of video content for the strategy night dinner. These videos subsequently provide a useful resource for recruitment and business development. Tim and JD believe that sport is extremely important in relation to developing skills in the workplace and general wellbeing, so actively encourage team participation in various sporting events, such as football and netball. They routinely organise companywide events such as the annual ski-trip to France, the Christmas party and they also provide tickets to Wimbledon and the Rugby World Cup.

JDX has consultants based on multiple client sites, meaning it is hugely important that they facilitate company-wide interaction in many different ways. As a result of this the company hold a ‘Townhall' every six weeks for all employees to attend. This is where JDX's performance and strategy are discussed, outstanding individual performances are acknowledged by Management and awards are also given. It is also a chance for new consultants to integrate with the JDX family. The SMT hold a number of initiatives throughout the year, including a quarterly ‘beers n ideas' forum. This gives employees a chance to put forward any ideas on how to further improve JDX. The best ideas are collated and presented to the MD's for consideration. The SSCC (Sports, Social and Charity Committee) is a peer-run committee dedicated to providing funding for events proposed by employees. Recent examples include Dodgeball, Salsa Dancing and Wine Tasting. The company also host a reoccurring movie night and poker tournaments throughout the year, which encourages healthy, if not ruthless, competition!

JCT600 have three separate Leadership Programmes. One is for fundamentals, one for introducing real Leadership Skills and one is a Potential Programme focused on emotional intelligence that is run in the Lake District and spans seven months. After programmes Managers re-group in Learning Sets to keep their relationships and form tight networks. The company's Talent Manager Sarah is taking a Coaching Diploma and provides internal Exec Coaching for some Managers following the High Potential Programme, along with coaching provided by an external facilitator. The company pays for groups of managers that have been through the High Po LDP in the Lakes to go back up for an overnight stay when they want to come back together, as they see this as a real investment in their long term development. One member of one intake was diagnosed with terminal cancer last year at 40 years old. His group met with him regularly and took him back up to the lakes before he died, a real demonstration of not only how they bonded but how they support one another long after the programme has finished. JCT600 also provide staff with quarterly in site and brand reviews and monthly one to ones with Managers. They also have a Year End Review Process. The company are a performance driven, target orientated business and this dynamic cycle is just part of the way they do things.

JCT600's new Patronage with Princes Trust has allowed them to support non work employee development through mentoring opportunities. The company have had a great deal of positive staff feedback from this, confirming how colleagues really feel. Within work, supporting employee development is a core part of JCT600's personality as a business. Their ‘Wired Talent' programme supports non Managers through nominations to have an individual Learning and Development plan pulled together between Sarah the Talent Manager, the colleague and their Manager, all of which is completely tailored to their needs. It can last one to four years and they have extra access to seminars, speaker events and learning resources by virtue of being on the programme. The Programme is an aspirational part of JCT600 and they have a 50% promotion rate. The company are hugely proud of this programme and the development it has provided for those on it.

Ixion hold an annual Staff Awards ceremony and all bar the CEO award is based on employee nominations from colleagues. Nominated staff are invited to attend and also invite two colleagues along to share the day with them. Staff are presented with engraved trophies and vouchers. The awards recognise employee's contributions that live and demonstrate the Ixion values. A CEO Honorarium Bonus payment is also allocated for the CEO to reward individual employees who make significant contributions or impacts within their role, team or division. The bonus pot is then distributed as the CEO sees fit.

Ixion hold an annual Staff Awards ceremony and all bar the CEO award is based on employee nominations from colleagues. Nominated staff are invited to attend and also invite two colleagues along to share the day with them. Staff are presented with engraved trophies and vouchers. The awards recognise employee's contributions that live and demonstrate the Ixion values. A CEO Honorarium Bonus payment is also allocated for the CEO to reward individual employees who make significant contributions or impacts within their role, team or division. The bonus pot is then distributed as the CEO sees fit.

itsu have launched two Leadership Programmes this year for their emerging Leaders and Senior Leaders. An important element is a personalised learning plan for Managers, as this encourages ownership. The company ran a 360 based on the judgement-drive-influence model and each individual was given one to one feedback from the report. They were then asked to present their strengths, opportunities and how they were going to work on them, which has informed their personalised learning path. They will continue to be supported in their development through mentoring and coaching from their Line Manager. All Managers have a twice yearly performance review, which looks at their results and behaviours against itsu's current values. Shop Managers are measured in a champions league format which measures their KPI's. If they are under delivering they are performance managed throughout the year. Those that are meeting expectations will be in line for promotion. As well as this Head Office Managers are measured by personalised KPI's specific to their job role.

itsu have launched two Leadership Programmes this year for their emerging Leaders and Senior Leaders. An important element is a personalised learning plan for Managers, as this encourages ownership. The company ran a 360 based on the judgement-drive-influence model and each individual was given one to one feedback from the report. They were then asked to present their strengths, opportunities and how they were going to work on them, which has informed their personalised learning path. They will continue to be supported in their development through mentoring and coaching from their Line Manager. All Managers have a twice yearly performance review, which looks at their results and behaviours against itsu's current values. Shop Managers are measured in a champions league format which measures their KPI's. If they are under delivering they are performance managed throughout the year. Those that are meeting expectations will be in line for promotion. As well as this Head Office Managers are measured by personalised KPI's specific to their job role.

The IPRS Group has always encouraged personal growth and career development and has therefore established this programme to complement their other career-development offerings. There is a qualitative difference between a manager-employee relationship and a mentor-mentee relationship and the mentoring programme is therefore open to all staff within the IPRS Group. Pairings and suitability are assessed and matched accordingly by HR. Psychometric testing was introduced in 2016 for all staff, with the purpose of the testing being to ensure that the company has the right skills and development potential in key roles. An in-house training package is delivered to all Managers within the company that covers a range of subjects, including but not limited to open discussions on management techniques and building Confidence in Management Skills. It is the opinion that all of these initiatives contribute individually to a robust management support package that has received very positive feedback from delegates. Being able to provide managers with direct staff feedback on positives and to discuss areas identified for improvement is a very powerful tool for the IPRS Group. Key Man Risk Tool has been created internally to identify the businesses key man risks, not only at management level but for Managers to be able to highlight key staff who they believe would have a significant impact on the business if they were to leave the organisation. Managers are then supported by HR to proactively manage the risk. As well as this training effectiveness is always monitored and analysed by the Group Training Manager as part of our ISO 9001 Quality Management accreditation.

'Skype for Business' was rolled out to staff earlier in the year to improve IPRS's communications channels at all levels across the business. As a result, staff are now able to instant message one another and have a platform to share screens and create Skype meetings. IPRS Group have remote workers all across the UK and the feedback from staff has been tremendous, as it is fundamentally changing the way they work as a team. Staff Bulletins are also cascaded monthly. During the Summer the company host themed barbeques, for example the Olympics (Finance Team) and the Curry Off (HR & IT Teams). In July the theme was ‘Barbieoke' and the team were invited to play a part in a musical video to raise money for IPRS's charities of the year. A new staff website called ‘your future' is being launched to provide staff with a fun site that they can go to for information relating to their health and wellbeing, family, social pages and also anything pinned on the noticeboard.

Inntel offers all staff an annual bonus, which is paid out if the company achieves its targets. The bonus is made up of 50% company targets and 50% individual KPI's. Whilst this is not unique in itself, all staff attend a monthly company update with either the Managing Director or another member of the Senior Leadership Team, where the names of those who have achieved their monthly KPI target are put into a pot and if selected can have a spin on the ‘wheel of fortune' to win a prize. The prizes include cinema tickets, bottles of wine, vouchers for a meal for two or gift vouchers. This monthly meeting is called ‘Scores on the Doors' and not only serves as an opportunity for staff to be brought up to date on what is happening within Inntel during the month but also allows the company to reward staff for their efforts in a light-hearted and enjoyable way.

Inntel offers all staff an annual bonus, which is paid out if the company achieves its targets. The bonus is made up of 50% company targets and 50% individual KPI's. Whilst this is not unique in itself, all staff attend a monthly company update with either the Managing Director or another member of the Senior Leadership Team, where the names of those who have achieved their monthly KPI target are put into a pot and if selected can have a spin on the ‘wheel of fortune' to win a prize. The prizes include cinema tickets, bottles of wine, vouchers for a meal for two or gift vouchers. This monthly meeting is called ‘Scores on the Doors' and not only serves as an opportunity for staff to be brought up to date on what is happening within Inntel during the month but also allows the company to reward staff for their efforts in a light-hearted and enjoyable way.

The Chairman's Club Award is ISG's premier recognition programme. The award was established to recognise employees who, through their actions and results, have made major contributions to ISG during the past year. The contributions of Chairman's Club Award winners positively impact objectives, possibly by expanding business development, increasing revenues, innovating, improving the firm's products and services or contributing to the development and professional growth of colleagues. The recognition includes a custom-designed keepsake award and an offsite event held in honour of Chairman's Club Award recipients. This year it was held in New Orleans and previous years have included Barbados, Napa Valley and Portugal. Employees are also invited to bring their Partner to accompany then on the trip as an additional acknowledgement that reinforces the value of the award to the company's continued growth and success.

The 2016 charities ISG supported includes the North Guildford Food Bank, which supports members of the local community who are suffering financial hardship. Employees are encouraged to participate in fundraising events for this and any other charities they feel they would like to support. This year the Company have encouraged employees to donate food items to the Food Bank with a targeted donation drive. In addition, a number of employees have spent the day at the Food Bank loading and unloading, sorting the food items and boxing them up following donations received through Harvest Festival collections. On top of this, ISG also offers an equal opportunities policy.

Immediate Media's two programmes in management development framework are Integral Leadership Programme (ILP) and Integral Management Programme (IMP). ILP helps Leader's role model the company's values, coach, develop, delegate, collaborate and connect with teams to build success as well as a great place to work. IMP gives Manager's practical tools to grow as individuals and create great teams. Immediate Media see IMP as the foundation layer in their management development framework and whilst the company know they've got lots of good Manager's, this helps them become really great ones. Delegates of IMP join a Learning Set which starts during the course and continues afterwards. This helps people share their experiences, get help, advice and also creates a sounding board. It also allows for new networks across the business with people who wouldn't ordinarily work together. The IMP and ILP programmes teach Managers that feedback must be regular, timely and constructive; therefore discussions are open, praise and thanks are given and successes are shared and celebrated. When things aren't going so well this is where coaching, advice and support comes in.

As a highly matrixed organisation, effective communication across and within teams is essential and central to Immediate Media's communications strategy. From the company's inception in 2011 they've made this a cultural principle and there is no better example than the design of the head office. At its heart is an open space occupying the entire ground floor with a café, open plan and private meeting spaces, table tennis and pool tables, a bar and a 300+ seat theatre. This vibrant and permanently busy space provides a place where people come together to collaborate, eat, socialise and it's also the centrepiece of the company communications. In the theatre area the company run regular companywide and group Town Hall meetings. These are transparent, jargon-free updates on performance from the CEO, which are followed by a short show and tells celebrating success from different teams. Open communication lies at the core of the values, so every Friday the CEO sends out an update to everyone. He selects his highlights from around the company, covering everything from big commercial wins to brand news and initiatives. He then underlines the importance of the people with a welcome to all new starters, congratulations for those promoted or have good news to share and finally saying goodbye and wishing well to any leavers.

For the first time, the organisation has nominated a number of charities to support through the course of this year. These were arrived at through consultation with employees in the agency – and supports both national charities and those that are proximate to each office site. The majority of fundraising activity is achieved through sweepstakes and bake sales in the office, but a number of individuals (including the Leadership team) are taking point in this year's Sleepout event for Centre Point. The agency supports the notion of giving something back to the community and wider society. This is demonstrated by the organisation's MD, who volunteers his time to support undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Leeds through their Nurturing Talent Mentor Scheme. This typically involves providing advice and guidance to a number of students – with a clear focus on gaining experience during their studies and employment at the end of their course. Typically, students who are nominated for the scheme are likely to be from a non-university background, and in some cases, from disadvantaged groups. Finally, the organisation continues to run both a formal ‘Academy' programme for graduates, alongside an informal internship or work experience programme in order to provide opportunities to young people looking to pursue a career in the industry.

For the first time, the organisation has nominated a number of charities to support through the course of this year. These were arrived at through consultation with employees in the agency – and supports both national charities and those that are proximate to each office site. The majority of fundraising activity is achieved through sweepstakes and bake sales in the office, but a number of individuals (including the Leadership team) are taking point in this year's Sleepout event for Centre Point. The agency supports the notion of giving something back to the community and wider society. This is demonstrated by the organisation's MD, who volunteers his time to support undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Leeds through their Nurturing Talent Mentor Scheme. This typically involves providing advice and guidance to a number of students – with a clear focus on gaining experience during their studies and employment at the end of their course. Typically, students who are nominated for the scheme are likely to be from a non-university background, and in some cases, from disadvantaged groups. Finally, the organisation continues to run both a formal ‘Academy' programme for graduates, alongside an informal internship or work experience programme in order to provide opportunities to young people looking to pursue a career in the industry.

Hymans Robertson have a strong ethos of community support within the firm. There are two core strands to this, their financial literacy programme delivers workshops on financial literacy to disadvantaged young people by partnering with other charities and their local Helping Hands teams identify local charities who need support which the company then provide through volunteering, fundraising or ‘in kind' donations. They also offer matched funding to employees who have raised money for their own favoured charities. In total the firm allocates 2% of the firm's profits to these initiatives. This is in addition to employee's time and their fundraising efforts which include one day's paid volunteering day per employee each year to use to help a charity of their choice, previous initiatives include raising money each month through ‘Dress Down' day collections, supporting national events such as ‘Children in Need' and the Hymans Robertson Foundation which will provide focus and transparency on all charitable activities. Hymans have engaged an agency who specialise in finding placements for those that wish to work part-time. Now if they have a role that requires someone on a part-time basis they will work with them to recruit suitable candidates that cannot work a conventional Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 routine. To help in the general recruitment process, they have recognised that unconscious bias can play a role in how people managers review applications. So they have run Unconscious Bias workshops in the firm with almost 200 delegates attending. They have also worked with a government scheme called "New Starts" which aims to help ex-offenders return to work, they have taken on one new start attendee and this has worked well for the firm and we would be open to taking on more as a result.

Hymans Robertson have a strong ethos of community support within the firm. There are two core strands to this, their financial literacy programme delivers workshops on financial literacy to disadvantaged young people by partnering with other charities and their local Helping Hands teams identify local charities who need support which the company then provide through volunteering, fundraising or ‘in kind' donations. They also offer matched funding to employees who have raised money for their own favoured charities. In total the firm allocates 2% of the firm's profits to these initiatives. This is in addition to employee's time and their fundraising efforts which include one day's paid volunteering day per employee each year to use to help a charity of their choice, previous initiatives include raising money each month through ‘Dress Down' day collections, supporting national events such as ‘Children in Need' and the Hymans Robertson Foundation which will provide focus and transparency on all charitable activities. Hymans have engaged an agency who specialise in finding placements for those that wish to work part-time. Now if they have a role that requires someone on a part-time basis they will work with them to recruit suitable candidates that cannot work a conventional Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 routine. To help in the general recruitment process, they have recognised that unconscious bias can play a role in how people managers review applications. So they have run Unconscious Bias workshops in the firm with almost 200 delegates attending. They have also worked with a government scheme called "New Starts" which aims to help ex-offenders return to work, they have taken on one new start attendee and this has worked well for the firm and we would be open to taking on more as a result.

Huntswood has a range of wellbeing initiatives, including free gym memberships, massages during work time, health checks, free fruit, cycle to work, discount shopping vouchers, social activities, a fun and functional office environment and an Employee Assistance Programme service. HR have also recently engaged ‘wellbeing champions' from across the business who volunteered themselves to help enhance the wellbeing of Huntswood employees. The champions help with the organisation of wellbeing events and initiatives and provide feedback and ideas around what employees want in terms of their wellbeing at work. The HR team also monitors absence closely by accurately recording absence information, holding return to work interviews and offering appropriate support to employees where necessary. HR have an open door policy and employees always feel that they can speak to a member of the team should they need advice or guidance. Managers are given guidance on how best to manage employees that could be at risk of stress and often provide one to one catch ups to monitor these employees. As well as all this where possible flexibility with working hours is permitted to inspire a healthy work life balance.

Huntswood has a range of wellbeing initiatives, including free gym memberships, massages during work time, health checks, free fruit, cycle to work, discount shopping vouchers, social activities, a fun and functional office environment and an Employee Assistance Programme service. HR have also recently engaged ‘wellbeing champions' from across the business who volunteered themselves to help enhance the wellbeing of Huntswood employees. The champions help with the organisation of wellbeing events and initiatives and provide feedback and ideas around what employees want in terms of their wellbeing at work. The HR team also monitors absence closely by accurately recording absence information, holding return to work interviews and offering appropriate support to employees where necessary. HR have an open door policy and employees always feel that they can speak to a member of the team should they need advice or guidance. Managers are given guidance on how best to manage employees that could be at risk of stress and often provide one to one catch ups to monitor these employees. As well as all this where possible flexibility with working hours is permitted to inspire a healthy work life balance.

Hotcourses put on a Dragons Den Team Competition which runs throughout the year. Following a new structure they wanted teams to interact, so this year have mixed up people in teams. This approach has improved team interaction and collaboration. Their programme has included a Dragons Den pitch (three out of four pitches won and implemented), a Trust game, obstacles and people paired with one blind folded, a helium pole game, a Sports Day and Culture lunch days. It has now become an annual programme every year and in results from a company based survey it was shown that communication within the business is now rated ‘great' by 78% of employees (in comparison to last year when only 48% rated it as such).

Hotcourses send out a monthly health and wellbeing bulletin. They also encourage team activities around sporting events. The company's Head of People is a qualified mediator who has resolved any grievances informally through this method. Hotcourses have a very paternalistic management team, as they manage many young people where this is their first place of work. The company train their Managers to deal with situations promptly and refer to the right person to give an individual approach to stress related matters.

The layout of Horwich Farrelly's offices is open plan in design and all teams occupy a floor or a section of a floor. Most teams participate in regular meetings or daily huddles run by Managers to facilitate team working. This year through the company's soft phone system they gave all employees access to instant messenger, all to enable more direct and effective communication amongst employees. The COO has also recently completed a tour of all offices, delivering a business update to ensure that all employees are clear on the company objectives and successes. Horwich Farrelly's are currently developing an ideas sharing platform to launch in 2017, which will allow all employees in all locations to make comments or suggestions about how they could improve the business.

The layout of Horwich Farrelly's offices is open plan in design and all teams occupy a floor or a section of a floor. Most teams participate in regular meetings or daily huddles run by Managers to facilitate team working. This year through the company's soft phone system they gave all employees access to instant messenger, all to enable more direct and effective communication amongst employees. The COO has also recently completed a tour of all offices, delivering a business update to ensure that all employees are clear on the company objectives and successes. Horwich Farrelly's are currently developing an ideas sharing platform to launch in 2017, which will allow all employees in all locations to make comments or suggestions about how they could improve the business.

Throughout the Company posters and charts are proudly displayed on the walls to ensure staff are aware of the vision, mission and behaviours that are so dear to Hoppeckle's heart. These are even displayed in the reception area so visitors are also aware of the company's mantra. As Hoppecke are a relatively small company and approximately half their workforce are field based, the MD writes a blog to update all staff on changes and developments in the business and to celebrate success. For those staff who do not have access to a computer, their team leader meets with them to discuss the content, answer questions and obtain upward feedback, which is noted and as appropriate discussed with the wider leadership team.

The CEO treats all staff with respect and gives them the opportunity to speak to him directly if they have concerns regarding the business or themselves. He shows not only an interest in their time at work but in their families outside interests. In the short time he has been in post he has been very keen to seek to harmonise and improve terms and conditions for all staff. The MD ensures that he visits all sections of the business and speaks to as many staff as possible. He engages well and proactively with staff at all levels across the business. Due to the nature of the business a great amount of on-the job training takes place, particularly for field staff. This type of on-going training enables staff to maintain and develop their skills. There is on-going support available from experienced managers and staff. The business is proficient in providing support and guidance whilst business continues. For a small number of staff an MBO process is in place. The organisation is about to introduce a formal management development programme and to set up a number of supplementary support programmes, such as mentoring and coaching. There are also plans to implement a cross organisation performance management system in the next 6 months.

HomeServe have supported over 150 community groups across the West Midlands. A share of £35k has also been put towards their partnership with Midlands' newspaper, Express & Star, on its ‘Cash For Your Community' initiative for the third year running. Volunteers across the business gave over 1,750 hours of volunteer time for the Sport Relief 2016 campaign, with HomeServe answering a phenomenal 2,369 donation calls and raising over £72,272 on the night. The company's people volunteered 14,000 hours, served 8,300 meals and made 6,900 food supply bags for The Midland Langar Seva Society, a local charity that provides food for the homeless. They have even provided the charity with a van to distribute food donations that HomeServe contribute to weekly from their own site. The company are also working with Career Transition Partnership and Armed forces, for example the company have recently taken on Gas Engineers who have worked with engineers to gain experience, even resulting in a job offer. To provide further opportunities for HomeServe's P&D engineers, a Level 3 Gas Apprenticeship is also available.

HomeServe have supported over 150 community groups across the West Midlands. A share of £35k has also been put towards their partnership with Midlands' newspaper, Express & Star, on its ‘Cash For Your Community' initiative for the third year running. Volunteers across the business gave over 1,750 hours of volunteer time for the Sport Relief 2016 campaign, with HomeServe answering a phenomenal 2,369 donation calls and raising over £72,272 on the night. The company's people volunteered 14,000 hours, served 8,300 meals and made 6,900 food supply bags for The Midland Langar Seva Society, a local charity that provides food for the homeless. They have even provided the charity with a van to distribute food donations that HomeServe contribute to weekly from their own site. The company are also working with Career Transition Partnership and Armed forces, for example the company have recently taken on Gas Engineers who have worked with engineers to gain experience, even resulting in a job offer. To provide further opportunities for HomeServe's P&D engineers, a Level 3 Gas Apprenticeship is also available.

Higgidy have a weekly huddle where the business come together for food, networking, a weekly business update on KPI's and a strategy update. The company put on business briefs twice a year, which are really important for making every employee feel like they are part of the ‘bigger picture'. These briefs go off results and key messages. There is a Microsoft 365 space for sharing documents and Whats App groups to send things to teams easily.

Higgidy have a peer to peer recognition scheme called the 'Higgidy Heroes', which is nominated by the people for the people. These get given back to all employees so they know they have been chosen and there are two levels of rewards - the Everyday Hero and the Super Hero. These have to link back to their company values of being Brave, Smart or Kind. In addition to recognising and rewarding employees for their hard work the company work had to ensure that they look after employee wellbeing. There are yoga sessions on a Friday, free fruit is provided, they contribute to exercise classes, pay for people to enter marathons, offer flexible working and operate a no long hours culture. They also ensure that they give support to people during difficult times including, paid time off, support with appointments etc.

Haygarth have a long-standing relationship with a local charity, The Wimbledon Guild, who do valuable work in the local Merton community. The Charity team work hard to plan a calendar of events to run throughout the year and are constantly coming up with new fundraising ideas. As a result, they run a large number of fund-raising initiatives for the Guild, from regular cake sales and sweepstakes, to themed breakfasts and charity raffles and auctions. One of the annual highlights is their charity auction which takes place at the Summer Away Day. This year the company raised over £350 at the event. Beyond fundraising, a team from Haygarth run a stall at the annual Wimbledon Guild Summer Fete – this year, Haygarth assisted with the jousting tournament, selling props and programmes, whilst in previous years, they have run the champagne tent.

Haygarth have recently reinvigorated Strata meetings and see these as an opportunity for employees at each level of the business, regardless of team, to come together on a monthly basis. Strata meetings encompass a finance and general business update, as well special interest presentations and group work. These sessions are great forums for cross-team working and communication, allowing employees to get to know those people that they may not necessarily work with on a daily basis.

Annually the Studio organises trips to a European City where £500 is paid towards flights, accommodation and food for each employee. This year staff had the option of going to Oslo, Lisbon. Arhaus, Eindhoven, Nantes and Rotterdam. In groups of 25 staff visit and explore various cities, reviewing architecture for the purpose of research and team building. The trips are led by a Partner and made up of a mix of people who don't normally work each other. The days include waking tours, visit to other architectural practice and cycle tours. While evenings are a time for everyone to socialise over dinner. It is said that Studio Trips are a highlight for staff and a calendar event much anticipated. Upon return staff are encouraged to share photos and present learning's from the trips to the wider studio.

Annually the Studio organises trips to a European City where £500 is paid towards flights, accommodation and food for each employee. This year staff had the option of going to Oslo, Lisbon. Arhaus, Eindhoven, Nantes and Rotterdam. In groups of 25 staff visit and explore various cities, reviewing architecture for the purpose of research and team building. The trips are led by a Partner and made up of a mix of people who don't normally work each other. The days include waking tours, visit to other architectural practice and cycle tours. While evenings are a time for everyone to socialise over dinner. It is said that Studio Trips are a highlight for staff and a calendar event much anticipated. Upon return staff are encouraged to share photos and present learning's from the trips to the wider studio.

Hardies main community initiative is supporting and raising monies for local charities. Each office within the firm has selected a local charity and events are run throughout the year, with the funds raised being given to these charities. The company also runs a school's programme initiative, where again each office adopts a local school to encourage an interest in surveying and administration and to provide work shadowing and job opportunities. Hardies' Corporate Social Responsibility document is reviewed annually and includes a list of all members of staff and Partners who commit to various boards and charities within the community.

Hardies main community initiative is supporting and raising monies for local charities. Each office within the firm has selected a local charity and events are run throughout the year, with the funds raised being given to these charities. The company also runs a school's programme initiative, where again each office adopts a local school to encourage an interest in surveying and administration and to provide work shadowing and job opportunities. Hardies' Corporate Social Responsibility document is reviewed annually and includes a list of all members of staff and Partners who commit to various boards and charities within the community.

Harbour believes passionately that to provide a great service they need to employ enthusiastic, compassionate and talented people, then ensure the organisation continually invest in them so they keep learning, improving and developing their services. As a result of this staff receive ongoing training and development throughout their employment with Harbour, with many of them working towards accredited qualifications.

Throughout Harbour teams hold team meetings and team development days to look at how services can be improved. There was also a Staff Health & Wellbeing event held in October 2016, which all Harbour staff were invited to attend. The event included presentations and workshops on topics selected following a staff health survey. The organisation also covered mindfulness, self-harm and suicide prevention. They even had organisations attend with information stalls on topics such as alcohol and cancer, as well as a health bus offering basic health tests.

Hall & Partners are mindful of the importance of communicating with one another regularly outside of the daily and weekly team gatherings. Working in a busy and rapidly evolving environment, it's important staff are presented with new and innovative ways to interact and communicate with leaders. One of the avenues for doing this is through the company's annual company-wide initiative ‘Imagine Day'. This gives staff the chance to come together and share ideas through collaboration and training. This year saw a presenter from TrendWatching comment on the latest industry trends, encouraging staff to consider new approaches and areas of growth in their respective industries. Hall & Partners also hold frequent ‘London Pop-Up' meetings with the whole office to ensure all employees are kept up-to-date with Marketing, People, big wins, any key developments and news. They have also maintained their ‘Fifteen minutes of fame sessions', which are held monthly. These provide all employees with a platform to share and inspire their colleagues, showcasing examples of innovative and exciting work. Hall & Partners also encourage teams to enjoy a monthly ‘wellbeing day', an opportunity to leave their desks, escape the office and do something fun together. These include outings to theme parks, treasure hunts, sports days, cooking classes and even murder mystery days.

Hall & Partners continuously seek new ways to reward their stars; therefore the company have put in place rewards that recognise the examples of behaviour that reinforce their culture. These rewards are given out during the quarterly gatherings, which allow them to share and celebrate individual successes with the wider team and, in some cases, the business. The individual rewards are hand-chosen and bespoke to the individual so that they are aligned to Hall & Partners core values of Courageous, Collaborative, Creative and Curious. The company go beyond financial reward to give people incredible experiences that they can enjoy and share with their colleagues, further promoting the initiative. Examples include the ArcelorMittal Orbit at the Olympic Park, Ice-skating at Alexandra Palace and the London Bridge Glass Platform Experience.

Workplace Health Champions organise health and wellbeing activities quarterly for employees to participate in. This year these have included Mental Health Awareness, a Men's Health Week and a ‘Race to Rio' event in aid of the Olympics. During the Mental Health Week an employee ran an afternoon of 30 minute meditation sessions which were well attended. The week also offered posture checks and head and shoulder massages, which were popular among the Customer Services Team. For Men's Health week each male employee received a health check manual for men, written in the style of the Haynes car manuals. Employees also ran a Top Man Challenge, with prizes for all the winners. Using a Top Gear style Leader board men challenged one another to a range of activities, including bench pressing and weight lifting, aiming to be at the top of the leader board. The event was talked about for weeks afterwards. Health Champions organise various other initiatives, for example a six-week weight loss programme, health checks, flu jabs, a running club and even stop smoking hypnotherapy sessions. Following the running club four employees ran a half marathon, raising £1000 for Greenfield's charity of the year. Greenfield's Employee Assistance Programme is available through BUPA and employees can have six face to face or telephone counselling sessions to discuss in confidence any topics concerning them. What's next for Greenfield? Coming up they have a five-week programme focusing on Mental Health that will include Laughing Yoga, a Modern Jive taster session, a ‘lunch and learn' session delivered by an employee discussing their experience with Bipolar Disorder, plus a healthy festive bake sale. The company will also be promoting their Christmas present appeal, where they collect donated Christmas presents which employees then distribute to local residents just before Christmas Eve.

Greenfield's have invested £100,000 into ‘Tendring Reuse and Employment Enterprise', or ‘TREE', a charity providing volunteer and work placement opportunities for people in the local community. In July the company's Area Forum in Witham held a Summer Fete for both employees and residents, which raised over £400 for their charity of the year. The annual garden competition and Edible Estates encourages residents to spend more time outside and to get active while being involved in looking after their gardens. Later this month Greenfield's are hosting a coffee and cake morning to encourage members of the community to come and talk about possible work opportunities in local organisations. In aid of Essex Air Ambulance Greenfield's recently organised a Go Yellow Day, where employees were encouraged to wear something yellow and provide only yellow food! The company's Digital Inclusion Co-ordinator runs free sessions to upskill residents with digital tasks, including applying for Universal Credit and searching for employment. Residents can even study for a City and Guilds qualification and borrow a laptop or tablet for home use. Employees can also volunteer to be digi-pals and provide additional support to the coordinator by assisting those attending the sessions. Furthermore Greenfield's can offer learners the opportunity to sit the Entry Level 3 Award and Certificate for IT Users, with 20 residents having already gained this qualification. On top of this, their Positive Engagement Coordinator does outreach work with young people in the community, with the aim of reducing ASB and drug/alcohol abuse. So far 500 people aged 15 – 25 have been involved and using football as an engagement tool the Coordinator has ‘kicked about' on local parks and joined in with games. He's even encouraged them to provide garden maintenance services to vulnerable, elderly and disabled residents. Five people have even worked with our Trades team to develop DIY skills over two solid weeks of work experience.

Gopher Money try to embrace a 'Relaxed, high pressured' environment. They appreciate this is a contradictory statement but they give their staff the freedom to manage their own day meaning that to an extent they can come and go without having to log in and out expect for health and safety purposes. Anyone feeling stressed can step out and unwind knowing they can work beyond their contracted hours to catch up if they fall behind their target. In essence a lot of the staff class themselves as 'self-employed' meaning the pressure they apply is at their own volition. As a business Gopher Money are always trying to encourage employees to move away from their desk on breaks and lunches and be able to clear their head ready for work. The existing Learning and Development manager works closely with staff in helping them deal with issues both inside and outside of work such as relationships and stress and personal development. This has seen sickness per FTE continue to improve this and the feedback from those who are working with him is very positive.

Before detailing how the organisation supports and develops its managers it is worth noting that 90% of Team Leaders and Managers within Gopher Money have been promoted from the ranks. This in itself is a clear indication of the value and trust that they invest in all their staff. They support the leadership team by ensuring they are involved in all decisions relating to their teams and offering them along with their teams the opportunity to develop themselves. For example, every Team Leader and Manager within the company bar one is currently undertaking at least one qualification. This is indicative of the need to 'Continue to Progress' and is demonstrated from the top of the company to the bottom. Initially this is done via KPI's not just surrounding performance but also quality and how they feel that their managers demonstrate the company values. Initially they discuss this in one to ones where all aspects of their performance is documented and from here they also complete at least 2 employee engagement surveys per annum where staff are given the opportunity to confidentially express how they feel about all aspects of the business including their Manager. Ultimately low attrition rates are one of the best measures as to how Gopher Money managers are performing as statistics show that employees who leave a company have done so principally due to a change in personal circumstances, rather than being dissatisfied with their role or the way they have been managed. This demonstrates that employee's loyalty to Gopher Money begins with how they are supervised, which has been supported in the results of the employee surveys.

Gofal have committed to becoming a Thinking Environment. This is the start of a journey which will take them several years, but the organisation have started by training every Line Manager in the principles of the Thinking Environment, helping them lead team meetings in a way which actively encourages listening and full participation of all members. Gofal started the launch to all team members at their recent Staff Wellbeing Day, when everyone was able to participate in an organisation wide Thinking Environment workshop. All staff were also invited to a company wide staff wellbeing day, including wellbeing activities, a presentation of the organisational strategies and an introduction to the Thinking Environment.

Ewan Hilton Chief Executive works above and beyond his role within the organisation to raise public awareness of mental health and the difficulties faced by people with mental health problems, both through Welsh Government platforms and with the media in Wales. By partnership working with other organisations in the sector, he leads in a way that allows Gofal to deliver that message even more strongly than they could on their own. Part of the organisation's Strategic Plan is to create a culture which is led by Experts by Experience, involving their service users in every aspect of their work. The core competencies are linked to the Organisational values and demand that Senior Managers work as role models of each competency for the rest of the organisation. Ewan Hilton Chief Executive does not have an office base, enabling him to work from any of the satellite offices. Ewan is extremely approachable and enjoys engaging with employees, plus he takes the opportunity when working in different sites to speak to and listen to employees on a day to day basis. He is also able to email "all users" in the organisation.

Earlier this year Global ran a series of lunchtime guided City walks, held on a monthly basis. Walks were led by qualified City of London Guides and incurred no cost for attendees. As well as providing an opportunity to explore the unusual and hidden features that the City of London has to offer, the walks provided healthy moderate exercise, an opportunity for members of the PMI scheme to earn additional points from increased daily activity and the chance to socialise with colleagues. The lunchtime beginner group, offered by the store emphasises on participation and not pace. Feedback was received from one employee that from being a non-runner, after 7 weeks' attendance, they successfully completed a 5km run in 30 minutes. The Company funds massage therapy appointments which are delivered in-house, twice a year and are available to all employees. The massage therapist uses a combination of massage and acupressure techniques to the back, neck, shoulders, arms, hands and scalp while the employee sits in a specially designed chair. Each massage lasts for 20 minutes and takes place during the working day. Benefits include easing tense and knotted muscles, improves mobility and flexibility, relieves anxiety and stress, induces relaxation and wellbeing and increases mental alertness and clarity. On a day-to day basis, they provide employees with the use of a large kitchen with break-out seating area to encourage individuals to take time away from their desks to eat lunch and integrate with their colleagues. For those requiring a more tranquil area, a First Aid room is available for private reflection.

Earlier this year Global ran a series of lunchtime guided City walks, held on a monthly basis. Walks were led by qualified City of London Guides and incurred no cost for attendees. As well as providing an opportunity to explore the unusual and hidden features that the City of London has to offer, the walks provided healthy moderate exercise, an opportunity for members of the PMI scheme to earn additional points from increased daily activity and the chance to socialise with colleagues. The lunchtime beginner group, offered by the store emphasises on participation and not pace. Feedback was received from one employee that from being a non-runner, after 7 weeks' attendance, they successfully completed a 5km run in 30 minutes. The Company funds massage therapy appointments which are delivered in-house, twice a year and are available to all employees. The massage therapist uses a combination of massage and acupressure techniques to the back, neck, shoulders, arms, hands and scalp while the employee sits in a specially designed chair. Each massage lasts for 20 minutes and takes place during the working day. Benefits include easing tense and knotted muscles, improves mobility and flexibility, relieves anxiety and stress, induces relaxation and wellbeing and increases mental alertness and clarity. On a day-to day basis, they provide employees with the use of a large kitchen with break-out seating area to encourage individuals to take time away from their desks to eat lunch and integrate with their colleagues. For those requiring a more tranquil area, a First Aid room is available for private reflection.

Genuine Solutions strongly believe that their staff are their future. With this in mind, the company has several initiatives in place that give their staff the opportunity to develop. Every single employee has a personal development plan that is created between them and their manager and reviewed during their annual or half yearly appraisal. The company also works closely with the Duke of Edinburgh's charity and as part of their 60th anniversary they released the Challenge Award, which is given in recognition for achieving either a personal or commercial challenge or achievement. This innovative award and framework allows Genuine Solutions to give their people an opportunity to develop and gain prestigious recognition. Another example of how the organisation supports employee development is their monthly training courses. The company takes pride that they can offer every member of staff the opportunity to attend monthly training courses held at their offices by an external trainer. These courses are built around training needs and what is best for the business. They have also provided several training courses at Kingston College, which have been hugely beneficial for all staff and have allowed them to develop further within their specific job roles. Alongside these initiatives Genuine Solutions also run an Apprentice Programme, which has proved incredibly successful, as it has not only increased productivity but it has also strengthened the workforce and improved motivation amongst all employees.

Genuine Solutions strongly believe that their staff are their future. With this in mind, the company has several initiatives in place that give their staff the opportunity to develop. Every single employee has a personal development plan that is created between them and their manager and reviewed during their annual or half yearly appraisal. The company also works closely with the Duke of Edinburgh's charity and as part of their 60th anniversary they released the Challenge Award, which is given in recognition for achieving either a personal or commercial challenge or achievement. This innovative award and framework allows Genuine Solutions to give their people an opportunity to develop and gain prestigious recognition. Another example of how the organisation supports employee development is their monthly training courses. The company takes pride that they can offer every member of staff the opportunity to attend monthly training courses held at their offices by an external trainer. These courses are built around training needs and what is best for the business. They have also provided several training courses at Kingston College, which have been hugely beneficial for all staff and have allowed them to develop further within their specific job roles. Alongside these initiatives Genuine Solutions also run an Apprentice Programme, which has proved incredibly successful, as it has not only increased productivity but it has also strengthened the workforce and improved motivation amongst all employees.

Away days are run by FTI Consulting for business areas abroad, where each employee goes away for a few days to discuss performance in the business area, as well as increasing skills like team building and networking. End of month drinks are run at the end of every month, providing free drinks and nibbles for any employee who wishes to attend. New joiners are allocated a buddy to be an initial point of contact in their first few weeks. The company puts on a Christmas Party, business area Summer parties and Young professional events. They also hold forums for various levels within the business and graduate induction events. Balance network run various events, including the use of high profile speakers (looking at diversity and equality network). The company get involved in various charity events and lunchtime briefings are also held based on various topics to encourage team interaction and communication.

There is an SMD presentation at all staff meetings on the values of FTI. Values have been installed as a screensaver on all computers in the office, put on the website and is featured on all job specs. There is also a desk drop announcing the launch of the values. The Leader engages with employees on a daily basis through emails and also through Business Area Town Halls. The company supports employees development by providing resources for them to gain professional qualifications for both client facing and support staff. Coaching and mentoring is always offered to those who attend these programmes and there is also ongoing training in person or through online resources. On top of all this there is support of a competency matrix, coaching from external providers and further programmes run internally.

In January this year, Frame's over fifty staff were spread over 2 separate neighbouring properties. They had grown quickly and were in danger of losing the collective spirit that was the source of their success. The company decided that they should move office, not because they were running out of space but because their working environment was beginning to compromise their culture. The search was on for new offices that would facilitate more open, collaborative ways of working, stimulate the senses, uplift everyone and signal the company ambition. In August, they moved into a 13,000 square foot office in the Creative Quarter of Glasgow on the river Clyde. They are sandwiched between the BBC and STV in the orbit of countless radio and TV production houses and other businesses in the creative industries. The £100k+ office refit was undertaken to deliver a physical environment that would improve team interaction and communication. They have provided a café area with full kitchen facilities and seating for around 30 staff. Numerous break-out areas have been designed to enable informal or impromptu meetings. They have a free bar and ping-pong area, a screening room with bleachers to seat up to 25 people, and numerous project areas with wall to wall magnetic whiteboards. They gave the staff a budget to stock a creative library with reference books, and the arrangement of desks has been designed to enable communication and collaboration – in particular, the creative department, where desks are arranged in one huge row seating 24.

At the end of the year, Frame go away together to spend time in each other's company, to celebrate, socialise and talk about the year behind and the year to come. It's accompanied by a presentation of the year in review so that everyone knows where the company is, what kind of year they have had, and what their plans are for the coming year. The impact of the trips lingers long into the next year. Relationships are deepened and new ones formed, they gain collective memories, discussed for months afterwards. Barriers come down, and the company talk about work, but also life in general – away from the office environment, where they try to be informal, but where there are inevitably some structures and hierarchies. Above all, the trips are a shared experience enjoyed by everyone. They're a reward for collective effort. Alongside more individual rewards like annual performance-linked bonuses, salary reviews and promotions, these trips are a way for the company to reward staff at the same time, in the same way, in the same degree. As Frame have grown, they have discussed whether there is still a role for these trips. And in particular, now that they are nearly sixty people, whether the expense is justified. Staff feedback on this subject is universally that they would rather go away together in this way, than be given an equivalent cash sum. Previous trips have included Paris, Amsterdam and Belfast, and this year's trip will be in Berlin from 15th to 17th December.

At Firstco they have a diverse social committee, made up of a self-elected cross section of employees. The aim of this committee is to organise and arrange a variety of events throughout the year, that all staff are able to attend (either free of charge, or heavily subsidised). They have a budget of £6K available to them each year, with the annual company picnic being one of the most popular and well attended events. Other events include theatre trips, tickets for sporting events, wine tasting, music sessions and barbecues. With a lot of their employees relocating to London for the job, they have found that having a strong social ethos has been pivotal for helping them settle in, make new friends within the workplace and develop ongoing working relationships.

At Firstco they have a diverse social committee, made up of a self-elected cross section of employees. The aim of this committee is to organise and arrange a variety of events throughout the year, that all staff are able to attend (either free of charge, or heavily subsidised). They have a budget of £6K available to them each year, with the annual company picnic being one of the most popular and well attended events. Other events include theatre trips, tickets for sporting events, wine tasting, music sessions and barbecues. With a lot of their employees relocating to London for the job, they have found that having a strong social ethos has been pivotal for helping them settle in, make new friends within the workplace and develop ongoing working relationships.

Fichtner have a charity committee within the business made up of volunteers that manage all of the company charitable activities each year. The committee meets once a quarter and sets a budget every year, which is then used to support one main charity that is chosen by the employees, plus a number of smaller and more local charities. This year Fichtner are proudly supporting MIND via their local branch, as well as Cancer Research, BHF and a local children's hospice. Several of the engineering staff also actively involve themselves in the STEM projects with local schools and universities and the company have two 'women in engineering' university societies coming to the offices in September for networking and discussions around careers in engineering post qualification.

Fichtner have a charity committee within the business made up of volunteers that manage all of the company charitable activities each year. The committee meets once a quarter and sets a budget every year, which is then used to support one main charity that is chosen by the employees, plus a number of smaller and more local charities. This year Fichtner are proudly supporting MIND via their local branch, as well as Cancer Research, BHF and a local children's hospice. Several of the engineering staff also actively involve themselves in the STEM projects with local schools and universities and the company have two 'women in engineering' university societies coming to the offices in September for networking and discussions around careers in engineering post qualification.

Ethicall give 25% of their post-tax profit to charity, resulting in more than £1.25m being donated to various charities in the last 10 years. They are committed to supporting worthy causes in the local community where employees live and work. One such charity is One 25, a charity which works to get Bristol street sex workers off the streets and rebuild their lives. Ethicall have also funded the 50K cost of an ambulance to transport children from the local maternity hospital to the operating suite of the children's hospital. Staff are encouraged to get involved with charities and Ethicall will donate £250 to any staff fundraising. The company have also done “paint and fix” activities as part of vision days for local charities.

Ethicall give 25% of their post-tax profit to charity, resulting in more than £1.25m being donated to various charities in the last 10 years. They are committed to supporting worthy causes in the local community where employees live and work. One such charity is One 25, a charity which works to get Bristol street sex workers off the streets and rebuild their lives. Ethicall have also funded the 50K cost of an ambulance to transport children from the local maternity hospital to the operating suite of the children's hospital. Staff are encouraged to get involved with charities and Ethicall will donate £250 to any staff fundraising. The company have also done “paint and fix” activities as part of vision days for local charities.

eSynergy are currently working with a local charity called St Lukes, which gives under privileged children in inner London the ability to play sports. Consultants run the lunchtime sporting activities once a week and they also run the school's football team for both boys and girls. Furthermore eSynergy sponsor the end of season football tournament, which is attended by a number of local schools in the area. Through the same charity the company also provide CV writing advice and expertise, as well as providing several work experience opportunities for those involved.

eSynergy are currently working with a local charity called St Lukes, which gives under privileged children in inner London the ability to play sports. Consultants run the lunchtime sporting activities once a week and they also run the school's football team for both boys and girls. Furthermore eSynergy sponsor the end of season football tournament, which is attended by a number of local schools in the area. Through the same charity the company also provide CV writing advice and expertise, as well as providing several work experience opportunities for those involved.

'#iMentor', Estee Lauder's reverse mentoring programme in the UK, is just one example of the company's commitment to offering the largest part of its workforce the best environment in which to grow, develop and engage with the organisation. The iMentor programme, welcoming anyone from interns to Managers, is designed to help employees embrace and epitomise inclusion and diversity. The programme was piloted in the UK and the first opportunity was for the millennials to work with the Executive Leadership Team, providing consumer insights and establishing a long term mentoring relationship to the benefit of both parties. Participants even have an opportunity to connect with iMentors from around the globe through a private community on DreamSpace called iShare. This programme is sponsored by Fabrizio Freda, President and CEO and also Phebe Farrow Port, Chief of Staff to the President and CEO.

Estee Lauder's High-Touch Leadership Competencies are at the heart of their organisation's DNA. They provide a map of the behaviours and qualities the company believe enable their employees to lead themselves, their teams and ultimately the company itself. Estee Lauder's Senior Management Team demonstrate these behaviours and operate a leading from every chair model, which means every employee has the opportunity to voice their ideas and shape the future of the organisation. The organisation has a strong ethos of sharing and integrating at all levels. An example of how the company's Leader integrates with his colleagues is through regular Coffee Mornings, where by employees have a chance to ask questions, interact and learn more about the business from the Leader himself. He also chairs a TownHall every year which is broadcast across the whole UK and Ireland organisation by video, with the opportunity for live Q&A's at the end. He attends every brand conference and even records a personal video message when he is unable to attend.

Over the past year Epiphany have doubled their training expenditure to offer employees a variety of development interventions. These include 360 feedback and workshops on time management, presentation skills and leadership. Some more innovative examples include yoga, sophology (mindfulness/meditation) and stress-busting workshops. Staff have access to an array of online resources including Google Partners Courses, Bing Accreditation, Lynda.com, Umbraco TV, Microsoft Gold Partnership and Microsoft Training. Approximately 100 people have attended one or more workshops in the past year. Many employees have also benefited from attendance at conferences and internal knowledge-sharing, including their monthly 'Brainfood' session and Expert Network groups. Epiphany have continued to invest heavily in leadership development. Over the past 12 months 32 people have undergone an intensive ten-module programme supported by 360-degree feedback, development resources, and bi-annual catch-ups to assist with personal development action planning. Psychometric assessments have been introduced to support employee development. All employees completed a Motivational Styles Questionnaire and they identified motivating and demotivating factors at individual, team and organisational level. Outcomes are being used by individuals to help with personal development and career planning. Psychometric assessments have also been used for development of the sales team. Employees completed personality and motivation questionnaires and their results were mapped onto the various stages of the sales cycle to highlight areas of potential strength and development. Employees were provided with 1:1 feedback and tips to aid their development. The overall results formed the basis for a team sales development session.

Over the past year Epiphany have doubled their training expenditure to offer employees a variety of development interventions. These include 360 feedback and workshops on time management, presentation skills and leadership. Some more innovative examples include yoga, sophology (mindfulness/meditation) and stress-busting workshops. Staff have access to an array of online resources including Google Partners Courses, Bing Accreditation, Lynda.com, Umbraco TV, Microsoft Gold Partnership and Microsoft Training. Approximately 100 people have attended one or more workshops in the past year. Many employees have also benefited from attendance at conferences and internal knowledge-sharing, including their monthly 'Brainfood' session and Expert Network groups. Epiphany have continued to invest heavily in leadership development. Over the past 12 months 32 people have undergone an intensive ten-module programme supported by 360-degree feedback, development resources, and bi-annual catch-ups to assist with personal development action planning. Psychometric assessments have been introduced to support employee development. All employees completed a Motivational Styles Questionnaire and they identified motivating and demotivating factors at individual, team and organisational level. Outcomes are being used by individuals to help with personal development and career planning. Psychometric assessments have also been used for development of the sales team. Employees completed personality and motivation questionnaires and their results were mapped onto the various stages of the sales cycle to highlight areas of potential strength and development. Employees were provided with 1:1 feedback and tips to aid their development. The overall results formed the basis for a team sales development session.

The England and Wales Cricket Board's mission, vision and values are communicated through Cricket Unleashed. Initially this was launched to key stakeholders in cricket at the AGM. It was launched to all employees at the employee's event in 2015. This was special because it brought all employees and teams under one roof for the first time. It marked a change in the way the organisation wanted to do things going forward – collaboratively and as a team. It included an address from the CEO Tom Harrison and the Director of Cricket Andrew Strauss. The values were also communicated at the annual Christmas Event. It was launched by two of ECB's values ambassadors, who had helped the People team throughout the process and provided excellent assistance and advice throughout. Furthermore the Board designed some visually inspiring logos to bring the statements to life. They now use these across their paperwork and within their processes to reinforce the messages.

For an individual who has moved up internally within the business one to one mentoring is organised to support them with the challenges they are faced with. These challenges are related to colleagues and stakeholder's perception of them being more ‘junior' within the business. Internal work experience is also made available throughout the organisation, enabling colleagues to shadow individuals in other departments and businesses, as well as encouraging personal and professional growth.

Each Monday eg have a large selection of fruit delivered. They are just at the end of a six week 'steps' challenge, the CFO collated names of everyone who wanted to be involved and put those employees into a variety of teams. They have a weekly score board and individuals who have made significant progress have received individual prizes. At the end of the six weeks the individuals in the team with the most steps will be awarded a prize. This has encouraged staff to go out for a walk at lunch time and to be far more active during the evening. They have had board members and the CEO involved - who have turned out to be the most competitive! The chairman of the board has scheduled his appointments in London so he can walk between them. There is also a running club each Wednesday evening which a few members of staff participate in. They have a healthy eating committee who are organising for someone to come in and give head and shoulder massages. eg have a 'break out' area in the kitchen with tables, chairs and a football table.

eg offers a unique flexible benefit scheme. This allows colleagues to flex their benefits package to suit them. The comprehensive standard package includes 5% matched contribution in a leading pension's scheme, 25 days' holiday, Comprehensive Private Healthcare, Income protection policy and PHI cover. The individual can opt out of certain benefits and use the money equivalent to increase an alternative benefit. For example, opting out of the income protection policy and PHI cover in order to increase the employer's pension contribution and purchase additional holidays. The flexible benefits package is coupled with eg's “Let's get Healthy” scheme to provide colleagues with a fantastic basic package. The “Let's Get Healthy” scheme encourages individuals to improve their health and well-being. Whilst being closely linked to the Private Healthcare benefit, the scheme also encourages people to take part in company arranged or subsidised social activities in or out of the office. This includes activities such as running, walking, healthy cooking and eg's very own choir.

To promote the wellbeing of employees, office wellbeing awareness sessions are held, which all employees are invited to attend. Information is available to raise awareness on the link between sugar and obesity and diabetes. Refreshments of sugar-free and vegetable cakes are also widely provided. As a result of the wellbeing sessions a weekly lunchtime walking group called ‘Wednesday Walking' has been set up. A monthly healthy recipe of seasonal food is emailed out to all staff. The company have also implemented a dedicated wellbeing page on the company intranet, which promotes the importance of regular exercise and healthy eating. Earlier this year Edenred implemented external mental health awareness training for all Managers, with strategies for reducing Managers' own stress levels whilst supporting employees were also explored in the training. As part of the company's benefits package, all employees are provided with a Ticket Restaurant card, a prepaid, reloadable card solution that employees can use in a huge range of restaurants, cafés, food outlets, supermarkets and grocery stores as well. Facilitating flexible working is very important to the organisation and they also recognise and look to promote internally. Edenred also have a discounted gym membership option available to all employees as part of their flexible benefits scheme.

Each December Edenred celebrate ‘Eden for All', a company initiative designed to mobilise employees' support of local communities. Last December employees collected gifts for House on the Hill, giving their carers a much needed respite. As a company Edenred also supports Westminster Food Bank and help by donating food every month. To help contribute to the Food Bank, each month a different department organises food hamper collections. To date over 346 kilos of food has been donated by the employees of Edenred. Throughout the year, the company carries out fundraising events for its charity partner, Action for Children. Events organised have included dress down days, themed cake bakes and talent contests. For every employee involved in charitable fundraising activities, Edenred donate a set amount to the relevant charity. This year the company also worked with the ‘The Princes Trust', a youth charity that helps young people aged 13 to 30 get into jobs, education and training. They were able to be involved in their ‘Get Into' programme, which gives selected young people who are work-ready but do not have vocational skills the opportunity to develop the relevant skills to enable them to move into a sustainable job in a specific sector of work. With regards to employees, Edenred is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in employment, resulting in no job applicant or employee receiving less favourable treatment because of a protected characteristic like race, disability etc.

In 2015, Edelman refreshed their values to ensure they are relevant to the company's future direction, support a client-centric culture and are inspiring great work. These core values are at the heart of everything the company do and are well publicised around the business. The values are also embedded in the talent programmes, recruitment strategies, appraisal processes, performance management and learning and development programmes. All are designed to align employee's behaviour with Edelman's mission, vision and business objectives. Edelman is dedicated to delivering Quality, something that is championed by a dedicated Global Chief Quality Officer. It's also reflected in the proprietary client satisfaction survey, all to ensure the company deliver on their client promise whilst remaining loyal to their values.

In 2015, Edelman refreshed their values to ensure they are relevant to the company's future direction, support a client-centric culture and are inspiring great work. These core values are at the heart of everything the company do and are well publicised around the business. The values are also embedded in the talent programmes, recruitment strategies, appraisal processes, performance management and learning and development programmes. All are designed to align employee's behaviour with Edelman's mission, vision and business objectives. Edelman is dedicated to delivering Quality, something that is championed by a dedicated Global Chief Quality Officer. It's also reflected in the proprietary client satisfaction survey, all to ensure the company deliver on their client promise whilst remaining loyal to their values.

The East Riding College Employee Personal Development Award is for £175. Staff can use this financial award to pay for any course or qualification that they would like to undertake for their own personal development. These do not have to be related to their role within the college, e.g. joinery for beginners, chocolate workshop, flower arranging, creative Photoshop or French for beginners. There is also a £50 Staff Development award. Staff can use this award to contribute to the cost of both work and non-work related qualifications. The college will use appropriate external funding to fund qualifications to support staff development, for example Level 2 Initial Advice & Guidance Award and Level 2 Mental Health Awareness Course. If no external funding is available, the college will offer a reduction of up to 10% on the course fees. The college will provide paid time off for exams and exam preparation, as well as flexible working so staff are supported to amend their working hours to accommodate teaching times.

There is an annual Summer barbecue and Christmas party for all staff. There is always a theme for the barbecue, enabling staff to dress up and get into the spirit of the event. Last Summer the theme was 'South Sea Islands'. There was a range of grass skirts, sun hats and even a surf board all adding authenticity to the day. There is a prize for the 'best dressed' employee. The Christmas party will include a challenging quiz. The various teams chose their own unique names and a considerable amount of friendly competition develops. These events take place at the two college sites in Beverley and Bridlington and are for all staff, the majority of whom attend, including the Directors. These events are held at the end of the Autumn and Summer terms after the students have left, so enabling the staff to fully relax after a very taxing 10 to 12 weeks. The college holds an annual staff conference which is compulsory for all staff to attend. The morning programme is planned so Directors can explain the current position of the college and also set the scene for the year to come. The afternoon workshops support the theme of the conference and from a selection of at least eight workshops staff will chose three that are most relevant for them to attend. The variety of workshop topics ensures that there are relevant topics for both teaching and support staff.

Every year dunnhumby employees receive a 'Treat Yourself' allowance, which they can redeem with a travel company on flights, hotels, spa breaks, Personal Trainer sessions, Osteopath appointments onsite or experience days such as tickets for the Shard. The only caveat is that it must be used for a 'treat' and not for mundane things such as weekly shopping. This means employees benefit financially on their holidays or enjoy a great experience that they may not otherwise have chosen.

The company launched their innovative blogging platform dunnhumby uncensored last year. There is a webpart blog section on the intranet homepage that allows employees to post their own blogs for global readership. It is 100% user generated and 100% uncensored to encourage them to write about anything personal or professional. The aim is to connect employees, boost communication between teams and help dunnhumby get to know their people better to share learnings and experiences easily. They appointed blog champions and rewarded them with a blogging toolkit, which was sent in the post as a surprise and delight. This included a book on blogging tips, a moleskin notepad, pens, sweets and branded goods. They also ran training for these champions, joined by the CEO to endorse the channel further. They were asked to populate the first content and now act as advocates for blogging in their offices. They set topics occasionally to stimulate blogs such as 'tell us about your proudest dunnhumby moment', but they get a range of topics from people's pets to their biggest success at work. The company also started “pic of the day”. They set up an instagram account and asked employees to upload pictures using #dunnhumbypic to showcase what goes on in their day to day lives. This connects employees visually and gives an insight to other offices and cultures.

The CEO of Dr. Martens recently shared the brand framework to the global workforce using a Vodcast. To reinforce this message, each employee has been given a vinyl record created specifically to explain the company's Ambition, Why They Exist, What They Believe In and Who They Are. Rather than a formal mission statement and values, Dr. Martens have this framework which defines what they stand for, how they behave and where they are going. It's their brand, on the record.

Wellbeing is a high priority for Dr. Martens Culture Team, so they have introduced a series of lunch and learns that focus on “mindfulness”. To assist those who need a little more energy they have also launched a Couch to 5k running club, subsidised yoga and HIT training. The company also invite specialists to site to provide massage therapy to those employees who want it. They even provide a little extra motivation on a Monday with smoothies and free fruit and veg in all stores and offices. In addition, Dr. Martens have an EAP that all employees can access, which includes an online library of wellbeing knowledge and an independent telephone helpline with face-to-face counselling if required.

DPD's Senior Management Team supports a number of its strategic initiatives, which demonstrates its commitment to the values of the organisation, with the main two examples being the Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR) Programme and the Corporate Induction. The SMT supports CSR through the work that they do with a local school called Phoenix Collegiate. The SMT attend a ‘Dragon's Den' competition where they meet and review students' business plan ideas that they have worked on during the year. The SMT then give marks on different aspects of the business plan and an overall winner is announced. As part of their Induction Programme new starters are invited to meet the SMT at an event called Corporate Induction, where they have the opportunity to discover more about the business. They are introduced to the company's DNA (core values) as well as meeting DPD's CEO, Dwain McDonald. Each member of the SMT delivers a presentation about their function, followed by a Q&A session to give new starters a better understanding of DPD. Dwain also engages with colleagues within the business through the Winter Conference and DPD's annual business communication cascade called DNA. At the Winter Conference, Dwain cascades upcoming strategies for the business. DPD's DNA is an annual cascade of information to all employees within the company. Its objectives are, like the Winter Conference, to communicate business priorities and strategies. Dwain records a number of videos that are played in meetings throughout the business. The message given is always clear, with key points and a focus on the benefits of the message. Dwain also uses the Company Newsletter to engage with staff, as all employees and pensioners receive a copy. As well as all this Dwain's ethos is about getting back to 'grass roots' and he has spent a day in the call centre and he also spent a day with a collection and delivery driver, all so he could experience these roles first hand.

DPD's Senior Management Team supports a number of its strategic initiatives, which demonstrates its commitment to the values of the organisation, with the main two examples being the Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR) Programme and the Corporate Induction. The SMT supports CSR through the work that they do with a local school called Phoenix Collegiate. The SMT attend a ‘Dragon's Den' competition where they meet and review students' business plan ideas that they have worked on during the year. The SMT then give marks on different aspects of the business plan and an overall winner is announced. As part of their Induction Programme new starters are invited to meet the SMT at an event called Corporate Induction, where they have the opportunity to discover more about the business. They are introduced to the company's DNA (core values) as well as meeting DPD's CEO, Dwain McDonald. Each member of the SMT delivers a presentation about their function, followed by a Q&A session to give new starters a better understanding of DPD. Dwain also engages with colleagues within the business through the Winter Conference and DPD's annual business communication cascade called DNA. At the Winter Conference, Dwain cascades upcoming strategies for the business. DPD's DNA is an annual cascade of information to all employees within the company. Its objectives are, like the Winter Conference, to communicate business priorities and strategies. Dwain records a number of videos that are played in meetings throughout the business. The message given is always clear, with key points and a focus on the benefits of the message. Dwain also uses the Company Newsletter to engage with staff, as all employees and pensioners receive a copy. As well as all this Dwain's ethos is about getting back to 'grass roots' and he has spent a day in the call centre and he also spent a day with a collection and delivery driver, all so he could experience these roles first hand.

Each year DMH organises an AGM (Annual General Meeting) event that every member of staff is invited to. Unless staff are out of the business on a non-working day or annual leave then all employees are required to attend the afternoon part of the event. The AGM has many different elements to it. There is a Charity Committee raffle in aid of the staff charity on arrival at the event and there are some great prizes to win. The day starts with a presentation from the Managing Partner, which reflects on the firm's performance over the last 12 months, provides an overview of what the future of the firm may look like and details of the overall strategy. Following the presentation there is a fun team based activity which is organised by a different business group each year. This activity can range from a treasure hunt, quiz, fancy dress competition, ‘Mr & Mrs' game show and anything in between! Following the afternoon activities there is a dinner and dance. Each member of staff is able to invite a guest of their choice to attend with them should they wish. A live band is organised as entertainment and this year the Managing Partner joined the band on stage to play his guitar! Anyone who lives more than five miles away from the event venue is able to claim up to £40 towards the cost of travelling to and from the evening event or overnight accommodation.

Each year DMH organises an AGM (Annual General Meeting) event that every member of staff is invited to. Unless staff are out of the business on a non-working day or annual leave then all employees are required to attend the afternoon part of the event. The AGM has many different elements to it. There is a Charity Committee raffle in aid of the staff charity on arrival at the event and there are some great prizes to win. The day starts with a presentation from the Managing Partner, which reflects on the firm's performance over the last 12 months, provides an overview of what the future of the firm may look like and details of the overall strategy. Following the presentation there is a fun team based activity which is organised by a different business group each year. This activity can range from a treasure hunt, quiz, fancy dress competition, ‘Mr & Mrs' game show and anything in between! Following the afternoon activities there is a dinner and dance. Each member of staff is able to invite a guest of their choice to attend with them should they wish. A live band is organised as entertainment and this year the Managing Partner joined the band on stage to play his guitar! Anyone who lives more than five miles away from the event venue is able to claim up to £40 towards the cost of travelling to and from the evening event or overnight accommodation.

As a collection of over 30 unique businesses D&D's general Managers are empowered to develop, with the support of HR, unique ways to recognise and reward the performance of their teams. This means that there isn't one fixed approach, but a series of flexible incentives and rewards. From a group perspective one reward they do offer, which they believe is a unique way of rewarding the performance of key talent, is to give Head Chefs the opportunity to become a chef-patron. London is currently the epicentre of the culinary world but the industry is suffering chef shortage (there is a war for talent raging in the kitchen). The reputation of the chef and the restaurant are intrinsically linked, which means that it is crucial to retain talented and successful chefs. As a chef-patron they receive a small percentage of the company, so in effect the name of the chef becomes synonymous with the restaurant. Most chefs dream of one day owning their own business and D&D feel that offering this type of reward provides a long term goal that facilitates engagements, aids retention and incentives culinary performance in a challenging and highly competitive market. Each chef is set their own performance target, which will be based in part on achieving financial targets but also heavily waited on performance from food scores on Trip Advisor and Open Table through to achieving industry recognition via Michelin Stars or AA rosettes.

Employee development has always been central to D&D's success. They recognise that great training is fundamental to delivering quality and exceptional service. It's also vital in equipping the company to overcome the industry wide skills shortages at a senior level. As well as a company induction, role specific skills and standards training and the statuary e-learning programme, internal staff are able to development their career against a simply competency framework that facilitates growth toward management roles (either front of house or in the kitchen). Career development is supported by a quarterly appraisal process called 'Talking Talent' and a series of unique industry leading development programmes that link to the competency framework. 'Step Forward' is the internal programme aimed at helping entry level employees get a taste of what it takes to be a great supervisor. 'Rise' is the management training programme that helps supervisors develop towards management roles (this year 30 employees have successfully completed these programmes with double that signed up to start in November). 'Accelerate Leader's' programme takes top managerial talent and develops them as Leaders. They also run Love Wine, a collection of training (including WSET levels 1 -3) aimed at developing an employee's ability to engage with customers about wine and utilise suppliers to deliver a range of product based sessions. As a way of attracting the best new talent D&D run a chef apprentice. More recently the company held a communication skills workshop developed around the Paralympic sport of Goal Ball.

Last year Carlson introduced Fish and Chip suppers, whereby their SVP and a member of the Leadership Team went to each location in the UK and Ireland network and had an evening of fish and chips and an open discussion forum. Staff members were very open about their likes and dislikes and were encouraged to be honest. The company also have a weekly update and two monthly updates that are sent to the network. The weekly one highlights what has been happening in the network, updates on staff and training and also roles that are available around the network as a whole. For the monthly updates, one is from the SVP and is called 'Catch up with Chris', providing a general business update. The other comes from the Marketing Director and is called 'Assets of the Month'. This informs staff what's new in the marketing world and also what CWT is doing in relation to marketing campaigns. Carlson used to use Yammer but have now changed this to Jive effective 1st January. Jive is a platform whereby staff can share ideas, suggestions, help colleagues and collaborate across a much wider network. People are encouraged to set up groups for different project and topics and use it as the go-to place for peer-to-peer support.

Each year Carlson's locations are asked to choose a charity they would like to support throughout the year. They organise their own fun-raising activities around various themes and also collect money around the office. Such activities have been themed around ' The Great British Bake Off', where people baked cakes and brought them in. Slices were sold off and the money all went to the chosen charity. Branches have also run a fancy dress competition and Carlson really give the branches free reign with this to do as they wish.

CS Healthcare brought in a Chiropractor to assess all employees that wanted a free consultation. As the company are an organisation where employees are sat at their desks most of the time they wanted to ensure they had an opportunity to get checked and sort any painful issues they may have had. This was very well received and gave the Society the opportunity to show they care about the wellbeing of their employees. CS are also introducing Resilience Training for employees to give them the tools to cope resiliently with stress. They have increased the lunch break period to promoted breaks to ensure employees can get away from their desks and feel refreshed. This is important for employees wellbeing as well as enhancing productivity. They are even introducing Mentoring and coaching at work, with the aim of providing additional support for staff to ensure they receive all the help they need.

CS Healthcare's People & Culture Department Introduced Line Manager meetings in order to improve communication across departments. This is designed to facilitate a discussion where Managers can solve problems that their department face, as well as create a consistent. This also aims to give an update on departments priorities in order for other Managers to have a good idea of everyone's responsibilities. In order to facilitate an effective monthly session, a People & culture representative will chair and minute the session. This allows for a consistent approach but also ensures the meetings occur. To ensure the meetings were effective CS organised a Line Manager Away day to improve team interaction. The first event was the company's Society Team building event, which 60 employees attended. During this event the whole Society left work at Midday and went to an external venue. Here they partook in a team building challenge facilitated though an external company (The Crystal Maze challenge). This looked at different exercises that challenged employees, encouraged them to work together and also aided them in getting to know one another. The Society then held dinner and drinks so everyone could relax and overall this was a fun but engaging event for the employees.

All of Cranstoun's Managers have taken part in a management development programme. Following the programme, support is provided through management and supervision structures and also informally through peer-support. They have invested in an external coach to support their Senior Managers to hopefully affect positive change and support them to achieve to their potential. The coaching has been hugely beneficial and bought about noticeable changes, with follow up sessions being provided to enable Managers to revisit their goals and maintain momentum. The performance of Cranstoun's Managers is reviewed via monthly supervision meetings, which lead incrementally to an annual appraisal. Performance is assessed through a variety of Key Performance Indicators including service performance, where services are monitored monthly against agreed targets with commissioning bodies. Additionally residential and rehabilitation services are also assessed against occupancy levels and organisational KPI's, where Managers are assessed quarterly against a number of organisational KPI's including staff retention, staff attendance, volunteer numbers etc and audits, where internal Quality, Performance and Results teams carry out annual audits on a range of working practices broadly in line with the Care Quality Commission standards. Performance is 'traffic lighted' and shared at a senior level, with supportive action plans agreed amongst Managers.

All of Cranstoun's Managers have taken part in a management development programme. Following the programme, support is provided through management and supervision structures and also informally through peer-support. They have invested in an external coach to support their Senior Managers to hopefully affect positive change and support them to achieve to their potential. The coaching has been hugely beneficial and bought about noticeable changes, with follow up sessions being provided to enable Managers to revisit their goals and maintain momentum. The performance of Cranstoun's Managers is reviewed via monthly supervision meetings, which lead incrementally to an annual appraisal. Performance is assessed through a variety of Key Performance Indicators including service performance, where services are monitored monthly against agreed targets with commissioning bodies. Additionally residential and rehabilitation services are also assessed against occupancy levels and organisational KPI's, where Managers are assessed quarterly against a number of organisational KPI's including staff retention, staff attendance, volunteer numbers etc and audits, where internal Quality, Performance and Results teams carry out annual audits on a range of working practices broadly in line with the Care Quality Commission standards. Performance is 'traffic lighted' and shared at a senior level, with supportive action plans agreed amongst Managers.

It's important at CNG that all staff looks after themselves this is encouraged through a variety of practices including ensuring staff have a good work life balance. The introduction of a cashback health scheme is one of the main schemes that CNG has introduced to try and encourage staff to stop and think about their wellbeing. The business has successfully run a wellbeing week. The week's focus was centred on drinking enough water, yoga, and mindfulness. To follow this on there was a walking week held whereby everyone was encouraged to ditch the sit down meets and get active by having walking meetings. The Friday of this week even saw the introduction of a dog into the CNG offices and provided an opportunity to walk Millie the dog. This is something that will be encouraged throughout the CNG year with different CNGers dogs. CNG has also partnered with a local gym and can now provide discounted Gym Memberships. To reduce stress and encourage people to shout up if they begin to feel stressed CNG have a few practices in place. An open door policy, everyone can talk to someone, if workloads are too much or something is causing them stress people always have somewhere to turn. Great work life balance with people at CNG encouraged to leave at the end of the day and not log in from home. Flexible workforce so cross trained staff can support other areas of the business when busy this creating relief if one team is particularly busy. A DMM development course which helps individuals understand stress and use working practices in order to relieve this. CNG also has break out areas that are comfortable to sit in and have access to entertainment such as televisions and even a pool table.

CNG constantly discuss the business vision. In the POW WOW the directors focus on the vision and how the departments contribute to this. A common focus on this helps to ensure everyone is pulling in the same direction and everyone knows how they contribute. On top of these monthly reminders CNG also hold an annual get together in a local hotel where the vision for the year is laid out, this is never a stuffy affair and is always done in the usual fun CNG way! CNG believes in keeping the values and vision at the forefront. To aid this CNG has visual representations of the values around the office, the values are the most important thing at CNG and they underpin everything that they do and every decision that is made, they are the backbone of CNG. The values are a part of the everyday dialogue at CNG. As departments, staff are asked how they feel they have lived and breathed the values and if there were circumstances in which they could have been better embodied through actions. Scores are reviewed by the Senior Leadership, who can then see where they need to start pulling together as a team. A section of each monthly POW WOW is set aside to discuss the company values and a dedicated section on PUP offers a space for people to share their values experiences. Values training in induction and values refreshers are also fundamental parts of everyone's employment journey.

During CityWest Homes management development programme action plans are created, redefined and developed. Action learning sets are then created and all Managers are taught to coach so that they can aid one another in their learning sets. They help to support one another with their action plans, both personal and professional and they also expand their cross-company knowledge and networks. In addition they provide eLearning wherever possible to support their training and use their intranet to store useful documents and resources for Managers who have been on training courses. All Managers are required to have one to one's with their Managers at least weekly or bi-weekly to measure their performance. At this meeting they receive feedback on management capabilities, culture and values. Additionally at the end of each financial year Managers are assessed formally against their objectives. They also have a 360 review completed by their peers and reports to determine how far they display the cultures and values.

CityWest have a number of initiatives that bring their people together so that they all get to know people outside of their teams. In 2014 CityWest Homes launched a new networking group called ‘creating balance'. This group aims to build a vibrant and supportive network to expand the opportunities for women at CityWest Homes. Meeting at their Head Office, all of their people have the chance to share experiences and learn from a range of guest speakers. The most recent speaker was the Arsenal Ladies footballer Danielle Carter. Danielle gave a fantastic insight on what it is like being a female footballer, the drive and determination needed to make it and she also gave some useful hints and tips on how to achieve your dreams. The CityWest Homes book club meets every six weeks to discuss a book over food and a glass of wine or a soft drink. The CityWest Homes Social Club runs subsidised events every month, which range from salsa classes and cocktail making to a Halloween walk through central London.

Every month Chorus reward their support engineers as a group and by naming an individual who stood out that month. The company have set targets to achieve for delivering customer service and depending how much they are exceeded affects how large the rewards are. By rewarding an individual Chorus find it brings a competitive element and by doing this monthly staff know they stand a really good chance of winning and beating their target. By also doing a team reward Chrous help build team-building and ensure staff are rewarded for their hard work. These rewards have included a go-karting day out, meal and drinks for the team, paintballing etc and the rewards are chosen by the team so they have something they would want to receive.

This year Chorus are supporting the Children's Hospice South West as their charity of the year. Last December they asked all staff to nominate a charity that they wanted to support – these charities were then listed on the internal social site Yammer and all staff voted, with the winner being CHSW. Throughout 2016 the company organised various fundraising activities – both as a company and as individual activities with company support and donations. Individual activities have included the Bristol 10k and the Guernsey Marathon, while company activities have included a 5k colour run, the Portishead Raft Race and cake sales. As well as activities, Chorus have a collection basket in their staff area for staff to drop off unwanted goods that they take to their charity shop, as well as a collection pot. Chorus do not have any written initiatives but have an equality and diversity policy in place so do not discriminate. They ensure that their buildings (and past offices) are accessible for anyone with disabilities and will be as flexible as possible to help anyone return to work.

All of Celsian Consultants who are keen to move into management are invited to nominate themselves for the "Leadership Academy" which is a one-year course providing them with the skills and competencies to become leaders in the future. This is an in depth programme which sees people from across the Impellam group brands come together to develop into future leaders and learn about each other's markets to promote cross brand promotions. There are quarterly training sessions to help them achieve their aspirations. Each training day covers the tools that they need as leaders to be job ready for the challenge ahead. Managing Directors from across Impellam attend every session and deliver an informal presentation on themselves, their business and how they achieved their success. The programme culminates in a "Big Idea" project. Delegates are tasked with solving a business issue that will help add value back into their business. They present their ideas to the various Managing Directors across the group and have six months to bring them to life. Previous ideas are still alive in the business and have helped Celsian to save time, money and increase revenue.

All of the Leadership Team are visible in branches and celebrate behaviour which is in line with the company values and ethos. Every half term the Managing Director sends out a communication to everyone across the brand which details financial performance and success stories of where the company culture has benefitted both Celsian people and their customers. The Management community created the values and the Consultant community created the supporting behaviours. These values are the foundation of the business and are owned by every single member of the Celsian community. Their MD is very visible within the brand, visiting each branch every half term. On national sales days he will select a branch across the network and sells to clients alongside Consultants and Managers. In addition, he will train and coach new employees whether that be on sales calls or accompanied visits to potential clients. Each half term he distributes his half term update to all which is written and based around the half term that's just been, not only financially but in terms of celebrating outstanding achievement and personal success, which upholds their values. At the end of each person's probation period individuals present to their Manager, Operations Director and the MD in order to celebrate success. He takes the winners of the employee of the term out for a champagne lunch. He gets to know people on a personal level as well as a professional level and vice versa, is open about himself personally with all employees. He sends personal hand written birthday and celebration cards to every single person within the branches. he holds forum days every term for each sector and each Consultants working on that sector.

CarShop have a very clear development journey that arms colleagues with the right tools, training and support along the way. CarShop supports colleagues with studies and e,ployees are able to request study leave. CarShop will also assist in funding courses if there is a business need for someone to gain a qualification. There is an e-learning renovation project underway too to make this a blended learning approach. The company also work with some excellent third parties to tailor training for bespoke requirements, which makes them an industry leader in their training programmes.

CarShop have a very clear development journey that arms colleagues with the right tools, training and support along the way. CarShop supports colleagues with studies and e,ployees are able to request study leave. CarShop will also assist in funding courses if there is a business need for someone to gain a qualification. There is an e-learning renovation project underway too to make this a blended learning approach. The company also work with some excellent third parties to tailor training for bespoke requirements, which makes them an industry leader in their training programmes.

Being a dispersed workforce, it's critical that Canonical provide their employees with valuable opportunities to improve interactions and communications within their teams, as well as across the organisation. To achieve this, the company hold a number of Sprints. Sprints are opportunities for teams to fly to some exciting locations around the world to work in a co-located environment. Sprints are used as an opportunity to align company strategy, priorities and for teams to work on projects. The founder, CEO and EVP's are actively involved at these Sprints, providing employees with opportunities to interact at all levels. In addition, Canonical uses a number of online communication tools such as instant chat, group emails, video calls and virtual town halls to encourage the sharing of opinions and ideas and to ensure teams are getting the value of face to face communication. There is a culture of open communication and transparency at Canonical. Jane Silber the CEO and the Executive Team encourage this by providing regular company updates, town-halls and opportunities for every employee to actively engage in decisions and news. This is further demonstrated by skip level meetings to remain current and engaged with employees across the organisation.

Reward and recognition programmes are important at Canonical to support the retention of top talent, improve team culture and to ensure they are continuing to foster a higher performance organisation. There are various ways the company recognise their employees, including a number of internal awards such as ‘Exceptional Contribution', ‘Spot Light on Success', ‘Valuable Contribution' and the ‘Thank You' awards. Anyone across the organisation can nominate colleagues for these awards, which draws visibility to great work and provides valuable recognition across peer groups. When driving a high performance culture, it's important that everyone can recognise what 'great' looks like and this programme empowers employees to advocate and recognise greatness. Those nominated are celebrated with company-wide recognition and a cash award. In addition to all this, every employee is eligible for the annual compensation review, which includes a performance based bonus. Canonical value and encourage innovation and the pursuit of personal and professional ambitions. They are even frequently producing achievements in the form of publications, keynote and software innovation and development, which is recognised and celebrated company-wide via various communication channels.

CDP offer many employee rewards, including spot prizes for recognition of effort for individuals or a team. They are also known to give family tickets to Legoland and evening meal vouchers for two. CDP are keen to ensure employees associate their working environment with enjoyment, leading to events such as the whole company curry evenings and pirate themed barbecues.

CDP is an independent innovation partner who has completed over 1,000 product development assignments for businesses around the world. Members of their team are named inventors on many hundreds of patents owned by their customers. The company are based in two of the world's leading centres for science and technology. Their European office is in Cambridge, a city with an 800-year history in science and creative thinking. Their USA office is in Silicon Valley, probably the world's most successful innovation hub. CDP are happy for anyone in the business to hold up the company values as a mirror to any decisions the business makes and to then hold CDP to this account. Staff do this at the annual strategy day forum. This year the company is making several changes to the way they operate in response to this challenge from the staff, for example in their working conditions, structure and training investment.

CC have an open air lounge area, which provides a quiet and tranquil environment for their employees to relax in, either at lunchtime or during other quiet times. The company also host free weekly yoga sessions after work. To ensure that mental health is looked after as much as physical, CC have a free and confidential counselling line available to all their employees 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. CC actively encourage employees to use this service if they are experiencing stress or other difficulties, whether work related or personal. Cycling is very popular and to ensure CC employees are safe whilst cycling to and from work the company provide reflective cycling jackets so they can be seen easily by other road users. They also provide them with drying facilities, showers and freshly laundered towels. CC organise for the bicycle ambulance to visit the site and undertake work on employee's bikes to ensure they are maintained properly and roadworthy. The company also pays for their time and the employees pay for any parts they use. They even provide a cycle workshop for staff to undertake minor repairs during the day and provide spare bulbs and other small items. CC also offer to pay £100 towards new glassed if needed for VDU work, which is in addition to paying for the eyesight test.

CC have an open air lounge area, which provides a quiet and tranquil environment for their employees to relax in, either at lunchtime or during other quiet times. The company also host free weekly yoga sessions after work. To ensure that mental health is looked after as much as physical, CC have a free and confidential counselling line available to all their employees 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. CC actively encourage employees to use this service if they are experiencing stress or other difficulties, whether work related or personal. Cycling is very popular and to ensure CC employees are safe whilst cycling to and from work the company provide reflective cycling jackets so they can be seen easily by other road users. They also provide them with drying facilities, showers and freshly laundered towels. CC organise for the bicycle ambulance to visit the site and undertake work on employee's bikes to ensure they are maintained properly and roadworthy. The company also pays for their time and the employees pay for any parts they use. They even provide a cycle workshop for staff to undertake minor repairs during the day and provide spare bulbs and other small items. CC also offer to pay £100 towards new glassed if needed for VDU work, which is in addition to paying for the eyesight test.

CMBC are using the 70:20:10 model of learning to provide a base for employees to shape their learning. The organisation is just about to publish a revised Learning and Development Policy for the first time in several years, which they will use to underpin the development of a culture of self-directed learning. The emphasis is on seeking out learning instead of relying on paid for structured programmes of learning. CMBC also have a coaching and mentoring programme which has been in place for three years. They have built their own pool of workplace coaches and mentors that anyone in the council can request to have time with. They also run a ‘Day in Your Shoes' campaign, which aims to get employees connecting with one another across teams and learning from others about what their services do. This is promoting cross-council networks and helps employees to understand what goes when it comes to delivering CMBC services to the public.

CMBC are using the 70:20:10 model of learning to provide a base for employees to shape their learning. The organisation is just about to publish a revised Learning and Development Policy for the first time in several years, which they will use to underpin the development of a culture of self-directed learning. The emphasis is on seeking out learning instead of relying on paid for structured programmes of learning. CMBC also have a coaching and mentoring programme which has been in place for three years. They have built their own pool of workplace coaches and mentors that anyone in the council can request to have time with. They also run a ‘Day in Your Shoes' campaign, which aims to get employees connecting with one another across teams and learning from others about what their services do. This is promoting cross-council networks and helps employees to understand what goes when it comes to delivering CMBC services to the public.

Cadline's vision, mission and values were agreed upon seven years ago. It was decided not to agree upon these solely at a leadership level, so instead the company organised an offsite company event where they had a primary business objective of letting the team develop their ideas. The morning was spent developing the vision and mission statements and in the afternoon the team decided which core values best represented what the company embodies. As well as this the team went further and developed a set of behaviours, ensuring it was clear to every member of staff how to demonstrate these values in day to day interactions with one another and with customers alike. In order to maintain the team's enthusiasm and commitment Cadline decided to embed the values in the performance management system. Every year within each employee's objectives there is a ‘Values' objective, which requests that at each appraisal point the individual submits evidence of how they have ‘lived' the Cadline values of Integrity, Teamwork, Expertise or Passion. Through this process they reinforce the business statements and values to all. Furthermore new employees have a leadership induction scheduled where they spend a morning with one of the Leadership Team. During this induction the bourness statements and values are presented and discussed. This is then reinforced throughout the wider company induction with the HR Manager and Line Manager.

The Senior Management Team are extremely visible to all staff and also have a friendly approach. They have an open door policy and lead by example. As part of the company's induction a corporate presentation is delivered to all new staff members, which is always conducted by a member of the Senior Management Team. During these the values of the business are described in more detail. Regular meetings are also conducted with all staff to keep them well informed about the business. Due to the various office locations and offsite training each month a webinar is presented by the Senior Management Team called Teamtalk, which informs the business about progress, profits, HR, sales, events and anything else they should be aware of. The webinar is recorded so if any staff were unable to dial in they are able to view it later. Cadline want everyone to feel engaged, regardless of their remote location, and therefore ensure regular visits occur to all offices by Senior Managers and HR alike.

BSD encourage all employees to develop and enhance their CPD all the time, they regularly send employees on courses to enhance their professional knowledge including degrees, HNC, HNDs and such, all paid for by BSD. They also encourage employees to develop their interests outside the business, and they encourage this through charity involvement, they run events throughout the year which allows employees to enhance their skills and abilities and therefore supporting employee development, allowing them, for example, to improve communication skills. BSD also run regular CPD events with clients, enabling the employees to see other aspects of building services design, gather with other companies on the way they work, and bring innovations together

BSD enable all managers and potential managers to coach and job shadow employees higher than them. They also run this for lower staff who wish to progress in the business at all levels, they are mentored and coached by the higher levelled employees. They have also created an external management course which six employees have attended, enabling them to learn new ways to manage and what methods to approach and use. Once completed, this will be used in-house and the experience will be shadowed along to other managers and seniors, to help progress the lower end employees. They believe coaching and mentoring is the best method, particularly in the M&E industry where nothing professional changes much, all the methods stay the same and it is the way in which you learn from others which is the best. Therefore, coaching lower people will provide them with the best possible approach to learn, along with mentoring which will enable them to pick up as they go along. They have performance reviews every 6 months and measure the performance of all employees, not just managers. The performance reviews involve objectives and measures to ensure that the managers are keeping in line with policies and procedures and that they achieve the objectives and aims set for them every 6 months.

Brooklands Operations Ltd very much believe in retaining and progressing their managers through the business by offering opportunities, training and coaching to allow them to develop from team players to junior managers and eventually onto departmental managers. They do this through management development courses which are run by an external tutor, one to one mentoring with Senior Managers and further external courses to enhance their development. The company has had the same management team in place for four years and many of these managers came up from team players to managers. As a hotel the business works very closely together on a daily basis, meaning discussion with Senior Managers happens throughout the days and any advice on performance is dealt with on an ongoing basis, with tasks and projects allocated over the months being monitored for their progression and completion. The management team also have offsite meetings a few times a year where they work through an agenda, covering commercial, people and guest feedback, all of which ensures their stool model is fulfilled and the team is focused. Having a close management team helps Brooklands Operations Ltd to understand how to work to their strengths and also how to complement each other when a great job has been done. Another huge positive is that most staff members have worked in other hotel groups, meaning they can bring their knowledge and experience to the table in every decision made.

The ‘Make it Happen' attitude is seen in all areas of the business and it is never just one stakeholder taking priority. The Stool model is lived by everyone and engages the team to have a full understanding of what is expected of them. Any decisions the management team make need to be for the good of all three legs of the stool. Through this the management have created a caring and engaged team that deliver great service whilst having fun and making money. This is reflected in the great feedback Brooklands receive from guests regarding the team, low staff turnover for the industry and reaching management budget five years in a row. The management are very hands on and offer an open door policy to all staff. This year Brooklands even went against the industry trend and budgeted to pay all of their team players the National Living Wage, regardless of if they met the criteria. The team are quite often heard saying 'we are the Brooklands Family' and this is great to hear. Marco also meets every prospective employee before they start by leading the daily dash meeting, doing an introduction at the team player monthly induction and running the ‘Make it Happen' workshops for all new starters. He walks the property on a daily basis and even cooked the BBQ with chef for the team event. He also judged the Brooklands Bake off, but felt quite sick after tasting over 30 cakes! He'll even do weekend cover, where he can be found serving behind the bar and doing the pass in 1907, demonstrating to all of the team that they're are in this together and that leadership can take on various different forms to be successful.

Blue Chip Holidays run companywide business updates and smaller team huddles regularly in the middle of the office to encourage communication. They divert the phones and give everyone the opportunity to be there or dial into a conference number; they know its successful because team members come in on their days off. Blue Chip Holidays took the decision to collate their two offices into one and break down the walls to create a big open plan space to help communication and team work. Face to face communication is encouraged rather than phone calls and email.

Blue Chip Holidays actively support the RNLI as a charity that means a lot to their team, owners and guests. The majority of their properties are in a coastal location so Blue Chip Holidays support them both locally and nationally. They have put RNLI water safety information in the welcome packs in each coastal property and they also go out to help in their annual yellow welly collection campaign. Blue Chip Holidays also maintain regular contact with PLUSS and St Loyes Foundation, helping those with disabilities to get into employment. They have just hosted a 6 month paid temporary contract in their Finance department via the St. Loyes foundation. Also, the company have provided several apprenticeships over the last 5 years to enable young unemployed people to gain work experience and in most cases full time permanent employment with them.

Because Blue Chip Customer Engineering's mission, vision and values are intrinsically inked to all business activities, they are always on the employees' minds. The mission and vision govern the key business objectives that are set out annually and reviewed quarterly. All new starters are educated on the Company's mission and vision during the induction and all employees receive updates on how the objectives are being met throughout the year. The company values, on the other hand, support the employee performance appraisal and personal development plans tools. These are reviewed quarterly for each employee and therefore every three months each employee revisits how they display the company values in their day to day work and interactions with the customers and colleagues.

At Blue Chip Customer Engineering they hold events such as cake sales and dress down days. The company also regularly organise charity activities within the company to raise money and awareness for various charities, including Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support, Parkinson's UK and the partner charity Keech Hospice Care, which is local to the business. There is also employee led fundraising activities and the company support and donates to many employees who undertake such work in their own time, such as Pretty Muddy, Wings of Life World Run and Brave the Shave.

Each quarter, managers get the chance to nominate eight employees that they feel have exceeded expectations within a chosen value. The selected eight employees then get to decide between four reward day options ranging from a balloon ride and dinner in London to a golf lesson and spa afternoon. These employees will take the day out of the office to do this and will be paid as usual. All staff are set around six objectives that are reviewed throughout the year. Employees will be scored against their performance against these objectives. A bonus is provided to employees at the end of the financial year depending on their personal scores and company performance. Each month they welcome all employees to nominate a colleague that they feel has displayed one or more of their four values. Nominations are submitted via a Perspex post box (one located in each office). All nominations are collated and reviewed and four winners are chosen, each will receive a £50 voucher of their choosing and are congratulated in the monthly newsletter.

A key part of Block's strategy this year is to ensure that Block is a 'Great Place to Work'. Each Senior Manager has been designated objectives agreed with the CEO with an aim to improve employee engagement and satisfaction at Block. The group meet weekly to review progress. Once a member of staff has been employed for over five years, Block will set up a video conference and provide lunch for everyone in both offices, award that specific employee with £1000 and a personalised plaque will be displayed at the entrance of both offices. There will also be a special announcement in the monthly newsletter. Each quarter, they ask managers to nominate an employee or employees that they feel have demonstrated one or more of the company values. The company owners will select eight employees out of the nominations that will then go onto to win a reward day. Staff are provided with four reward day options and will have to agree on an option together. Each month, four members of staff will be awarded with a £50 gift card voucher of their choice following nominations from other employees. Everyone who joins Block will meet with both company owners for around thirty minutes within their first couple of weeks of joining Block for an informal introduction. This is a great chance for new starters to get to know the company owners and understand their role and responsibilities and the history of the company. Every month the CEO and CTO take turns to distribute a company newsletter. Both have an 'open door' policy and continually walk around the office to have conversations with staff at their work stations. Both leaders also use Socialcast (Block's internal social webpage) to post personal and business related updates.

BI Worldwide are presently leading the way through a process of refreshing the values and agreeing, through workshops with employees, what behaviours are driven by each of the values. This will ensure full engagement with the behaviours once they are launched. Furthermore this activity is being led by the MD. On a more regular basis, the company's mission, values and vision are embedded in all internal communications, all in-house training and in all briefings delivered by the Managing Director. Employees demonstrating the core values are rewarded through the internal reward recognition scheme, which itself is overtly aligned to the values. Examples of the above are the Internal Intranet, New Starter Inductions, Company Meetings, ENGAGE emails and Questionnaires.

BI Worldwide are presently leading the way through a process of refreshing the values and agreeing, through workshops with employees, what behaviours are driven by each of the values. This will ensure full engagement with the behaviours once they are launched. Furthermore this activity is being led by the MD. On a more regular basis, the company's mission, values and vision are embedded in all internal communications, all in-house training and in all briefings delivered by the Managing Director. Employees demonstrating the core values are rewarded through the internal reward recognition scheme, which itself is overtly aligned to the values. Examples of the above are the Internal Intranet, New Starter Inductions, Company Meetings, ENGAGE emails and Questionnaires.

Recent fundraising initiatives for Baker and McKenzie's two office charities include a Boss in the Box Challenge, quiz night, inter-departmental walking challenge, 4 participants in the London Marathon, a 10k run, Christmas Jumper Day, abseil and a Bake Off. A Volunteer Day is offered to all staff. Departments are encouraged to use their day either as an individual or as part of a team. Recent group initiatives include a day of boat maintenance with Ahoy!, a day of building refurbishment with City Gateway, and a day of garden maintenance at Richard House. The company organise an extensive pro bono legal advice programme - regular clients include Save the Children, UNHCR, NSPCC, Breast Cancer Care, Oxfam, ARK (Absolute Return for Kids). Around 30 staff are involved in regular school-based volunteering and lunchtime volunteering with homeless charity The Connection at St Martin's. The company provide office space to Amicus (UK charity campaigning for justice for US prisoners on Death Row) and also participate in pro bono legal research and casework for the charity. They also support the Albert Kennedy Trust Youth, a homelessness charity supporting LGBT young people in crisis through sponsoring their annual youth conference. This attracts many and provides a mix of skills development workshops, networking and education to help increase confidence and employability. To ensure internal opportunities are actively promoted to disabled young people. In conjunction with the company's Career Ready partnership, they offered a six-week placement to an A-Level student with muscular dystrophy and covered the cost of a carer to travel to London each day. The scheme has significantly enhanced this young person's career aspirations and employability.

The Firm has a Recognition Scheme which enables managers to reward employees instantly to recognise exceptional work they have done. Awards can be given for a range of reasons such as working on a specific project, recognising hard work through a busy period, providing exceptional service to a client or making a significant contribution to the department. The scheme is designed to be flexible so managers can either give vouchers between £10 to £200, or they can purchase a gift such as pay for dinner for two, home furnishings or champagne. The other point that makes the scheme unique is that it also provides for peer to peer recognition. So a peer can nominate another peer to recognise support, hard work or exceptional contribution they have made. It is designed to be informal and more of a thank you, so a gift up to £50 can be given in the form of flowers, chocolates or wine. As part of the scheme, the nominator gives the award and the Firm branded thank you card directly to the individual, and thanks them for their contribution. The reason it is particularly effective and unique is because awards can be given at any time throughout the year, there are a range of awards that can be given and also the presentation and card are designed to have the personal touch so the individual feels appreciated for their contribution

Last year B3Living rolled out a Resilience programme. This was open to all staff and focused on the proactive side of stress management. It includes a “strengthscope”, a strengths assessment which ascertained the key personality traits or activities that employees were energised by or had the capacity to become great at. Examples included emotional control, detail orientation and collaboration. There was also a one day Resilience Training course covering topics like managing your mindset, controlling the controllables, stretching yourself, using your strengths and being aware of stress. Where possible B3Living invite in guest speakers to address staff on the topic of wellbeing, as well as inviting brave colleagues who are willing to share their personal experiences. All staff are also invited to attend a course on Mental Health First Aid to help them identify when a colleague or a resident might be suffering from mental health issues and how they might go about supporting the individual.

B3Living believe the key to people realising their potential is being self-aware and understanding what motivates them at work; therefore the organisation have adopted a strengths-focused approach to help staff identify what energises them at work and how they can stretch themselves to achieve peak performance. This is a different mind-set to traditional performance management, which is overly reliant on identifying and working on their weaknesses. A key theme for the Chief Executive Joe Chambers is "One team". B3Living use a strengths based tool in their team development to help teams identify individual strengths and how these map into the strength profile of the team. It helps them to identify how an individual can optimise their strength and how they can improve the team's effectiveness. This strengths based approach also aids in the development, plus it benefits the individual, the team and the organisation.

Axiom have a wealth of community initiatives in place, such as membership of the Homes for Cathy Group, Cardboard Citizens, Bretton Residents Association Group, week of action, every step counts, foodbank collection, volunteering and charity fundraisers. As a member of the Homes for Cathy Group the organisation has been able to contribute to a series of events to mark the 50th anniversary of the first showing of Cathy Come Home back in 1966. The group are highlighting the continuing needs of homeless people in the run-up to the anniversary of Ken Loach's seminal television drama, which highlighted the plight of a homeless family. Axiom is also organising a range of local events and is working with the Cardboard Citizens Theatre Workshop. The organisation is currently walking its way around the world virtually, raising money for Little Miracles and Axiom Homeless Action charities. So far the company have completed 9,225 miles and even managed to stop off at the Rio Olympics! Axiom also developed the Axiom Academy, which includes Skills and Development Centres at supported projects for the homeless. These were set up in recognition that homelessness rarely occurs in isolation and is often associated with poor educational attainment. It has helped to overcome barriers that these individuals face by ensuring that learning takes place in what is effectively their own home.

Since 2010 Axiom has taken part in the Housing Diversity Network's (HDN) Mentoring Programme. The HDN Mentoring Programme was originally set up in 2002 due to a need for a better pipeline for minorities into leadership positions in the housing sector. Over 25 employees have benefited from taking part in the programme, which has helped them develop as individuals through one-to-one mentoring sessions, group workshops and events. The HDN have reported that from the 2015-16 cohort of mentees, 15% were promoted during the time they were involved in the programme. There is no eligibility criteria; the programme is open to anyone who feels they would benefit from extra support to reach their own objectives. The workshops cover a range of topics with the aim of broadening knowledge of the housing sector, as well as developing a self-awareness of themselves through psychometric profiling. Axiom's CEO is a real advocate of the programme and as well as encouraging employees to take this development opportunity he participates each year as a Mentor and is involved in delivering workshops.

To ensure regular team interaction and communication, AxiCom host a lively monthly company meeting at the local boutique cinema. They even provide a yummy breakfast to enjoy whilst the meeting takes place! The meeting is used to showcase the great work each team has been doing that month and to update all on the company's European offices to ensure the communications that are cascaded are not just regarding the UK. AxiCom often invite guest speakers to the monthly company meetings to ignite debate, curiosity and ideas amongst staff. The CEO and UK MD use this monthly slot to ensure the company's vision and long-term strategy is continuously articulated and understood. AxiCom's Global Cohn & Wolfe Group CEO also attends around once a year to cascade the Group vision and strategy. As a company AxiCom promote lots of interaction in the meeting for people to ask questions and seek any clarity that is needed. After the meeting staff have a chance to socialise and discuss what they have learned.

To ensure regular team interaction and communication, AxiCom host a lively monthly company meeting at the local boutique cinema. They even provide a yummy breakfast to enjoy whilst the meeting takes place! The meeting is used to showcase the great work each team has been doing that month and to update all on the company's European offices to ensure the communications that are cascaded are not just regarding the UK. AxiCom often invite guest speakers to the monthly company meetings to ignite debate, curiosity and ideas amongst staff. The CEO and UK MD use this monthly slot to ensure the company's vision and long-term strategy is continuously articulated and understood. AxiCom's Global Cohn & Wolfe Group CEO also attends around once a year to cascade the Group vision and strategy. As a company AxiCom promote lots of interaction in the meeting for people to ask questions and seek any clarity that is needed. After the meeting staff have a chance to socialise and discuss what they have learned.

Atkins are creating a more open, agile and connected business through intelligence forums. These increase agility, empower their people and enhance teamwork across the business. One example of where this has been successful is in the Atkins Transportation division, where their forum enabled the entire Leadership Team to clearly understand the immediate goals of the business. This resulted in productivity going from 74% to 78%, beating forecast and adding to the bottom line. There are now forums like this in 2/3 divisions and HR, with plans to introduce them at UK level and in the third division over the coming months. This Summer and Autumn, everyone in the business will have a face to face conversation about where Atkins is taking the business, helping them to see the personal role and contribution they can make to the company's success.

During 2015 Atkins introduced the Group CEO bonus scheme, which is designed to recognise exceptional effort and contribution by an individual to the business. In any given year there are a handful of really stand-out contributions that individuals make to the business that go above and beyond what is required of them. Whilst most such contributions are picked up by the bonus schemes the company have in place, there are sometimes individuals who do something so special that further recognition is appropriate. For example, they may develop an innovative solution to a client's problem which has brought external recognition or they may have produced a world class piece of thought leadership. The scheme is largely honorific in nature, with a personal letter from the CEO to reinforce the importance of the employees abilities and contributions to Atkins' continued success. The individual also receives a cash bonus to a maximum individual value of £3k and in 2016 there were 37 CEO bonuses awarded.

Although the senior management team are always looking to meet the business goals, they don't compromise the corporate values in order to achieve them. This is regularly demonstrated, whether it be not hiring someone who wouldn't fit with the values of Aspect, doing day trips to far-flung destinations to help out a member of the Sales team at a particularly challenging meeting or getting involved in any of the community and charity events. Aspect's Board members regularly sit in the Staff Hub to have lunch with the wider company and ensure they are listening to issues and they each host two Director Breakfasts every year, these breakfasts are designed to provide an opportunity for staff to ask questions in a comfortable environment. There are usually around 10 attendees. The CTO, Anthony, randomly selects support tasks to take on in order to help out the IT team when they're busy and keep his skills fresh. Anthony has an open door policy, he chairs the weekly Company meeting, gives quarterly updates on progress against the business plan to the whole company and endeavours to introduce himself to new joiners as soon after they start work at Aspect. They also rope in him to push the beer trolley round the office a couple of times a year.

Aspect Capital work with a company called the Access Project. They are a charity who connect GCSE and A-Level students in London with people who can give them one on one tutoring for an hour a week. Aspect have about six people who regularly provide Maths and Science support to students from the King Solomon Academy on the Edgware Road. Their staff also regularly volunteer to help out with wrapping presents, serving food and manning stalls at St John's Hospice's Christmas and Summer fayres. Aspect Capital and it's employees raise money for a number of charities annually and on an ad-hoc basis. Charities that they have raised money for this year include Access Project, Sands, St John's Wood Hospice and the British Lung Foundation to name just a few. After a company survey about charity the company found that employees were particularly interested in raising money for medical research and so they company set out to donate to the Francis Crick Institute, a Cancer Research centre in near their offices in London.

Ashford Borough Council recognise the importance of physical, emotional and financial wellbeing. They run financial seminars, highlight the importance of good mental health and encourage physical activity. Each month their staff magazine has a ‘Wellbeing Wonders' article, which focuses on a different aspect of wellness. Every Spring they also conduct a ‘Workplace Wellness Week'. This year this included mini health checks, mindfulness sessions, cycle checks, free massages, encouragement to take part in ‘On your feet Britain day', body blast classes, information about Mental Health Awareness Week and a lunchtime run. Staff receive a discounted gym membership and every month a company comes and offers staff discounted wellness treatments over the lunch period, from massages to reflexology. They also offer smoking cessation courses annually. ABC's Employee Assistance Programme provides a proactive approach to wellbeing and the organisation also offer face-to-face counselling too (eight sessions and including CBT), couples counselling and telephone counselling for family members. ABC Identify all workplace stressors and conduct risk assessments to eliminate or control the risk from stress. These risk assessments are also regularly reviewed by Managers.

This is Ashford Borough Council's second year of choosing a local charity to support. In 2015/16 the organisation supported Pilgrim's Hospice and this year they are supporting Retreat Animal Rescue. ABC's main fundraising event is their annual staff quiz night, where teams pay to join in and local companies donate prizes for the raffle. Last year the organisation raised £600 and this year £700 on this night alone. Staff donate when participating in fun staff events, such as their bubble football tournament. The organisation also participates in the Christmas tree recycling project that Pilgrim's Hospice run every year. ABC's volunteering policy enables staff to take one day per year to work with a local organisation of their choice. The organisation employs a member of staff to run a Job Club every Monday and will support any resident that is actively looking for work through this. They provide advice on interview skills and techniques, courses and training, support with job searching, voluntary work and job applications, plus careers advice and CV workshops. ABC also work closely with a local charity called Porchlight and fund a part time dedicated member of staff to work with and assist homeless people in Ashford (often including ex-offenders and those recovering from addiction). This year ABC has contributed £30k towards this.

Arthouse use various mechanisms to ensure that their messages are communicated throughout the business. They have many projects running at any one time and ensure that they include various areas of expertise to run the project in order to bring both a different skill set but also help people to learn about more areas of the business. They feel that this helps to reinforce their messages of communication and growth/development as Arthouse are constantly testing people to learn different things and instilling in them the nature of their business. Arthouse operate a top down communication chain whereby they proliferate key messages from Board to Management Team Meeting to Wider Management Team Meeting to Team Meeting to 1:2:1's to Individual Projects/Individuals. Twice a month, they run briefings whereby the whole business is presented to from one/a couple employees. Arthouse task each of these presenters with sharing knowledge about the business and the area they work within and thus underpinning the culture of open communication that they have here in the business. They have very keen on encouraging activity within the Social side of the business. Using mechanisms such as Yammer they have been able to embrace the social scene even more and encourage the fun in the workplace. Arthouse run a quarterly company newsletter which they fill with messages from all parts of the business and from all of their principles. They operate approximately 16 away days per year across the whole company where staff are offsite completely for focussed workshops.

Arthouse support the local Rossendale Hospice charity and regularly hold Friends and Family days whereby they post letters to the local residents and business to encourage their attendance to the Arthouse showroom onsite where they can purchase products that were previously samples or gold mark items. All proceeds are then given to the Hospice. The company support the local college and are working with them to help their students develop their skills by providing materials for their studies. They hold open days for local university students and invite market players for them to meet and develop relationships with.

ARM support over 170 organisations in their communities. In 2015, the company donated £2,297,285 to community initiatives at varying scales around the world, from large projects with UNICEF to supporting small local charities. This represents 56% of their total cash and time corporate responsibility spending. ARM support a range of different charities with the purpose of supporting those most in need, including homelessness, addition, poverty, abuse and mental health. In particular their work in the UK with The Prince's Trust saw more than 80 ARM people volunteering a total of 345 hours during the first year of a new partnership, helping to inspire some of the UK's most disadvantaged young people through STEM. Colleagues helped deliver motivational 'Get Started with Technology' courses, 'Workplace Insight' days and 'Presentation Skills' workshops. 'Get Started With Technology' helped support 111 young people to take on immersive learning projects in areas ranging from robotics to apps and also transformed their prospects in life by building key employability skills and confidence.

Managers work the closest to their teams, so they need to be able to have supportive conversations and look out for signs of stress or a general change in their behaviour; therefore Managers regularly have effective one to one's with their colleagues. The company also provide an Employee Assistance Programme for counselling, as well as all round physical and mental health care through health assessments. This covers areas such as weight, blood pressure, nutrition and diabetes. At these appointments employees also discuss exercise plans either for the gym or at home and ARM also signpost them to their Physiotherapist if required. The company also provide resilience training to help people cope during stressful times. ARM are also currently working on a wellbeing intranet page, where all global information will be held here, for example EAP, charities, daily desk exercises, mindfulness and a place where people can leave an anonymous questions if they don't want to talk about their stress to their Line Manager or the People team.

The senior management team sits with the recruitment teams in the open plan office. They do not shut themselves away in private offices. They are extremely visible and have an “open door” management policy. The whole of the senior management team, including the CEO, handle recruitment assignments and are client facing so they genuinely lead by example and thereby actively demonstrate their hands on commitment to the values of the organisation. The senior management team jointly present to the business on a quarterly and bi-annually basis to update employees on company performance, initiatives and objectives, linking all activity back to the vision, mission and values of the organisation. By so doing, they are able to demonstrate their commitment to the values of the organisation by showing trust, sharing insight, demonstrating their talent, celebrating the talent and results of the employees and proving their agility. The CEO is extremely approachable and committed to retaining Argyll Scott's talented employees. He participates in the selection process of all UK based employees and senior international employees, taking a personal interest in ensuring they can attract, hire, train, promote and retain the best talent for the business. The CEO participates in the corporate induction programme, personally explaining the mission, vision and values of the company and thereby demonstrating his commitment to them. On a daily basis, the CEO walks the floor, talking to employees, listening to their suggestions, achievements and feedback on initiatives and advising them on how to handle challenges and obstacles. The CEO hosts monthly lunches with a group of employees from across the business which provides an informal opportunity for him to gauge internal sentiment.

The senior management team sits with the recruitment teams in the open plan office. They do not shut themselves away in private offices. They are extremely visible and have an “open door” management policy. The whole of the senior management team, including the CEO, handle recruitment assignments and are client facing so they genuinely lead by example and thereby actively demonstrate their hands on commitment to the values of the organisation. The senior management team jointly present to the business on a quarterly and bi-annually basis to update employees on company performance, initiatives and objectives, linking all activity back to the vision, mission and values of the organisation. By so doing, they are able to demonstrate their commitment to the values of the organisation by showing trust, sharing insight, demonstrating their talent, celebrating the talent and results of the employees and proving their agility. The CEO is extremely approachable and committed to retaining Argyll Scott's talented employees. He participates in the selection process of all UK based employees and senior international employees, taking a personal interest in ensuring they can attract, hire, train, promote and retain the best talent for the business. The CEO participates in the corporate induction programme, personally explaining the mission, vision and values of the company and thereby demonstrating his commitment to them. On a daily basis, the CEO walks the floor, talking to employees, listening to their suggestions, achievements and feedback on initiatives and advising them on how to handle challenges and obstacles. The CEO hosts monthly lunches with a group of employees from across the business which provides an informal opportunity for him to gauge internal sentiment.

Aquila offer the flexibility to work from home and travel to other offices to work more closely with colleagues. Each year all employees get together in one of Aquila's locations. They also have international food days where different nationalities teach employees about their nationalities and bring in a selection of different food and drinks. They also have free fruit available in each office at all times. The office bike to work scheme is highly subscribed and well used and employees often arrange out of work biking events together, which shows how effective this scheme is. Aquila have a quiet room where employees can go and work in a quiet area so they can focus without interruption, as they understand that not everyone likes working in an open plan environment. They have multiple breakout areas with couches so teams' individuals can get together and meet. They also encourage off site meetings, for example popping to a cafe for a meeting and a change of scenery. Finally every office uses Sonos provided to listen to music, which employees find creates an effective stress free atmosphere.

The company runs an 'Aquila School' every Friday, which lasts for one hour or sometimes more if the topic is larger. All employees Skype into a learning session, which is run by a different member each week. Not only does this help with their presentation and communication skills but it also helps with their internal networking and profile within the organisation by showing their area of expertise. They also run an Aquila Orators session, which is similar to Toastmasters International. They have a different Toastmaster each week. This is a fun but comfortable environment for more junior employees to improve their communication and presentation skills. Within the industry there is continuous learning due to new and advanced techniques and tools. Aquila like their employees to be at the front of this learning so encourage them to write blogs too. They also encourage employees to share their knowledge and experience with local Universities and schools, thereby helping people get into employment in the Industry. Furthermore Aquila also encourage and support employees as 'thought Leaders' to talk at industry events.