Pride Powers Performance

The senior management team are active in the recognition and reward of staff across multiple levels and locations. When they observe values and good practices they are able to nominate by awarding wow points, these usually equate to the value of £10.00 or in the use of our Values Man. Values Man is a visible recognition scheme where the company encourage everyone to recognise outstanding work or the demonstration of our core values. Senior managers also encourage colleagues to recognise each other in the use of the Value Man or the My Arco platform in the form of badges.

The company ran Health Week which promoted good eating habits, being healthy and encouraging health activities such as walks and spinning classes. Fruit was also provided to all locations for the week free of charge. They have also conducted Health Assured Road shows which meant they visited various sites across the various Arco locations which included drop-in sessions around health and wellbeing for staff. They also run via My Perks various discounts scheme on gym memberships.

If an employee has given an outstanding contribution to the organisation they will be recognised by the management team for their efforts. They can receive a bronze. silver or gold award which represents varying monetary rewards. Gold 5%, Silver 3%, Bronze, 1% (percentage of annual salary). The managing Director delivers the awards to the selected employees and their pay slips are adjusted accordingly.

Constantly at the forefront of technology, they are Market leaders in the implementation of Skype for Business and innovators within the UC hosted market. The leaders' commitment to staff development is consistent and rewarding allowing the company to be competitive and exceptionally knowledgeable in their field of expertise. They respond to the customer quickly and efficiently and work quickly with partners to meet customer demand. Leaders are always available and constantly consider suggestions from the business. Processes are created with the customer experience in mind, understanding them and our value to them. The company is dedicated solely to one channel partner and they develop strategies and forecasts in support of this partner without having to compromise to accommodate other parties. Their commitment is dedicated to their service which has been determined by their leaders. The company deliver the best available service, on time and within budget and are able to do this because of the level of commitment from their leaders with regard to their on-going training and support.

The company has weekly departmental meeting for staff to become empowered with the freedom of idea and knowledge share in the agency. Monthly open door sessions are held with HR on an informal basis and follow up meetings and progress reports are produced to that staff can see their opinion counts. The company believes an open culture promotes a feeling of freedom. A programme called AnalogFolk Labs gives all staff an opportunity to spend part of their time working on innovation projects of their own. In addition to being a big morale boost, they have found AnalogFolk Labs to be a great way to keep the mind sharp, not to mention produce a few incredible products along the way.

One of the core values as a company is ‘Be Remarkable'. On the surface this sounds like a grand statement that rewards BIG achievements, but this is not the case. ‘Be Remarkable' is about approaching every part of your day with the same enthusiasm and always striving to go the extra mile (or meter, or centimetre). Their platform for rewarding Folk follows the same ethos. Whilst they do have big rewards for some of the biggest stars like our Global Exchange Programme, the opportunity to work in our micro-network of offices in London, NY, Sydney, Portland and Hong Kong they are passionate about ensuring Folk are rewarded for doing the little things. Nothing symbolises this more than their Weekly Nominations where Folk submit their nominations for a remarkable performer of the week. Nominations are read out at the Friday meeting with each nominee receiving a warm ovation and the winner a playful prize. We reward our Folk for their dedication and loyalty by celebrating their AnalogFolk birthday by gifts and gestures. Service is also rewarded with enhanced benefits.

On 5 February 2015, the company led a major employee engagement initiative in support of Time to Change's ‘Time to Talk' Day. They have set up a mental health steering committee to support this activity with representatives from across the business. UK American Express employees were encouraged to support the campaign by taking 5 minutes to have a conversation about mental health, either in one-to-ones, or in team meetings. Email calls to action to all employees were distributed, printed materials were provided in the communal areas, plus a one minute video was provided as a conversation starter. At the same time, they promoted their ‘Healthy Minds' employee assistance programme as a go-to resource for emotional wellbeing, so that employees could share information about the resources available. Employees were asked to bank their conversations via a data collection tool. The aim for the public campaign was 24 hours of conversations across the country. The day at the company started with the HR leadership team focusing on the topic at its leadership day programme. A road show event in key operation locations saw hundreds of meaningful interactions, and the Occupational Health team dedicated the day to mental wellbeing activities. Employees across American Express UK took up the challenge, banking a total of 26 hours and 45 minutes' worth of conversations about mental health, exceeding the target set by the campaign. As a result the company has sought to normalise the conversation around mental health.

The Reward Blue programme enables all employees to recognise colleagues no matter which business unit they work in, grade or location. Employees can praise effort, reward results and celebrate loyalty. Employees can be nominated for Reward Blue points that can be redeemed through the Reward Blue catalogue to buy gifts and high street shopping vouchers. Every year March is ‘Employee Appreciation Month'. Senior Leaders encourage their employees to consider how they can celebrate everyday accomplishments at work. In addition Blue Looks Good on You was held on March 18, and employees were asked to wear their best blue clothes to show their support for recognition. Pinnacle Reward programs are uniquely designed by business unit Senior Leaders to recognise outstanding achievements and the extraordinary people who made them happen. Chairman's Award for Innovation program honours teams worldwide who have developed new or improved products, processes or services that have had a measurable impact on business results. It is the premier program for recognising employees around the world who exemplify the innovative spirit that is a core element of the heritage Customer Service Award which recognises two categories of excellence: employees who provided a single act of outstanding service over the past year and employees who demonstrate consistent excellence over five years or more. The Working Parents and Care Givers programme has been set up for employees to nominate a colleague who manages to make their career and family fit into their life and inspires them. Ten winners are chosen to receive 10,000 reward blue points.

The Executive Board demonstrate their commitment to their four company values, Caring, Connected, Excellent and Responsible in a variety of ways. They do regular walk-arounds and attend team meeting to stay connected with what is happening at all levels of the business. The Executive Board take part in an ‘Exec Tea Run' twice a year, delivering tea, coffee and cakes to employees on every floor of our head office. They also lead by example when it comes to CSR, regularly taking part in volunteering days and our company wide events for Children in Need. During our bi-annual Communication Forums the members of the Executive Board present with a focus on the four values.

The Executive Board demonstrate their commitment to their four company values, Caring, Connected, Excellent and Responsible in a variety of ways. They do regular walk-arounds and attend team meeting to stay connected with what is happening at all levels of the business. The Executive Board take part in an ‘Exec Tea Run' twice a year, delivering tea, coffee and cakes to employees on every floor of our head office. They also lead by example when it comes to CSR, regularly taking part in volunteering days and our company wide events for Children in Need. During our bi-annual Communication Forums the members of the Executive Board present with a focus on the four values.

Employees have attended events to create understanding about the company's five year plan, about individual business areas and how they plan to deliver exceptional customer service. The event also offered opportunities for colleagues to ask questions of the Executive Team. Prior to the event, employees posed questions and feedback via an electronic portal so they could ask questions anonymously should they prefer. Competitions were set up with prizes, and everyone was encouraged to have fun. Feedback post event showed that colleagues gave the event an overall rating of 4.1/5 (v 3.8/5 in 2014). 92% of participants felt the events objectives were met, 90% said they felt proud of working for the company and 74% of respondents had a better understanding of the Bank's vision. Following on from the events all senior leaders were involved in a company-wide cascade of the five year plan launched at the roadshows. Leaders across the business held sessions with their teams, using a centrally provided toolkit (presentation, quiz cards, briefing notes) to explain the five year plan in more detail and what it would mean for colleagues in their area. These sessions were well received and have set the strategic context for colleagues for the years ahead.

Employees have attended events to create understanding about the company's five year plan, about individual business areas and how they plan to deliver exceptional customer service. The event also offered opportunities for colleagues to ask questions of the Executive Team. Prior to the event, employees posed questions and feedback via an electronic portal so they could ask questions anonymously should they prefer. Competitions were set up with prizes, and everyone was encouraged to have fun. Feedback post event showed that colleagues gave the event an overall rating of 4.1/5 (v 3.8/5 in 2014). 92% of participants felt the events objectives were met, 90% said they felt proud of working for the company and 74% of respondents had a better understanding of the Bank's vision. Following on from the events all senior leaders were involved in a company-wide cascade of the five year plan launched at the roadshows. Leaders across the business held sessions with their teams, using a centrally provided toolkit (presentation, quiz cards, briefing notes) to explain the five year plan in more detail and what it would mean for colleagues in their area. These sessions were well received and have set the strategic context for colleagues for the years ahead.

As well as being embedded in day to day culture and work life, employees are aware of the company ambition and primary purpose from the first day that they join the company. They are advised of the company values at their first day HR induction session, and again when they have a meeting with the Head of HR within their first two weeks of employment, where they are talked through the guiding principles and values of the company and the background of how they were derived. They celebrate actions that embrace these values by sharing news of such successes throughout the company, either in person at staff briefings, or by email communication from a senior manager. These help to reiterate and promote values and principles on a regular basis.

The Senior Management Team takes pride in demonstrating the company values through their own behaviour and leading by example. The 2014 Employee survey showed that communication of future Company plans by the Senior Management Team to all staff inspired people in the workforce to perform well. Their approach and the employee's confidence in the Senior Management Team gets the best from their people. They have an excellent approach to open and honest communication – no-one fears voicing an opinion or challenging ‘the norm'. All Senior Managers have an open door policy. Quarterly staff meetings are held to keep everyone abreast of both Company and Fairfax group information, company performance, financial figures and other relative industry news. They also have weekly underwriting meetings to share and discuss progress, business wins, etc.

Addaction aim to recruit employees who have the right mix of skills, experience, attitudes and beliefs to perform their role in a way that matches their values and standards. They then ensure that each employee has the opportunity to develop and learn to enable them to deliver the best possible recovery services. Employee development adopts a blended approach including qualifications, classroom training and online learning. Their classroom training is delivered by qualified trainers who have extensive experience of working in the substance misuse sector. With a focus on skills development, they develop their front line practitioners in using evidenced based psychosocial interventions with their service users. Their holistic approach to providing recovery services means that they also ensure their front line practitioners develop skills to support service users presenting with a range of issues including mental health, domestic abuse and self-harm. The company consistently achieve over 96% positive satisfaction rating for their classroom training. Their classroom training also supports any non-professionally qualified front line employee to gain a QCF qualification working in substance misuse which they have to achieve in their first year of employment. For non-practitioner employees they have worked with an awarding body to develop a new bespoke CQF qualification to raise awareness of substance misuse issues in their wider employee population. Their online learning is a particular success story. Since they started to develop their online learning provision in 2011, Addaction have won numerous awards and recognition for their provision which includes both mandatory and professional development modules.

Addaction is an approved centre with the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) and employs a Management Development specialist to deliver a range of qualifications within the ILM framework. These qualifications contribute to the individual development of their managers as well as helping to ensure consistency of management practices across the organisation. They have also made the Level 3 Award in Leadership & Management available to their aspiring team leaders to help them develop them in anticipation of their career development and many of those have taken up this opportunity have already moved into their first management roles. The company have recently piloted an ILM Award in Coaching and the feedback from this is helping them to shape their future coaching and talent management strategy. Their ILM courses are very well received and consistently achieve a 99% positive satisfaction rating. Their managers also benefit from a wide range of eLearning modules covering aspects of leadership and management as part of their online learning provisions. This includes practical modules covering budgets, health and safety and legislative requirements as well as modules covering leadership styles and team working. In addition, they deliver a range of HR workshops to their managers to support them in their practice in recruitment and selection and supervision and performance management of their employees in addition to the potentially more challenging areas of employee relations and conducting investigations. These are developed by their HR practitioners in collaboration with L&D practitioners and enjoy an average positive satisfaction rating of 95%.

To celebrate great teamwork throughout the year they hold a Summer BBQ for everyone based at our Head Office. This involves the Operations team, some of the Marketing team, the Admin teams and the Directors and lasts most of the day. People take part in various challenges and get to compete in group events like the egg and spoon race. Overall winners receive a shield, individual winners receive trophies and prizes (gifts vouchers) are awarded at the end of the day. This has become a great Institution in the company and highly motivational.

To celebrate great teamwork throughout the year they hold a Summer BBQ for everyone based at our Head Office. This involves the Operations team, some of the Marketing team, the Admin teams and the Directors and lasts most of the day. People take part in various challenges and get to compete in group events like the egg and spoon race. Overall winners receive a shield, individual winners receive trophies and prizes (gifts vouchers) are awarded at the end of the day. This has become a great Institution in the company and highly motivational.

A2Dominion's support for employee development is best evidenced through its continued investment in staff training, initiatives and programmes. Programmes such as the Talent Development Deal have been fully reviewed following feedback from the staff survey, previous cohorts and organisation changes and a new level called ‘Rising Stars' has been introduced in 2015/16 which allows A2Dominion to have an offer aimed at developing management capability of front line colleagues. Courses aimed at ensuring staff develop work related skills and personal attributes continue to be both relevant and highly attended (3283 staff attended classroom training last year, with 96% of staff confirming they had successfully applied learning to their role) and they have been working to increase their portfolio of e-learning to ensure staff are receiving the development needed whilst reducing the time out of the office (25 new courses developed in-house in 2014/15). Furthermore, specific departmental learning programmes have helped increase the personal learning of specific teams, with measures such as increase in competency scores and call coaching rates improved. Finally, the continued offering of both in house qualification programmes (including the CMI Certificate in Management and specific departmental qualifications e.g. IRPM for Leasehold staff), as well as external qualifications offer staff the opportunity to become fully qualified in their area of work with 100% of managers confirming there had been a direct benefit to the team and organisation as a result.

The company believe their Wellbeing scheme has been their most effective initiative. The scheme focuses on quarterly campaigns, which have in the past covered nutrition, hydration, resilience and physical activity. These campaigns were supported with merchandise to reinforce messages, e.g. water bottles and healthy alternative drinks to tea and coffee. They trained 15 Wellbeing Leaders across the business who have planned and delivered these campaigns. The Wellbeing Leaders recently organised and supported an extension of an existing office hygiene campaign following a successful pilot called Healthy Workplace to their new upgraded offices provided for staff with improved facilities. Following employee feedback, this year they have reviewed how they can refocus their wellbeing campaign to make a bigger impact on staff. Going forward, the company will be holding two dedicated 'wellbeing weeks' a year, jam-packed full of health-focussed events. Their Lean Programme helps staff to improve their productivity, efficiency and quality of services to customers by streamlining processes and cutting out anything that is unnecessary. In addition they offer a long and varied list of flexible benefits that are continually refreshed in consultation with their employees.

The company offer ‘supply chain & quality employee of the month' voted for by staff, and annual company wide awards which recognise achievement and performance. They celebrate success in a company newsletter and noticeboards and give ‘thank yous' from team members to thank colleagues who have gone the extra mile. All these factors increase engagement in addition to the contractual and monetary benefits like salary increase, discounts and bonuses.

A bursary is offered to employees who would like to participate in team sports activities (e.g. football teams). This bursary is also used to support and encourage charitable events such as breast cancer walks. In addition to this, they offer subsidised fruit and soup to employees in order to encourage healthy eating and the money raised goes to charity.

The development and implementation of a core skills programme, integral to the development of Managers for the future of the company. An outside company is used to give their Management Team regular external residential training to focus their Management Abilities and enhance Team Performance.

They are committed to developing the career of every team member within the Company, and are continuously seeking new ways in which they can support individuals with their chosen career path. An example of this would be the recent award for The Microsoft National Apprentice of the Year Award, whereby one of their apprentices was awarded ‘runner up' out c.7,000 applicants directly employed and trained by Microsoft Partners and Customers. In conjunction with the Company Wide PDP scheme, they have found that recruiting and training apprentices is not only beneficial to the Company, but it also improves the lives of young people.

Office space at the company is open plan to encourage collaboration among staff. Welcome drinks are held for all new starters with the team following their '3 Questions' done by all new employees to every single staff member as an icebreaker exercise. The company holds a ‘waffle Wednesday' each week for internal knowledge sharing. Digital Ps is an agency wide twice a year all-day event for knowledge sharing and learning as an entire company. Digital EDGEucation is the annual conference for clients which the team present to showcase their knowledge & best practice while networking.

Office space at the company is open plan to encourage collaboration among staff. Welcome drinks are held for all new starters with the team following their '3 Questions' done by all new employees to every single staff member as an icebreaker exercise. The company holds a ‘waffle Wednesday' each week for internal knowledge sharing. Digital Ps is an agency wide twice a year all-day event for knowledge sharing and learning as an entire company. Digital EDGEucation is the annual conference for clients which the team present to showcase their knowledge & best practice while networking.

The company host events throughout the year to encourage teamwork like work shadowing, activities run during values week, mentoring, internal newsletters, charity volunteering. Fun Central is the company's sports & social committee organising activities such as quiz nights, barbecues and fundraising events such as an abseil which raised over £2,000.

The company volunteers in the community and raises money for their charity, St Peter & St James Hospice via events and activities. They work with local colleges for work experience and support The Girls' Network which is a local charity supporting girls from low socio-economic backgrounds. They also financially support community events.

Zurich recognises its employees are best placed to identify and rectify issues within the business and have in place a range of processes to allow their concerns to be heard and dealt with. One of the key innovations is the introduction of the 3Cs – Concern, Cause and Countermeasure. This allows colleagues to raise any issues they have, with for example their working practices or working environment and if they can, suggest solutions. Each issue is held on a central database which tracks their progress and highlights any trends affecting areas of the business. Once an issue is raised it is discussed in weekly meetings and the colleague raising the issue is then empowered to implement the solution. If this is not possible it may be passed to a manager or further up for a solution. Zurich also places great emphasis on the results of the Best Companies survey. The effectiveness of these changes are then monitored through feedback and mini surveys. In addition, some departments have set up Quality Circles to facilitate the changes highlighted by the employee survey on a more micro level. The Circle is made up of managers and employee representatives and solutions are communicated back and monitored by Circle.

Payroll Giving to Zurich Community Trust is on a pound for pound basis with no upper limit. Office based or individual fundraising by employees for the Zurich Community Trust is matched 100% with no upper limit. Team fundraising for nominated external charities is matched 50% and capped at £10,000 per event. Individual fundraising for nominated charities is matched 50% and capped at £500 per event. Children of staff fundraising is pound for pound and capped at £50. National charity days such as Red Nose Day or Children in Need are also matched 50% with no cap.

YHA hold a People Forum every quarter, which enables employees across all levels of the organisation to offer input, feedback and ideas. They also hold monthly Team Briefs in each region and Managers in all regions have the opportunity to feedback on business initiatives. There are monthly Directorate Meetings held at National Office for all employees within the Directorate to attend and actively participate in. In hostels, there are daily 'huddles' where the Hostel Manager communicates relevant information to Team Members and asks for ideas.

YHA have held numerous team building events within their hostels and national office to underpin the values of the organisation and celebrate the achievements of the last year. These include an organisation wide awards ceremony, a national office Summer BBQ and individual team building days for their teams and departments.

Mark Brown, Managing Director, hosts quarterly improvement meetings with the objective of meeting the challenges consultants face on a day-to-day basis. Each representative canvases their colleagues for challenges and suggestions which are communicated at the meeting. Action points and minutes are distributed with timelines for suggestions that can be implemented. The quarterly Marketing forums allow consultants to feed back ideas they have about that aspect of the business. They also have a suggestions box. All suggestions are taken seriously and many of them have been implemented as a result.

Mark Brown, Managing Director, hosts quarterly improvement meetings with the objective of meeting the challenges consultants face on a day-to-day basis. Each representative canvases their colleagues for challenges and suggestions which are communicated at the meeting. Action points and minutes are distributed with timelines for suggestions that can be implemented. The quarterly Marketing forums allow consultants to feed back ideas they have about that aspect of the business. They also have a suggestions box. All suggestions are taken seriously and many of them have been implemented as a result.

Both founders, Jonathan and Nick, are completely accessible and operate an open door policy for all employees. Having been there at the start, they are both fiercely protective of the company's culture and ethos, and insist that their standards remain as high as day one and as they grow. Jonathan and Nick are often spotted walking round the office chatting to the various teams about how they are doing, both in and out of work. Staff are actively encouraged to share ideas about the company and many of these ideas have shaped the way they work today. From day one at the company, employees get an induction talk from Jonathan and he imparts the company's culture and values on everyone, engaging new hires in the organisation. Jonathan also holds monthly round ups to keep everyone in touch with how the business is doing, so everyone feels that are in touch with the company's performance, not just management. He is also on-hand to celebrate the On Your Side winners – making them feel extra special for getting the attention of the CEO. Finally, both Jonathan and Nick always attend company parties and events, where they chat to everyone and make any newcomers feel welcome. At the company's recent tenth birthday party, they both made a short speech highlighting the best, worst and funniest moments of the last ten years which further drew employees into the World First family.

World First are dedicated to giving something back to the community, and have an energetic workforce that always enjoys getting behind their initiatives. The company's ten-strong Corporate Social Responsibility team is always proactive in looking for ways in which they can help in the community, but any member of staff who has any ideas about organisations they can help, is always encouraged to come forward and let the company know how. For over a year, World First has teamed up with the London based homeless charity We Are Trinity. They have been involved in events like sleep outs in the streets and helping serve Christmas dinner to those that We Are Trinity helps. Also last Christmas, they delivered stockings of useful things to those that had just come off the streets and needed to kit out their new home with essentials. At Easter, some of their staff member donned their bunny ears and went to the Demelza Hospice For Children, and gave out Easter eggs to the children and their families.

We Are Social share the UK and Global vision with the whole agency and have given real understanding of what the key changes were going to be to staff to ensure they achieve this. The company ensure that the global senior management team physically meet twice a year at summits to ensure they all have an opinion and are part of the vision/strategy/how to execute it all.

We Are Social's have an annual Winter Conference and ski trip. All EU offices head to Austria for 3 days, paid for by the agency. The company has quarterly social events; Miami Vice yacht party, who wants to be a WAS-illionaire quiz night (for charity) and an annual Lovebox festival afternoon. The whole agency is provided with festival tickets and refreshments. They have a Christmas party which has a 1920's theme, with make-up artists, hairdressers, casino, agency wide secret santa, awards ceremonies, a photobooth & breakfast the following morning.

The senior management team have a strong work ethic and feel that transparency is key. Everyone at WE has a voice and the senior management team allow and encourage people to be heard. The new daily hot desking initiative also means that the senior management team sit with people at all levels within the business and are available to answer questions and share best practice. The SAM get involved in office fun and encourage others and join in themselves on MaD. The SAM regularly lead training sessions within the business and share their knowledge to the agency as a whole in our all hands meetings.

The senior management team have a strong work ethic and feel that transparency is key. Everyone at WE has a voice and the senior management team allow and encourage people to be heard. The new daily hot desking initiative also means that the senior management team sit with people at all levels within the business and are available to answer questions and share best practice. The SAM get involved in office fun and encourage others and join in themselves on MaD. The SAM regularly lead training sessions within the business and share their knowledge to the agency as a whole in our all hands meetings.

Following on from Vacherin's success of the Health Matters their Health and Wellbeing Initiatives, they have now set up similar training sessions for all employees. These include the following to achieve a feeling of optimised health and wellbeing. Planned days - Balancing Blood Sugar Stress Management, Well Balanced meals, Summer Body & Fitness, Food & Mood Optimum Nutrition, Healthy up your Heart, Boost your Immunity, Beat Fatigue.

Following on from Vacherin's success of the Health Matters their Health and Wellbeing Initiatives, they have now set up similar training sessions for all employees. These include the following to achieve a feeling of optimised health and wellbeing. Planned days - Balancing Blood Sugar Stress Management, Well Balanced meals, Summer Body & Fitness, Food & Mood Optimum Nutrition, Healthy up your Heart, Boost your Immunity, Beat Fatigue.

Every year UKRD hold full day training events for every team across the company which focuses upon their core values and ambitions and in addition, at each location, business teams are also taken out of their environments for team building days whether it be survival training, sailing or a day at the races.

Every year UKRD hold full day training events for every team across the company which focuses upon their core values and ambitions and in addition, at each location, business teams are also taken out of their environments for team building days whether it be survival training, sailing or a day at the races.

All areas of senior management have spent the last 18 months collaborating on the company's proprietary workflow platform, STREAM, in which they manage the lifecycle of their client and translator relationships. TranslateMedia was extremely keen to develop a service and platform that served the company's needs both in the present and future, by facilitating internal communication and ensuring every employee has a perfect understanding of each client relationship. TranslateMedia's senior management team encourages every area of the business to participate and bring their own unique blend of experience and expertise to drive a system that will not only continue to improve productivity, but will provide each team member the historical prospective and communications that have previously taken place by team members in other areas of the company.

All areas of senior management have spent the last 18 months collaborating on the company's proprietary workflow platform, STREAM, in which they manage the lifecycle of their client and translator relationships. TranslateMedia was extremely keen to develop a service and platform that served the company's needs both in the present and future, by facilitating internal communication and ensuring every employee has a perfect understanding of each client relationship. TranslateMedia's senior management team encourages every area of the business to participate and bring their own unique blend of experience and expertise to drive a system that will not only continue to improve productivity, but will provide each team member the historical prospective and communications that have previously taken place by team members in other areas of the company.

Employees at Trafford Housing Trust are rewarded in a number of ways through the Star system, with the primary intention of being something which the employee is individually pleased to receive. For some employees, this may be a shopping voucher for others a trip to a football match or a bottle of wine. There is also group rewards. For example, Managers take their team for breakfast or lunch or just buy pizzas for the whole team to enjoy. Managing Directors hand write cards when somebody has been nominated for a reward. These are hand written and posted to the individuals address to be received on a Saturday, so they can read them at home.

Employees at Trafford Housing Trust are rewarded in a number of ways through the Star system, with the primary intention of being something which the employee is individually pleased to receive. For some employees, this may be a shopping voucher for others a trip to a football match or a bottle of wine. There is also group rewards. For example, Managers take their team for breakfast or lunch or just buy pizzas for the whole team to enjoy. Managing Directors hand write cards when somebody has been nominated for a reward. These are hand written and posted to the individuals address to be received on a Saturday, so they can read them at home.

THCH has a number of initiatives in place aiming to deliver health, wellbeing, educational attainment and community cohesion. Some of these include: Employment and Training - through their partnership work with local providers and support to groups such as The Rooted Forum and Employment First, a number of training and capacity building programmes have been delivered to residents throughout 2013/14. Those who attended the sessions received detailed help and assistance. Debt and Welfare Advice - THCH continued to work with agencies, such as St Peter's Community & Advice Centre in Bethnal Green, providing debt, welfare and financial advice. Health & Wellbeing - a number of groups using the company's centres provide regular weekly health and welling activities, such as Zumba, martial arts and football – through to equally as enjoyable, but less energetic activities such as bingo and coffee mornings where residents can meet and gain help, support and friendship from each other. THCH have also maintained a number of health and wellbeing outreach sessions providing advise ranging from the cancer awareness workshops through to hosting events by the Tower Hamlets Food Growing Network, a local network of community food growers in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets providing advice on not just growing your own, but eating a balance and healthy diet. THCH were also delighted to receive £50,000 Sport England funding for an Outdoor Gym at the Cameron Best Park in Bethnal Green, which was opened by Olympic Gold Medallist, James DeGale in November 2013.

The staff's pay at THCH is negotiated through National Joint Terms and Conditions, therefore any pay rises are agreed through Unions and Central Government. The last couple of years, there had been no pay rises for three years. The CEO sought Board Approval to have a one off bonus payment for staff to reward appreciation of the continual hard work and that the staff had constantly had an excellent resident satisfaction rates. This was a huge success and staff very much appreciated that their efforts had been rewarded.

Supporting school breakfasts with donations, sponsoring local sports activities, apprenticeship schemes and Toureen ensure local people in all regions their sites are based in, have the chance to work on Toureen Projects. They also supported a community outreach activity for a local school they were working on. They built a 'skip garden' for the students so they were able to grow, nurture and harvest organic produce on the school grounds. They sank the skip into the ground and built a walkway around it using recycled materials.

Supporting school breakfasts with donations, sponsoring local sports activities, apprenticeship schemes and Toureen ensure local people in all regions their sites are based in, have the chance to work on Toureen Projects. They also supported a community outreach activity for a local school they were working on. They built a 'skip garden' for the students so they were able to grow, nurture and harvest organic produce on the school grounds. They sank the skip into the ground and built a walkway around it using recycled materials.

TMW have an on-going programme of leadership development for the Management Board, comprising of up to 5 full off-site away day sessions over a period of 12 months, devised specifically to help create a more cohesive, empowered leadership team. Content typically covers everything from interactive sessions in the work environment, through to external team-building activities from treasure hunts to fact-finding exercises. Their Summer party last year was also heavily weighted on team building, as they had different groups working together creatively to produce the best photos during their ‘Instagram hunt'. The company also hosted a Pumpkin carving competition on Halloween, where each department had to work on carving a pumpkin together – and the quality of what was presented was outstanding!

TMW have an on-going programme of leadership development for the Management Board, comprising of up to 5 full off-site away day sessions over a period of 12 months, devised specifically to help create a more cohesive, empowered leadership team. Content typically covers everything from interactive sessions in the work environment, through to external team-building activities from treasure hunts to fact-finding exercises. Their Summer party last year was also heavily weighted on team building, as they had different groups working together creatively to produce the best photos during their ‘Instagram hunt'. The company also hosted a Pumpkin carving competition on Halloween, where each department had to work on carving a pumpkin together – and the quality of what was presented was outstanding!

The company recently hosted a stress awareness training course for the Store Managers. Hilary Horton delivered the presentation and activities based on her extensive experience in coaching stress awareness through the NHS, H.M Prison Service and while serving as a Squadron leader with the RAF. Other innovative examples of classes and services they company have organised for their employees to enhance their welling include laughter yoga, massage, mock-tail sampling, healthy picnic lunch at the launch of our new financial year and a wellbeing fair.

The company recently hosted a stress awareness training course for the Store Managers. Hilary Horton delivered the presentation and activities based on her extensive experience in coaching stress awareness through the NHS, H.M Prison Service and while serving as a Squadron leader with the RAF. Other innovative examples of classes and services they company have organised for their employees to enhance their welling include laughter yoga, massage, mock-tail sampling, healthy picnic lunch at the launch of our new financial year and a wellbeing fair.

The university hold the Pink Party in the Piazza event and round the World in 80 days walking initiative. The university mile walking initiative. Paper light admissions process. Revised timetabling systems.

2014 recycling awareness campaigns on and off campus with Worcester City Council major building projects have been subject to the university's commitment to sustainable and environmental building practices and many have won awards. They have improved the landscape of Worcester with the regeneration of inner city sites and retro-fit refurbishment of commercial buildings.

All of the Directors, in both offices, sit in the open plan space with the wider team at The Test People. This allows for collaboration and communication and a closer relationship with employees. The Senior Management Team are prominent sources of expertise in the TTP Community and also the wider testing community. The SMT commitment to the values has also recently been illustrated by the agreement to include the company values in the new Talent Management framework, which will soon be launched. This will ensure that the values are prominent and reinforced by all of the company's managers to their teams during performance chats. The main way in which the SMT promote their values is to lead by example. At Director level, there is a strong commitment to creativity and ensuring TTP are at the forefront of new initiatives within Testing. Senior Management also empower their teams to work autonomously and find new solutions to complex technical and testing challenges.

All of the Directors, in both offices, sit in the open plan space with the wider team at The Test People. This allows for collaboration and communication and a closer relationship with employees. The Senior Management Team are prominent sources of expertise in the TTP Community and also the wider testing community. The SMT commitment to the values has also recently been illustrated by the agreement to include the company values in the new Talent Management framework, which will soon be launched. This will ensure that the values are prominent and reinforced by all of the company's managers to their teams during performance chats. The main way in which the SMT promote their values is to lead by example. At Director level, there is a strong commitment to creativity and ensuring TTP are at the forefront of new initiatives within Testing. Senior Management also empower their teams to work autonomously and find new solutions to complex technical and testing challenges.

The Red Consultancy have quarterly individual, team and long service awards which are announced at their quarterly company meetings and are presented by the CEO. Individual awards; Managers and Directors nominate people for outstanding work and contributions to the company. Individuals receive a certificate and £100 shopping voucher. Team Awards: Teams are invited to present on the work/project they have done in the last quarter and show their achievements. The winning team receive a dinner and drinks evening paid for at a top restaurant. The second prize is a team drinks evening paid for at a bar of their choice. Long service awards - these recognise long service contributions to the business (e.g: 10 year anniversaries) and the company announces these at company meetings and give them a gift.

The Red Consultancy has REDucation which is their internal training programme, run by Board Directors internally as well as external training sessions for all staff. There are 26 sessions catered to different levels and the sessions run throughout the year. The company provide every staff member with a booklet detailing courses and explaining which courses are relevant to their levels of experience. They also run some external training sessions and last year have provided different external training for all staff from their Graduates to their Senior Directors. The Red Consultancy also run a graduate training scheme for our graduate intake - this is run by the Board Directors and comprises of 14 different sessions. All staff are given a "coach" who is a senior staff member, responsible for helping with that persons development. They run the employees appraisal and reviews and generally help to give them advice on their career progression.

Personal Group has Pick A Star awards for Head Office, where employees get nominated by fellow colleagues. The company holds an awards ceremony every quarter and employees can win a 5 day break with their partners overseas.

Personal Group has Pick A Star awards for Head Office, where employees get nominated by fellow colleagues. The company holds an awards ceremony every quarter and employees can win a 5 day break with their partners overseas.

Monarch is geared towards saving money on utilities for their customers. Therefore every quarter, the company calculates the monetary amount of refunds all of their teams have identified for their customers and the team which obtains the biggest refund value for that quarter, receives a 5% bonus in their salary for that month for every team member. Their customers are rewarded and their people are awarded.

Monarch is geared towards saving money on utilities for their customers. Therefore every quarter, the company calculates the monetary amount of refunds all of their teams have identified for their customers and the team which obtains the biggest refund value for that quarter, receives a 5% bonus in their salary for that month for every team member. Their customers are rewarded and their people are awarded.

In September 2014, The Marketing Practice took the whole company to the Bluestone National Park, Pembrokeshire, Wales for a superb 5* 2 day team build event; themed "The Purple Dragon Games". They had 4 house teams and created a magical, memorable 'Harry Potter' adventure, starting with a sorting hat event to decide their houses. The spirit of the theme ran ahead of the games, during the games and created stories and memories that will live long in staff's memories. Zip wire, tug-of-war, archery, a blind fold assault course, shelter building, ball hurling and forest battles are just a few of the activities during the days. Add to that a BBQ in a ravine and a fancy dress gala dinner where their favourite magical tunes played into the small hours, it is fair to say they had a fabulous time, learnt new things about each other and discovered new skills within themselves.

In September 2014, The Marketing Practice took the whole company to the Bluestone National Park, Pembrokeshire, Wales for a superb 5* 2 day team build event; themed "The Purple Dragon Games". They had 4 house teams and created a magical, memorable 'Harry Potter' adventure, starting with a sorting hat event to decide their houses. The spirit of the theme ran ahead of the games, during the games and created stories and memories that will live long in staff's memories. Zip wire, tug-of-war, archery, a blind fold assault course, shelter building, ball hurling and forest battles are just a few of the activities during the days. Add to that a BBQ in a ravine and a fancy dress gala dinner where their favourite magical tunes played into the small hours, it is fair to say they had a fabulous time, learnt new things about each other and discovered new skills within themselves.

Through schemes such as ‘Jenrick's Helping Hand' and the ‘Jenrick Charity Photo Calendar', the company donates in excess of £2,000 per year to charitable causes nominated by staff and the local community. The ‘Helping Hand' charity initiative is run each year and enables any member of staff to nominate a charitable cause that they would like Jenrick to donate £1,000 towards. Once all the nominations are received, an online voting system enables every individual member of the company to decide which cause they believe merits the award. For every additional pound given in personal staff donations Jenrick also doubles the amounts. Every year, The Jenrick Group create a ‘charity photo calendar competition' allowing candidates, clients and their own staff to enter in photos based on a theme. The competition is now in its sixth year and has already raised thousands of pounds to a large number of charitable causes. The final 12 winning photographs are featured in Jenrick's calendar and each winner receives £100 to donate to a charity of their choice. These schemes are so unique to Jenrick, and for a company of their size, it's quite remarkable how much money they have raised over the last few years, often raising awareness for lesser known charities. It would be very easy to 'follow the norm' and nominate a designated charity each year, however, because Jenrick's values are built around ‘People', having two schemes that allow individuals to nominate charities very close to their hearts adds far more meaning.

Through schemes such as ‘Jenrick's Helping Hand' and the ‘Jenrick Charity Photo Calendar', the company donates in excess of £2,000 per year to charitable causes nominated by staff and the local community. The ‘Helping Hand' charity initiative is run each year and enables any member of staff to nominate a charitable cause that they would like Jenrick to donate £1,000 towards. Once all the nominations are received, an online voting system enables every individual member of the company to decide which cause they believe merits the award. For every additional pound given in personal staff donations Jenrick also doubles the amounts. Every year, The Jenrick Group create a ‘charity photo calendar competition' allowing candidates, clients and their own staff to enter in photos based on a theme. The competition is now in its sixth year and has already raised thousands of pounds to a large number of charitable causes. The final 12 winning photographs are featured in Jenrick's calendar and each winner receives £100 to donate to a charity of their choice. These schemes are so unique to Jenrick, and for a company of their size, it's quite remarkable how much money they have raised over the last few years, often raising awareness for lesser known charities. It would be very easy to 'follow the norm' and nominate a designated charity each year, however, because Jenrick's values are built around ‘People', having two schemes that allow individuals to nominate charities very close to their hearts adds far more meaning.

This year many colleagues have taken part in a coaching course which has been of significant benefit not only to those staff who have been on the course, but to the many colleagues they have since coached as a result of this development. Those coached worked through confidential issues both work and non-work related. Their programme is accredited by the University of Edinburgh.

This year many colleagues have taken part in a coaching course which has been of significant benefit not only to those staff who have been on the course, but to the many colleagues they have since coached as a result of this development. Those coached worked through confidential issues both work and non-work related. Their programme is accredited by the University of Edinburgh.

Employees can apply to study for the Certificate in Football Management - FA Edition. This has proved very popular and the organisation recently sponsored 23 FA employees, 9 international people and 2 from the counties. The HR team complete a review of their core learning and development needs across The FA Group. They identified a number of key training requirements as follows: handling difficult people and conversations, negotiating and influencing skills, advanced project management, essential skills for team members and managing your wellbeing, effective minute taking, unleash your creativity, advanced handling difficult people and conversations, personal effectiveness and managing your wellbeing, recruitment and interview training, disciplinary, grievance and formal performance training.

Employees can apply to study for the Certificate in Football Management - FA Edition. This has proved very popular and the organisation recently sponsored 23 FA employees, 9 international people and 2 from the counties. The HR team complete a review of their core learning and development needs across The FA Group. They identified a number of key training requirements as follows: handling difficult people and conversations, negotiating and influencing skills, advanced project management, essential skills for team members and managing your wellbeing, effective minute taking, unleash your creativity, advanced handling difficult people and conversations, personal effectiveness and managing your wellbeing, recruitment and interview training, disciplinary, grievance and formal performance training.

There are many team building events which run across the year at TGI Fridays. The company's team challenge begins in February, where each of their stores goes through a review process to ensure everyone in their organisation meets the behavioural and ability criteria. Each staff member is then asked to re-certify to ensure they have the knowledge to be efficient in their role, and then they are observed to ensure they display TGI Fridays brand promise to their guests. This is a store activity so that no one is left behind. The store will be visited by a Director of Operations to sign off, the opportunity is used to reward and recognise key individuals who may have stood out in the journey. A series of additional targets and competitions all count towards the aim of finding the very best store. The final event will be a Senior Leadership visit at peak, again taking the opportunity to reward, recognise & energise the teams. The scoring will then determine a regional winner and that store will receive £1K towards a team event. The overall 2nd place store, will receive £100 for every member of the team, and finally the winning store will not only be crowned store of the year, but every member of the team will receive an extra weeks' pay, which they receive the week before Christmas. This is not only a much coveted accolade, but a very welcome sum of money which is cited as giving them a Christmas to remember.

Karen Forrester, TGI Fridays UK Managing Director, is much loved, valued and respected throughout the company. She is regularly seen in the stores and will always take time with the team. This is also true of the company's new open stores, where Karen and her Exec team take a day to spend with the new Fridays family members to welcome them to the brand. If a key message needs to be delivered to the team, Karen will create a video message which will then be posted onto TGI Fridays social website, and a link is sent directly to their mobile phones.

The TAQA car share programme allows personnel based onshore to share journeys with colleagues who have similar routes to work. TAQA also shares commuter transport with neighbouring companies in the industrial estate at Westhill in order to limit the number of buses needed for the same route. Waste segregation bins and VegWare products are in place to further minimise their impact on the environment and be more sustainable. TAQA recycles waste wherever possible and has waste segregation bins throughout the offices for plastic, cans and compostable waste. VegWare is also used in TAQA's café's to reduce the amount of waste that is sent to landfill. VegWare is disposable food packaging and all TAQA café catering products are made from this recyclable, starch-based material which takes 4 to 6 weeks to become compost.

This is at the core of the Intelligent Health message. TAQA have worked hard to promote the benefits of regular exercise through various channels including, sponsorship and participation in sporting events, Walk for Diabetes and the Corporate Decathlon. 2013 has seen development of a new Intelligent Health intranet to help promote networks to encourage activities and exercise of all types within the business. A recent highlight has been the establishment of a TAQA sponsored Mountaineering and Walking club.

Sue Ryder hold focus groups and create top level action plans at directorate level, then these are cascaded down to a team or care centre level, where people get to share ideas and feedback and create a plan for how any issues raised will be addressed. Engagement champions are now leading on this and supporting the leadership team to drive the action plans forward. Sue Ryder also have a 'dragons' den scheme for people to submit new ideas and receive funding to implement them.

Stateside Foods has a strong record of developing its people and identifying high potential employees for further progression. The company work to an internal recruitment target of 80% and many of their senior team have progressed through the Company from entry level roles. Many managers are often promoted for their technical ability and it is important to ensure that Stateside Food's managers are supported with training in management skills, to ensure that they are equipped to succeed in a management role. To achieve this, all managers participate in a Leadership Development program, externally accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management. Between each module, delegates are required to apply their learning within their departments and take opportunities to develop their new skills. The most effective aspect of the course is the modules 5 workshop; during which participants are given the opportunity to role play some key management conversations supported by the Directors, who attend to play the role of the 'employee'. The event is conducted in a light hearted manner but managers always ensure that they prepare thoroughly for this module, so that they are able to practice their new skills effectively. Feedback has been extremely positive from all participants to date.

Employees at Stateside Foods are given time away from their day to day duties during working hours to become involved in community projects that benefit the local area. Most recently, employees organised and participated in a community litter pick of their industrial estate and local town centre. The pick was so successful that employees could be seen clearing litter from the main roads after reaching their original goal of clearing the estate. The company's next project is to tackle vandalism that has recently occurred at Westhoughton train station. Employees will be given the opportunity to get involved by tidying up the area and planting new flowers to improve the station environment for both Stateside Foods employees and local commuters. Stateside Foods also has a strong relationship with Westhoughton High School. They recently sponsored pupils to attend a Food Science summer school at Nottingham University, giving them experience of living away from home and studying in a university environment. Stateside Foods aim is to promote manufacturing as a career option in the local area and attract pupils to consider the many career options available to them on their doorstep. They have careers boards positioned at the school with staff profiles and they will be hosting a food science visit in November to show pupils their facilities and introduce them to their graduates that have chosen food science as a career path. The company also provide pizzas for sensory work to the food science department.

They are constantly looking at ways to develop their industry leading learning and development programme. This year they introduced Myers Briggs Type Indicator team sessions into the business. These sessions are about supporting individual growth and ensuring that teams gain a greater understanding of working styles and to ensure further cohesion and harmony in their work. They have taken over a 100 people through the sessions. These are facilitated by the Regional HR Director and Head of Learning and Development, both of whom are qualified MBTI practitioners and bring their own experience and creativity to the sessions. They developed the programme from an initial half a day workshop exploring preference type to a full day session that explores the impact of the different preferences on one another at work. These sessions have been invaluable as they have taken senior teams, client teams and board members through these practical, fun and experiential workshops. This is some of the feedback received “I found it very interesting not just learning about my own typology but also about my peers. I will definitely have some new added perspectives now when managing my team and pitching ideas.”

They are constantly looking at ways to develop their industry leading learning and development programme. This year they introduced Myers Briggs Type Indicator team sessions into the business. These sessions are about supporting individual growth and ensuring that teams gain a greater understanding of working styles and to ensure further cohesion and harmony in their work. They have taken over a 100 people through the sessions. These are facilitated by the Regional HR Director and Head of Learning and Development, both of whom are qualified MBTI practitioners and bring their own experience and creativity to the sessions. They developed the programme from an initial half a day workshop exploring preference type to a full day session that explores the impact of the different preferences on one another at work. These sessions have been invaluable as they have taken senior teams, client teams and board members through these practical, fun and experiential workshops. This is some of the feedback received “I found it very interesting not just learning about my own typology but also about my peers. I will definitely have some new added perspectives now when managing my team and pitching ideas.”

St Ermin's Operating (UK)'s employee rewards programme encompass the 4 areas within the culture and is designed to reward employees for behaviours that meet the Vision and Mission. Traditionally in hotels, reward programmes are centred on earning credits/points that can be exchanged for items within various company catalogues. The company believe that the most important thing to their team members is the ability to earn extra money outside their normal salary. St Ermin's created a programme called ‘Fish hook', which is split into the 3 of the 4 core value areas, Choose Your Attitude, Make Peoples Day and Be There plus Guest Recognition. The reward is a points based system, 1 point = £1 and the company pays the employee and employer tax on that £1 so that the employee receives the whole £1. Points are issued to employees by way of a personal cheque given by a Manager. All managers are issued with guidelines on what to look for within the business and are able to issue cheques to any employee they see or hear fulfilling the required criteria. Points are totalled at the end of every business quarter and the employee receives the cash value of their points in their salary. The average quarterly cost to the business has increased from £4,000.00 (plus the employee tax) in 2013 to £4,7000.00 in 2014. All new employees receive a travel card wallet with the Vision printed on the back and Fish hook details within.

St Ermin's Operating (UK)'s employee rewards programme encompass the 4 areas within the culture and is designed to reward employees for behaviours that meet the Vision and Mission. Traditionally in hotels, reward programmes are centred on earning credits/points that can be exchanged for items within various company catalogues. The company believe that the most important thing to their team members is the ability to earn extra money outside their normal salary. St Ermin's created a programme called ‘Fish hook', which is split into the 3 of the 4 core value areas, Choose Your Attitude, Make Peoples Day and Be There plus Guest Recognition. The reward is a points based system, 1 point = £1 and the company pays the employee and employer tax on that £1 so that the employee receives the whole £1. Points are issued to employees by way of a personal cheque given by a Manager. All managers are issued with guidelines on what to look for within the business and are able to issue cheques to any employee they see or hear fulfilling the required criteria. Points are totalled at the end of every business quarter and the employee receives the cash value of their points in their salary. The average quarterly cost to the business has increased from £4,000.00 (plus the employee tax) in 2013 to £4,7000.00 in 2014. All new employees receive a travel card wallet with the Vision printed on the back and Fish hook details within.

Every year they hold a Spire's Customer Services week to say thank you to everyone for their continued hard work. It is a week when all Spire colleagues are reminded of the important part they play in the customer journey with fun activities, such as guess the baby competition and awards to nominate colleagues in categories ranging from The Florence Nightingale award to more humorous ones like the megaphone and most accident prone. Work shadowing colleagues from other teams plays an important part as this helps not only increase skills and knowledge, but to also see how best they can work together. Spire's Management Team go back to the floor during the week and then they have a celebratory finale lunch, where team cohesion is at its strongest. To promote team work they aim to do this in a fun, positive and creative way. Their 'Cocktails with their Customer Services and Customer Engagement Team' is a great example of how they promote, share ideas and feedback and get to know colleagues better. Everyone gets involved throughout the week and participates in one way or another. It's a popular team building event with colleagues taking the lead in delivering and bringing it to fruition.

Mi Life is Spire's health and wellbeing programme and was launched following colleagues' feedback in April 2014. Their Mi Life group consists of champions who meet to set the vision and aims and look at how to bring these to fruition. The group meets monthly to organise the activities, decide the best way to spend the budget and plan the themes of the programme. Feedback from colleagues has been collected through an online survey. The focus has been around a better work/life balance with particular focus on relaxation, exercise, mind-management, as well as healthy eating. An outside communal garden area designed by colleagues opened to give colleagues an area to relax, but also to hold meetings. This is an example of how Spire is pro-active at introducing new practices. To promote healthy living they joined in with National Bike Week holding lunchtime cycle trips and a virtual cycle ride to Paris using their new exercise bike. There is a weekly lunchtime subsidised pilates class to help ease back and shoulder problems. Every colleague has a £20 personal budget to spend on anything that will enhance their wellbeing. During their Check your Numbers week ‘The Wellness Academy' provided free of charge health checks for colleagues. This in turn led to nutrition work shops and water bottles being provided to all to help combat dehydration. National awareness days are celebrated throughout the year to raise awareness on smoking, alcohol, men's health, back problems, healthy eating, hydration and exercise and many more.

The company offers flexible working and organises various social activities during the year.

SPF Private Clients' Sales Consultants are rewarded in line with the company's TCF (Treating Customers Fairly) principles.

Speedy recognise the importance of employee involvement and feedback and has established the ‘Employee Forums' as a framework for discussion on matters affecting all employees. They believe it is imperative that they give all employees their “voice”. The employee forums were initiated throughout the business as a result of feedback from our annual employee survey. They have been introduced as a way of improving communication methods throughout Speedy. The Forums have helped the business to establish and understand our people's thoughts, opinions, views and suggestions from all different grades, within all the business areas and departments. They have been a successful method in allowing the organisation to share business information with employees and as a result of the suggestions and comments raised there have been many improvements made to the day to day running of the business. They are a two way process of communication, discussing matters that affect all employees in a positive, professional and constructive manner. The Employee Forums are being held to share business information; encourage open and honest feedback, suggestions and ideas from employees; build stronger connections between their business strategy and what their people think; supplement the existing channels of communication within the group on business matters; provide effective two way feedback to promote better understanding and good relationships with employees, managers and leaders. The fact that the organisation set these up as a result of employee feedback gives an indication that they do listen and act upon feedback from employees

Employee development is encouraged at every level within the business within the parameters of Speedy Hire's “Career Journey” and this is evidenced tangibly in the volume of roles that are obtained by individuals already working within Speedy. 25% of vacancies within Speedy are filled internally as individuals are encouraged to complete both role based and aspiration training and development, preparing them well for their next career move. The development of the employee starts at the “Qualified” level of the Career Journey. Inductions to the business are tailored for each discipline and each team member has a career journey that highlights courses required, relevant qualifications and on the job training to support them through three levels of competency through the “Developed” level to “Expert”. At this point, the team member is in a great place to progress to their next career move. Each course is supported by their internal Training Academy to ensure each individual training log is up to date and the booking process is seamless. The leaders in the business are supported with tailor made management courses at different levels that will give each attendee a qualification from the CMI (Level 3 or 5) and there are various leadership plus modules and 360 feedback put in place to develop them further. Development is seen at every level and a number of current Directors started in the business at entry level. The internal mobility supported by the Career Journey is certainly one of the best examples of their commitment to employee development. In addition to this, Speedy Hire have a Human resources Service Charter manual that details all of the services they provide for employees to ensure managers and employees know what they have access to and what extra services they provide to support them in their development.

Senior managers at Spectrum Housing are aware of the values and were all involved in deciding what these should be. All senior managers act as role models and are aware of the need to act in line with the values and lead by example. They are all accountable for their behaviours and the values underpin everything that the organisation does. Senior Managers work in creative ways and have backed a ‘smarter working' project group. This has been trailed in Finance with the senior Finance and IT managers overseeing it. The results have been positive and employees have been allowed to come up with creative ways of solving problems. These groups will be set up in all departments. Senior managers go to all sites every other month to give a presentation on Bigger News. These managers give sessions throughout the day then spend the day at the site. Managers go to sites they wouldn't usually therefore meeting new people and developing relationships. These managers offer shadowing to all staff and take part in back to the floor days. There is the ‘one voice' section on the intranet where managers can update everyone on progress and offer thanks or congratulations. Senior managers use the Spectrum leadership competencies to ensure they act in a professional and responsible manner. All senior managers have or are undertaking a coaching and ILM qualification so every day they act as a role model.

Spectrum Housing introduced a staff recognition scheme in August 2012 called Spectrum Stars. Monthly nominations are made for Employee, Manager and Team of the Month with nominations being made by staff, residents or Board Members. These categories are voted for by the Executive Management Team, Senior Leadership Team and Staff Forum members, leading to one winner each month for each category. An e-Bulletin is circulated to all staff following the voting process to announce the winners. The winners for Employee and Manager of the Month each receive a £25 voucher and the Team receive a £50 voucher. All winners receive a gold star icon against their name in the staff phone book, a silver star lanyard and their photo in the reception area. The monthly winners form the 'shortlist' for the Annual winners for the same 3 categories. Spectrum Superstars, with the winners being announced at the Staff Conference. Winners for Manager and Team of the Year are voted for by the same monthly voting team and the Employee of the Year is voted for by all staff at the Conference. Each winner receives a £250 voucher and a glass award. Within the monthly e-Bulletin all nominees are listed (not just the winners). They also recognise long service milestones and dedicate a section where staff can publicly say thank you to a colleague, or where letters of compliments have been received from residents. Staff are engaging with the scheme across the Group and like the monthly bulletins.

Spark44 aim to always fill positions internally. Their quarterly appraisal programme is objective driven enabling them to identify areas for development. They also support professional training and study leave.

Employees at Spark44 are asked to contribute their ideas of what the company values should be, and then their values were defined using the feedback and thoughts.

Once all the feedback is in, management will sit down and go through all the ideas that have been put forward. These are then divided up into the relevant teams and that team head is then responsible for implementing their teams ideas. They produce documents that can be viewed by staff across the company so they can see the progress being made. A list is put up on the internal intranet so staff can see in real time what has been achieved and what is still to be done.

Once all the feedback is in, management will sit down and go through all the ideas that have been put forward. These are then divided up into the relevant teams and that team head is then responsible for implementing their teams ideas. They produce documents that can be viewed by staff across the company so they can see the progress being made. A list is put up on the internal intranet so staff can see in real time what has been achieved and what is still to be done.

The buddy system allows employees to buddy up with a more experienced member of the team to learn more and to have a mentor. Both parties are able to learn and develop their skills. They also invest £1500 per physio for their CPD training in order to develop themselves.

They had a summer team event where all clinics had to work as a team to put together a band and perform. Everyone had a lot of fun and enjoyed themselves.

Flu jabs are offered, return to work discussions and in one case they offered a taxi for someone to get in and back from work. They provide fresh fruit every day in the office and sustainably sourced drinks. They also have access to the health care scheme.

Flu jabs are offered, return to work discussions and in one case they offered a taxi for someone to get in and back from work. They provide fresh fruit every day in the office and sustainably sourced drinks. They also have access to the health care scheme.

Shaylor Group's recognition and reward strategy is based around the consistent management approach of praise and thanks for good work and performance. Recognition is seen as a key motivator, hence the focus on praise and encouraging “what can we do better” rather than stifle the proactive and innovative ideas and contribution of individuals and teams. This approach was confirmed during their Investors in People assessment. Recognition is given both verbally and through personal emails and letters from the CEO and Directors. Wider recognition is given in celebrations posted on the intranet, e.g. thank you letters from clients, passing a successful audit, achieving 100% customer satisfaction, attaining a high score in the Considerate Constructors scheme, entry to the national site manager of the year award etc. Examples of press releases, client letters and cards of thanks are often shared to highlight individuals' successes.

Shaylor volunteers support Sutton Coldfield Cancer Support Group, in putting up their Christmas decorations, in time for their Christmas Fayre on 6th December every year. The company also buy the Christmas tree. They also took part in a Christmas Tree recycling project with St Mary's Hospice Moseley. This entails collecting trees from various' residences in the south of the city and putting them on a truck and taking them to a nominated recycling centre. St Mary's Hospice gets £10 for every tree collected.

A long service award was introduced when employees attained 10 years service and for every 5 year milestone reached after that. This was in the form of additional 5 days holiday which could be taken anytime during the anniversary year,

A long service award was introduced when employees attained 10 years service and for every 5 year milestone reached after that. This was in the form of additional 5 days holiday which could be taken anytime during the anniversary year,

The Chief Executive at Salford Royal and the senior team have clearly articulated the vision for the organisation – to be the safest Trust in the NHS. This aim has remained constant for many years and all efforts are directed to this simple aim. He has engendered a culture of ‘quality improvement' by ensuring that people have the time and the tools to continuously improve the service they deliver and there has been a real drive to ensure that front line teams are empowered to make changes.

Salford Royal operate an annual Staff Awards scheme which last year saw more than 200 individuals or teams nominated for being compassionate, supportive and dedicated to providing excellent patient care. More than 600 staff attended their most recent event, which saw awards for Collaboration, Administrative worker, Doctor, and Team of the Year. Staff nominated people within the award categories and they then vote for their preferred winner when the shortlist is announced. The Patient's Star Award gives patients and relatives the opportunity to nominate a team or individual who had gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide exceptional care, support or treatment. The shortlist is then put to the public vote in the local paper.

Their on site restaurant partners, Europa, have worked hard to improve the healthiness of their menus across the UK, adding healthy eating options, energy profile listings and food for those with special dietary requirements. They now have more salad bar options in the restaurants, and in London, they regularly run promotions such as introducing Superfoods and souptember, a campaign to eat healthy foods. In their commercial business, they provide their employees with free, fresh fruit.

Given their size and geographic spread, it's hard to bring everyone together regularly, but they do run quarterly get together's across most of the sites shortly after financial results. These buzz sessions bring people together to find out more about the results and share the stories behind them. It's an opportunity for people to meet senior leaders, ask questions, bring their suggestions and build excitement for the future. They bring together people from different departments or sites into a room together to celebrate success together, these are people who wouldn't normally meet. On the social side, they give their leaders the power and a budget to run events locally to them. For many, this will be a Christmas social event or another kind of celebration. They havealso got a great resource in the Every One Fund, an online portal that allows people to organise volunteering events, get colleagues involved, or find out what's happening locally, as well as share their stories afterwards.

Staff parties, team/departmental nights out, sports and social club and annual staff awards.

Staff parties, team/departmental nights out, sports and social club and annual staff awards.

A key driver for Rockpool is employee wellbeing and they seek feedback from the teams. A company wide flexitime policy has enabled employees to balance their work and home life. Rockpool also value their Fridays at Rockpool -they have Cake Friday, a company tradition and Friday Beer o'clock which is an informal get together of beer, wine and food where they chat through the week or have brainstorming sessions around new client ideas etc.

Rockpool Digital's annual off site this year celebrated 10 years of Rockpool. The whole company headed down to the South Coast to do a day of treasure hunts on speed boats speeding across to the Isle of Wight. They then headed back to the spa hotel for a 6 course taster menu and annual awards such as Least likely to be a Jerk, Most likely to think Big.

In October 2013 Robin Partington & Partners introduced an employee benefit trust element into their limited company structure. Any member of staff who is with them on a permanent appointment and after one year's employment is entitled to call themselves a Partner of the firm. Once a Partner, they are eligible to receive dividends, if the Company makes profit in excess of that needed to be retained for future growth and investment. Their dividend structure is based on a points system whereby members 'earn' more points (thus a larger share of the pot) for increased salary and length of service.

To assist in giving structure to their team members development, Robin Partington & Partners implemented a career guideline which has six levels within their Company and each level has nine grades, split equally between ‘Arrivals', ‘Duty Free' and ‘Departures' . Each level has a Job Description that explains what is expected from that role. To explain the method to their madness…Arrivals is for those who have just moved into a new level and are getting used to the respective role and responsibilities, but are not yet proficient or adept and are busy finding their feet. Duty Free is for those who are comfortable in that role and are busy banking experience and expertise with Departures being for those who are ready to move up to the next level and are busy acquiring the necessary launching skills for that move. Robin Partington & Partners believe that the levels and job descriptions they have in place provide a clear and transparent structure for the practice, encouraging a strong sense of ownership of projects and the Company as a whole. They take professional development very seriously and hold performance appraisals twice annually to provide an opportunity for all their staff to review their performance from the previous year, and consider opportunities to develop and grow in the year to come, including any help, support or training that the Company can provide. Robin Partington & Partners have designed the process to help their team to think about their role using a combination of self assessment and peer feedback to encourage real, meaningful and helpful conversations….it is always good to find the time to talk. They have found that regular reality checks work for all concerned, the individual and the Company, helping to ensure that skills are recognised and individuals are valued at an appropriate level within the Company, using the job descriptions as a guide. They do their best to avoid any potential mismatch between expectation and reward. Their performance appraisals are intended to be simple, engaging and painless, but do require time and careful thought to get the most out of it. A combination of self-assessment and peer feedback encourages real, meaningful and helpful conversations, so that you know where you stand, what is expected and what to do next in order to progress.

A twice annual staff presentation is organised to make employees aware of the short and long term vision for RGL. Over food and drinks, Partners update employees on turnover and progress over the past year, important jobs which are being worked on and the direction in which they would like to take the organisation over the next year. These presentations engage employees with the vision of the company and how it can be achieved. Partners demonstrate best practice, and encourage employees to do the same, by attending all firm-wide social and marketing events. They support employees with business development and take employees to client meetings whenever possible. Partners encourage employees to realise their ambitions and support employees in their team who are keen to learn new things. This might involve giving them permission to go to a seminar, to learn a new foreign language or supporting them in securing a place on RGL's Employee Exchange Programme. Partners engage employees by celebrating the success of individuals, as well as the success of the organisation. For example, if a Partner receives positive feedback about an employee from a client, they will circulate it to all Partners, copying the employee into the email, so that they receive the wider recognition deserved.

RGL are committed to helping employees to achieve a balance between work and personal life. As part of RGL's health insurance scheme, all employees have access to free cinema tickets and other discounted leisure activities. Flexible working options and generous compassionate leave are also given to employees, when necessary, in order to help with this balance. RGL have an employee assistance programme; all employees are able to access free telephone counselling and information services at any time of day or night. Employees are able to speak to experts in bereavement, stress, depression, bullying, financial problems, relationship problems and other personal or work related concerns. To improve the everyday wellbeing of employees, RGL organise ergonomic workstation assessments to ensure that employees' desks are set up correctly and that their comfort and posture are not compromised in any way. In addition to this, employees can choose to have an on-site acupressure massage every month. This is a massage treatment designed to reduce stress and the build-up of tension in the neck and shoulders. It can also improve motivation and positive thinking. To encourage employees to be active, RGL run a cycle to work scheme and loans for gym memberships.

Proxama allow their employees to learn in all elements of their work, not just formal training but peer knowledge sharing and keeping technical experts in the business who are great at mentoring.

Proxama allow their employees to learn in all elements of their work, not just formal training but peer knowledge sharing and keeping technical experts in the business who are great at mentoring.

All staff at Provide have an annual Performance and Development Review when a personal development plan is agreed and implemented. This applies to all their staff across all pay bands, clinical and non clinical. A 6 monthly review is held to review progress with objectives and personal development plans. A range of internal and external training opportunities are available and an annual learning prospectus is produced for staff. A strategic learning and development group is in place whose main purpose is to ensure that learning & development across Provide supports the safe and effective delivery of health care to all their customers and patients and also supports the vision and values of the organisation. A blended learning approach is in place so that staff can learn and update their training in different ways. E learning is in place and can be used for the majority of essential training updates as well as CPD and clinical updates. Monthly lunch and learn sessions are held, using in house specialists or external speakers for a range of topics and updates.

In the last year the company have focused on building relationships between Senior and Middle Managers. In June they held a very successful event called Appreciating Managers where they facilitated lively debate between peer managers on what they valued and what could be improved to make their working lives better. They were also asked what they would like to be appreciated for and a letter was subsequently sent to the delegates by their own manager thanking them for this. As part of the workshop, teams were given a cake, icing, glitter and other decorations and asked to compete against each other to decorate the best cake before eating it at tea break. This exercise was highly successful in getting managers to work together and getting people talking to colleagues they did not know well.

Their managing director does his utmost to engage with staff at all levels in a friendly manner. He's not afraid of being the butt of a joke & their regularly published internal newsletter (PowerNews) often leads with a terrible picture of Darren.

Since their last engagement survey Powertecnique have implemented a dress down Friday policy to allow staff a more casual day in the office. This has improved morale without negatively affecting productivity. A win win! They are also currently in the process of investigating improved private health & pension offerings for their staff. A company wide pay review is also due to be commenced as pay was raised as a concern from the latest survey.

The company work closely with a local college as part of a local government initiative called 'Step Up Programme'. This involves presentations to students, workshops and work experience for students aged 16 - 18 they have been involved in this scheme for the last two years. The company are also involved with local universities and attend Graduate Recruitment Fayres across the UK.

Line Managers often take their teams out for meals on completion of very hectic work schedules. A young lady in her mid 20's has been part of their talent management programme for the last 6 years and on completion of Part III Architect Programme the company has awarded her with a promotion as well as a bouquet of flowers and article in the Group wide company magazine. One Employee who won substantial work for the company was awarded a fully paid weekend away with his spouse.

Plastribution has recently moved into new larger open plan offices, which has provided employees with the chance to take relaxing breaks in their working environment, create meals, obtain snacks and free squash in the adjoining kitchen and enjoy a light, warm and well ventilated workplace.

A suggestion for an in-work tuck shop – this has now been now implemented and snacks are available via an honesty box in the offices kitchen. Creation of social committee to coordinate events and activities on behalf of employees. Supported time for charity, social commitments.

Pension Insurance Corporation provide the following: Daily delivery of fruit, Offer private healthcare with Pruhealth, which offers proactive well-being management scheme, as well as discounts for gym membership. Provision of access to a local doctor based a walking distance away from the office for emergency visits. Offer an influenza inoculation once a year to all employees, their company doctor comes into the office to do this.

All staff, along with their partners and children (under 18) are invited to an away weekend at a 5 star hotel each Summer. The weekend is informal and all activities, accommodation, and entertainment are provided by the Company. This assists in enabling a growing company to get to know each other informally and enormously improves day to day communication. The employees and their family really appreciate the weekend and feel that the wider family is acknowledged for their support of their employees.

Penrose have an Employee Assistance Programme that is available to all staff 24/7 and refer to Occupational Health when a condition arises that prevents an employee from working to their full potential. Penrose encourage staff to make healthy choices by offering cycle to work interest free loans and environmental choices by encouraging using public transport (they no longer offer company cars).

Penrose operates an effective supervision and appraisal process which involves staff creating and maintaining their own Personal Development Plan which helps staff reach their own individual and as well as organiational needs. Following feedback from their staff conference, when they are seeking training, both internal and external, they try, where possible, to source training that is accredited which sits alongside their mandatory core training.

The company have a suite of Management Development Programmes to assist their existing and aspiring managers and supervisors in developing skills and knowledge to equip them for current and future managerial roles. Two programmes are accredited with the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), and tailored to aligned them with their managerial competencies and values. Their third programme is a bespoke modular Leadership Development Programme, coupled with 360 Degree feedback before and after with coaching and support provided. Considerable time is invested for studying, day release, and coaching over a 5 month period for each Programme. Celebrations are held at the end of each programme, with the presentation of certificates and a monetary recognition reward.

The company have a suite of Management Development Programmes to assist their existing and aspiring managers and supervisors in developing skills and knowledge to equip them for current and future managerial roles. Two programmes are accredited with the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), and tailored to aligned them with their managerial competencies and values. Their third programme is a bespoke modular Leadership Development Programme, coupled with 360 Degree feedback before and after with coaching and support provided. Considerable time is invested for studying, day release, and coaching over a 5 month period for each Programme. Celebrations are held at the end of each programme, with the presentation of certificates and a monetary recognition reward.

They offer to refund up to 3 prescriptions per year per employee in support of them giving up smoking. This can be used on any aid the employee chooses to support their individual need. In line with their healthy eating regime they provide all staff with free fruit twice a week. They have declined the option of a on-site vending machine because they felt this goes against the healthy eating style, since the supply of products would be dictated by supply and demand. They have a big focus on mental health as part of their everyday life since a large proportion of the customers suffer from it. They run internal training and awareness sessions for all staff. Mental health has been a key focus for them in the last 2 years covering key elements of mental health and how staff can spot the signs and sign post customers if required.

The SMT demonstrate all of their values on a daily basis by thanking people when a piece of work is outstanding, by questioning what they do to always find a better way in their processes and by always putting the customers first and explaining why this is to the wider audience. One example of displaying their values was that this year the senior management team of the Trust engaged staff by holding listening sessions as to how they could make the Trust a better place to work. They did this by sharing the results of Best Companies for last year and reviewing what great things had been achieved and by looking at what they could do different/better to make it a better workplace. They did this by choosing the top 3 scoring factors per employment group and reviewing the bottom 3 thus celebrating what that employment group is great at and reviewing what areas are required for improvement. This seemed to work well as it involved front line managers sharing this message with their teams which gave them autonomy and gravitas to show they believe and want to make the Trust a better place to work. This displays 'question what we do to find a better way' whilst also celebrating successes of last years achievements.

Delivery teams are rewarded on customer feedback and perfect delivery metrics as well as annual recognition awards. In addition to an annual pay review pay is constantly being monitored and adjusted to reflect the market and individual staff members contribution.

As an organisation with little hierarchy the CEO Chris will regularly work directly with delivery teams preparing for bids and/or act as a point of contact for clients to build senior relationships as required. As part of normal practice the teams hold regular meetings that Chris will always make himself available for. In addition Chris, and his Board support their Induction Programme facilitating discussion on the company's core values. At a more strategic level Chris provides oversight and guidance to the team MDs as required but more importantly provides the space and resources for them to deliver against divisional and group targets and objectives. Chris focuses on initiatives that cut across teams and helps prioritise activity across Overbury to best support team delivery and maximise resource efficiency. This is managed through a business forum governance structure.

Founding partner has set up Labs workshops for all analysts to mentor and develop talent. Senior management don't ask anything of their teams that they would not do themselves. Senior Management encourage work across departments and readily share their resources across depts. for the greater good of the company.

OrderDynamics provide Time Out Tuesday's - a complimentary massage service for all staff every Tuesday in the office. They also provide complimentary fresh fruit smoothies all year round made on site. They provide a keeping fit allowance that's not just a Gym subsidy. It's an allowance of £25 each month that employees can use towards anything they do which makes them feel healthy - taking the kids swimming, paying for Boris Bike fees, even towards their family fresh veg & fruit bill each month. We pay 50% of onsite Yoga class fees.

Following last year's engagement survey Optimum implemented the following: increased frequency of social functions to improve engagement, increase in senior management attendance at team meetings to ensure their visibility to all levels of staff, concentrated on making an open door policy environment in areas of the company that scored lower than expected to give an opportunity to discuss areas of concern, added an additional section to the company newsletter which names individual's in the business who have been commended either by peers of by customers to give recognition of their achievements. In addition, this year was Optimum's 25th anniversary and so as a celebration of this they gave each member of staff a ‘birthday' present of a watch and also made a presentation to their longest serving employee of a certificate and £200 worth of holiday vouchers.

Following last year's engagement survey Optimum implemented the following: increased frequency of social functions to improve engagement, increase in senior management attendance at team meetings to ensure their visibility to all levels of staff, concentrated on making an open door policy environment in areas of the company that scored lower than expected to give an opportunity to discuss areas of concern, added an additional section to the company newsletter which names individual's in the business who have been commended either by peers of by customers to give recognition of their achievements. In addition, this year was Optimum's 25th anniversary and so as a celebration of this they gave each member of staff a ‘birthday' present of a watch and also made a presentation to their longest serving employee of a certificate and £200 worth of holiday vouchers.

The company have in place a 'Spot Bonus Award Policy'. This is awarded by management on a special basis when employees have made a particularly noteworthy contribution, above and beyond the call of duty. This programme provides managers with a valuable tool to motivate, reward and recognise those employees who distinguish themselves through extra efforts. Significant short-term contributions earns a bonus of £200. A Significant medium/longer-term contribution earns the employee £300-500. A special recognition award to sustained leadership performance over a considerable timeframe, and/or the accomplishment of mission critical, company-wide projects of a major scale is awarded with £1000. To achieve maximum recognition and motivational value, managers are encouraged to provide the employee with a letter of commendation, which will be included in the employee's HR file. They also have a colleague recognition programme; colleagues can nominate an individual or team who has made a measurable contribution to the company; if successful, every quarter a nominated individual wins £1000, or if a team, £2000.

OpenBet supports employee development via a plethora of activities, such as, Brown Bag sessions to share knowledge across the organisation, workshops for hands on programming activities, supervised Google hangouts with subject matter experts at hand to explain specific subjects and topics, internal and external training sessions on soft skills, managerial skills as well as methodologies and technical skills. Traditional classroom training is used in conjunction with e-learning activities and remote teaching via conference systems and remote internet meetings. Training plans are developed for specific roles within the organisation to help new comers or people being promoted internally, handle their new role within OpenBet.

As they have grown it's inevitably harder to keep an ear to the ground and understand how everyone in the company is really feeling. They have also recognised that it's harder for newer or perhaps younger people in the team to feel confident giving them their ideas or telling them what they really think. To provide an anonymous platform for people to give the company their ideas and point of view, and to allow them to keep a finger on the pulse of how people are feeling they signed up for a service called Tiny Pulse. It's a micro survey service for internal engagement, a single question is sent out weekly to all staff and in a couple of minutes they can answer that, recognise some of the people they want to thank (Cheers for Peers) and give any ideas and suggestions. Sign up and participation is voluntary, though they regularly promote the initiative to raise awareness, and 89% of the team are signed up. Each week half to three quarters of those people tend to take part.

As they have grown it's inevitably harder to keep an ear to the ground and understand how everyone in the company is really feeling. They have also recognised that it's harder for newer or perhaps younger people in the team to feel confident giving them their ideas or telling them what they really think. To provide an anonymous platform for people to give the company their ideas and point of view, and to allow them to keep a finger on the pulse of how people are feeling they signed up for a service called Tiny Pulse. It's a micro survey service for internal engagement, a single question is sent out weekly to all staff and in a couple of minutes they can answer that, recognise some of the people they want to thank (Cheers for Peers) and give any ideas and suggestions. Sign up and participation is voluntary, though they regularly promote the initiative to raise awareness, and 89% of the team are signed up. Each week half to three quarters of those people tend to take part.

As a contract catering company, Olive is committed to healthy eating and offering healthy eating choices to their customers and staff. In 2012,Olive signed up to the Department of Health's Responsibility Deal pledge to reduce the salt in the food they produce. As part of this pledge they have put together communication packages to educate both their employees and their customers about the dangers of excessive salt levels in food and the benefits of reducing salt usage. Their Operations teams also periodically run Healthy Eating Awareness days at their sites which enable their customers to learn more about general nutrition and health awareness.

As a contract catering company, Olive is committed to healthy eating and offering healthy eating choices to their customers and staff. In 2012,Olive signed up to the Department of Health's Responsibility Deal pledge to reduce the salt in the food they produce. As part of this pledge they have put together communication packages to educate both their employees and their customers about the dangers of excessive salt levels in food and the benefits of reducing salt usage. Their Operations teams also periodically run Healthy Eating Awareness days at their sites which enable their customers to learn more about general nutrition and health awareness.

Every year Nucleus sponsor a nominated charity, chosen by the staff. Throughout the year they do various different fund raising events in order to raise awareness for the charity. By doing so, this also reaches out to their wider community, and helps them raise large amounts for causes close to their staff. This year they have had three key fund raising events, as well as regular smaller activities throughout the year. In June a large group of staff entered a Dragon Boat race at Ocean Terminal in Edinburgh, and raced against lots of different local companies. Their group successfully raised the most money for charity, despite the fact they lost out on the races themselves! At the end of August, four members of staff risked their lives doing a skydive to raise money for the charity! They overcame their fears, and raised a huge amount in the process. September saw a group of four staff, including David, their CEO, compete in the Great Scottish Run. A couple of people hobbled away from it, but they successfully raised thousands of pounds for their worthy charity partner!

Every year Nucleus sponsor a nominated charity, chosen by the staff. Throughout the year they do various different fund raising events in order to raise awareness for the charity. By doing so, this also reaches out to their wider community, and helps them raise large amounts for causes close to their staff. This year they have had three key fund raising events, as well as regular smaller activities throughout the year. In June a large group of staff entered a Dragon Boat race at Ocean Terminal in Edinburgh, and raced against lots of different local companies. Their group successfully raised the most money for charity, despite the fact they lost out on the races themselves! At the end of August, four members of staff risked their lives doing a skydive to raise money for the charity! They overcame their fears, and raised a huge amount in the process. September saw a group of four staff, including David, their CEO, compete in the Great Scottish Run. A couple of people hobbled away from it, but they successfully raised thousands of pounds for their worthy charity partner!

Ntegra hold team events every month to bring employees together, these include; their‘All Hands Event' which takes place quarterly and gives their leadership team the opportunity to share with everyone what has been taking place and what they expect to see has been achieved by the next ‘All Hands' meeting. Food and refreshments are provided to all staff at these meetings. ‘Thirsty Fridays' enables staff to enjoy a drink after work on the first Friday of the month; this is a company-wide event open to everyone. ‘Monthly Team Lunches' take place amongst every team at Ntegra, they enable internal teams to bond and catch up in a non-work related environment.‘Last Friday Lunch Debates' are held on the last Friday of every month and enable the company to come together to collaborate and discuss an industry trend and debate it in a wider context. ‘Dragon Boat Racing' or some form of company-wide team building event, takes place once every month, providing teams at Ntegra with the opportunity to get know their peers and work as a team in a non-work related environment.

Ntegra offer a company-wide bonus scheme of 10% based on employee and company targets, along with company-wide engagement events such as lunches. A reward is given to recommendations of talent to the organisation of £500 for every successful placement. Rewards are also given to staff who bring in new business to the company.

Northwards Housing promote better health and offer quarterly health initiatives such as free flu jabs, signposting people to health websites, raising awareness of mental health linked to national campaigns, providing advice on healthy eating and tips to prevent colds and flu. The company also run a Global Corporate Challenge – this 100 day challenge is the opportunity for their teams to sign up to compete against each other and other organisations around the globe in trying to achieve a daily target of 10,000 steps of physical activity. Access to wellbeing support is available from their Employee Assistance Programme and includes a 24/7 helpline available to everyone.

Northwards Housing promote better health and offer quarterly health initiatives such as free flu jabs, signposting people to health websites, raising awareness of mental health linked to national campaigns, providing advice on healthy eating and tips to prevent colds and flu. The company also run a Global Corporate Challenge – this 100 day challenge is the opportunity for their teams to sign up to compete against each other and other organisations around the globe in trying to achieve a daily target of 10,000 steps of physical activity. Access to wellbeing support is available from their Employee Assistance Programme and includes a 24/7 helpline available to everyone.

During the last year North Star have involved all staff in the launch of new services and initiatives including new ways of capturing feedback, their new maintenance services, their approach to value for money, invited all staff to their 40th year celebrations, designed, developed and delivered their Leading and Growing Staff conference with another planned for October 2014. During Octobers event staff will help them to further refine their strategy, funded an annual xmas event and use this occasion to present their “ Staff Oscars”. Staff were nominated by their peers and winners receive an Oscar and a prize. The team of the year receives £200 to organise an event to celebrate their success. The business closes for this celebration, provided £200 per team to enable staff to host lunchtime social events. The first one took place in June and was really well attended with around 80% of the organisation taking part in a “ pub themed “ event with pie and peas and a pub quiz. They also raised £200 for charity. Staff from dispersed offices hosted their own event and connected to the main event via video link, supported the staff nominated charity of the year including the hosting of a big lunch which raised £300.

During the last year North Star have involved all staff in the launch of new services and initiatives including new ways of capturing feedback, their new maintenance services, their approach to value for money, invited all staff to their 40th year celebrations, designed, developed and delivered their Leading and Growing Staff conference with another planned for October 2014. During Octobers event staff will help them to further refine their strategy, funded an annual xmas event and use this occasion to present their “ Staff Oscars”. Staff were nominated by their peers and winners receive an Oscar and a prize. The team of the year receives £200 to organise an event to celebrate their success. The business closes for this celebration, provided £200 per team to enable staff to host lunchtime social events. The first one took place in June and was really well attended with around 80% of the organisation taking part in a “ pub themed “ event with pie and peas and a pub quiz. They also raised £200 for charity. Staff from dispersed offices hosted their own event and connected to the main event via video link, supported the staff nominated charity of the year including the hosting of a big lunch which raised £300.

NHH has an active Health and Wellbeing programme called Nutrition Health Happiness. The programme supports and improves the health and wellbeing of their employees by offering a wide range of activities promoting positive links between health and work designed to reduce absence rates, improve performance, motivation and morale and create a positive working environment. This helps attract and retain the best staff. They deploy a mobile health monitor across their workplaces that measures height and weight, calculate body mass index and blood pressure. It is fully automatic and produces a print out. The printed ticket carries reference information regarding the normal body mass index reading and World Health Organisation recommendations on blood pressure. NHH offer fun ‘tasters' leading to more substantial programmes. The most recent have been Pilates, salsa and yoga, combining fun, team building and health benefits.

North Hertfordshire Homes have an Above and Beyond employee recognition scheme which incorporates both an Extra Mile Award scheme and a Bright Idea Award. The Extra Mile Award is to celebrate employees whose exceptional work needs to be recognised. Worthy recipients are nominated by their colleagues and the Executive Team selects a winner each month. The Bright Idea Award is to encourage staff to come forward with their own ideas for how things could be done better. Each month the Executive Management Team discusses all of the ideas submitted (of which there are many) and selects worthy winners – sometimes more than one. The CEO writes to everyone submitting an idea but not a winner thanking them for the submission and explaining why they could not implement the idea, but making clear how important it is to come up with suggestions as the debates at EMT often throw up all sorts of interesting thoughts and solutions. There are always great ideas, and often these are simple things they had not thought of. North Hertfordshire Homes track carefully that the winning ideas get implemented. The awards are presented to the employee by one of the members of their executive team in front of their colleagues and they receive a warm round of applause. The employee receives a certificate and a £25 voucher and they have their photo placed on posters around the organisation and on the intranet.

Team building is incredibly important at Nicoll Curtin. As a company they have an incredibly strong culture and people genuinely are surprised by how positively like-minded their colleagues are to themselves. Their teams are always initiating their own team building nights with a yearly budget each team leader is given, but getting the whole company together is important. Each summer they fly in their Zurich office and shut down the office for the afternoon and organise a group programme which gets people from all parts of the office working together. Last summer they rented out a space in Victoria Park and had a company organise a giant Olympics course where teams competed in 6 challenges and one crowned the winner. Feedback was exceptional on the event, not only because of the investment into the calibre of activities but the fact that staff developed great relationships with new people in the business across floors and between their global offices. Following that event, their summer party takes place in the evening at a top dinner destination in the city and it is all funded by the business and something the staff talk all year about. Another initiative Nicoll Curtin has started is called Project Outstanding whereby a team is nominated at the quarterly town hall to spend £500 in any way they want in order to make the business more outstanding. The teams hold brainstorming sessions and come up with their idea which they present to the business at the next quarterly town hall, and pass along the baton.

The company use a number of formal and informal processes to support employee development. Monthly business reviews between an employee and their manager are time off the desk and cover the monthly results in terms of activity and performance, then touch on areas of concern and areas of strength and a section left for discussion upwards and downwards and then room for manager comments and actions for the next month. Quarterly reviews are a more in depth look at how an employee is doing and cover more areas such as challenges faced across the quarter and training and development discussions which focus on what training the individual needs to succeed and quality of training is evaluated. The quarterly reviews also look at the promotion criteria and discussions are had to ensure the individual is on track for promotion. Ratings are also given to each employee on how well they demonstrated the Nicoll Curtin Attributes over the last quarter, and this rating needs to be at a minimum level in order to be considered for promotion. Annual career reviews work to ensure that an individual's goals and targets are recorded and acknowledged by the business and enables them to create a talent pipeline for the business- knowing who wants to become management or principal billers. These annual reviews do not cover billing performance but more about the individual and how they are doing in terms of their career and satisfaction..

NYAS employ staff from a range of professions: social work , legal , financial and they support them with a regular programme of Continuing Professional Development training to ensure they are up to date and can retain their professional registration.

The leader of NYAS has an inclusive style of management, promotes a learning culture and not a blame culture. Employees learn from mistakes and move on. She genuinely seeks the views of others, actively listens. When suggestions are not taken up or implemented she always acknowledges them, explains the consideration process and the rational for the decision taken. She keeps to deadlines and has the confidence of staff as the organisational leader.

Multitech match-fund money raised for charity by staff with no upper limit and has a charity committee comprising of staff who consider charitable requests on an annual basis and decide which charities to support for the coming year.

Daily meetings are held by Multitech Managers to review and plan projects. During these meetings staff are reminded about the core values of the business and the importance of incorporating these values into their daily work.

2013 was Multiply's 10th anniversary and to celebrate this they took all their employees away for an overnight stay at Aberfeldy. The theme was a pagan ritual ceremony and each employee had a specially chosen, bespoke outfit waiting for them in their room on arrival. Their team from London flew up to join this too and the whole company had a fantastic evening of entertainment and celebration. This event took several months to plan and was packed with unique and personal touches. All costs were fully covered by Multiply and the event was a fantastic success. They have various other team building events including a yearly Company Update BBQ in the summer which brings the whole agency together in either London or Edinburgh. They have also recently installed their own bespoke bar in the basement, and they have ‘down time Friday' to encourage everyone to get together for a Friday refreshment.

2013 was Multiply's 10th anniversary and to celebrate this they took all their employees away for an overnight stay at Aberfeldy. The theme was a pagan ritual ceremony and each employee had a specially chosen, bespoke outfit waiting for them in their room on arrival. Their team from London flew up to join this too and the whole company had a fantastic evening of entertainment and celebration. This event took several months to plan and was packed with unique and personal touches. All costs were fully covered by Multiply and the event was a fantastic success. They have various other team building events including a yearly Company Update BBQ in the summer which brings the whole agency together in either London or Edinburgh. They have also recently installed their own bespoke bar in the basement, and they have ‘down time Friday' to encourage everyone to get together for a Friday refreshment.

Each summer the company holds a themed summer party. This year it was based around the Football World Cup finals. The company provided food, drinks and a variety of entertainments and competitions throughout the day with colleagues positively encouraged to get involved. In the weeks leading up, they also launched a fantasy world cup league competition with prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places - nearly 60 staff took part. This year they were able to provide Segway's for colleagues to "try out" along with some more familiar "games", such as "test your strength", "hoop the ducks", and "crazy golf". On the day employees were encouraged to wear casual clothes and were welcome to sport their favourite football teams' shirts if they wanted to. The party featured a face-painting artist, table football and a penalty shootout competition. On the day a fish and chip lunch was provided and a healthy alternative, and soft drinks. The divisions of the company get fully immersed in the activities of the day, and competition between the various departments can get quite fierce. A full range of photos are provided after the event, and a general round up of the day's activities are fed back via the Buzz platforms.

Each summer the company holds a themed summer party. This year it was based around the Football World Cup finals. The company provided food, drinks and a variety of entertainments and competitions throughout the day with colleagues positively encouraged to get involved. In the weeks leading up, they also launched a fantasy world cup league competition with prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places - nearly 60 staff took part. This year they were able to provide Segway's for colleagues to "try out" along with some more familiar "games", such as "test your strength", "hoop the ducks", and "crazy golf". On the day employees were encouraged to wear casual clothes and were welcome to sport their favourite football teams' shirts if they wanted to. The party featured a face-painting artist, table football and a penalty shootout competition. On the day a fish and chip lunch was provided and a healthy alternative, and soft drinks. The divisions of the company get fully immersed in the activities of the day, and competition between the various departments can get quite fierce. A full range of photos are provided after the event, and a general round up of the day's activities are fed back via the Buzz platforms.

Morgan McKinley's senior leadership team demonstrate how much the company values mean by rewarding and recognising the individual who is voted for, by their colleagues, as champion of a particular value each quarter. Despite being a sales business this is not linked in any way to revenue generated, this is all about recognising those who consistently demonstrate their values and they reward this with vouchers and their 'Go Beyond' trip. Anyone at any level can be nominated including Directors and it is testament that every quarter, Directors are nominated. When anyone is being considered for promotion they must be able to provide evidence of commitment to the company values; this is deemed integral to their progression and development and a core element of the company's career pathway programme. Each week they highlight specific examples of excellence in each value and communicate to the business, again in recognition of how they want everyone in the business to behave.

Morgan McKinley's senior leadership team demonstrate how much the company values mean by rewarding and recognising the individual who is voted for, by their colleagues, as champion of a particular value each quarter. Despite being a sales business this is not linked in any way to revenue generated, this is all about recognising those who consistently demonstrate their values and they reward this with vouchers and their 'Go Beyond' trip. Anyone at any level can be nominated including Directors and it is testament that every quarter, Directors are nominated. When anyone is being considered for promotion they must be able to provide evidence of commitment to the company values; this is deemed integral to their progression and development and a core element of the company's career pathway programme. Each week they highlight specific examples of excellence in each value and communicate to the business, again in recognition of how they want everyone in the business to behave.

Montpelier at LLoyd's employees have Gym membership subsidy of up to £60 per month, Occasional massage therapist visits, nurse visit for flu shots each October, sports teams to encourage fitness

Montpelier at LLoyd's employees have Gym membership subsidy of up to £60 per month, Occasional massage therapist visits, nurse visit for flu shots each October, sports teams to encourage fitness

In 2011 Mindshare launched their Future Leaders Programme which was open to all Account Managers. The purpose was to offer 10 selected Account Managers a unique modular learning programme (over a period of 12 months) to accelerate personal and professional development and ultimately to nurture their Future Leaders giving them exposure to new exciting areas. The selected Future Leaders have also the opportunity to work on a live project briefed by their CEO, have the opportunity to network with senior members of the WPP group and are mentored by the Leadership Team. The programme has been a great success for developing junior talent and has also helped to reduce their turnover at this level.

On 15th January Mindshare started a programme to evolve the way Mindshare works to be more collaborative, creative and responsive to how the media landscape is changing. The focus of their Transformation Programme is on behaviours as a way to transform their business and respond to the revolution in media and technology. On the 8th April, 'Future day 1', the whole company gathered together at the Bloomsbury Ballroom to mark the start of their journey of transformation. In the morning, very inspirational speakers articulated the case for transformation, shared stories, tools and techniques to support brainstorming, collaboration and creative thinking. In the afternoon, the whole company was split into groups and each employee had the opportunity to apply some of the learnings from the morning and to share their personal story of transformation, and the changes it brought to their lives. The most inspirational story from each group was selected and as a result a 'Book of transformation' was produced. This was not only a fantastic event where people from different areas of the business had the opportunity to bond, have fun and be inspired, but was also our first step towards changing people's behaviours to further embrace collaboration and creativity.

Employee development is key to delivering Midas Vision and the roll out of the CLEAR programme supports their long term commitment to developing their staff. Core elements of the CLEAR programme include: Bespoke management and leadership training delivered to operational, commercial and business support staff , Performance Development Review (PDR) training, Introduction of monthly 1-2-1 meetings between staff and their line managers to discuss progress and development needs – known as CLEAR Catch Ups, Training initiatives covering customer service workshops, commercial excellence workshops and team-specific training aimed at improving team effectiveness and performance. The CLEAR programme, which, is cascaded throughout the business is also supported by the introduction of quarterly People Reviews with the senior managers of each division, ensuring that employee development is discussed on a regular basis at a high level and development themes identified in addition to the TNA conducted as part of our annual PDR (appraisal) process.

Employee development is key to delivering Midas Vision and the roll out of the CLEAR programme supports their long term commitment to developing their staff. Core elements of the CLEAR programme include: Bespoke management and leadership training delivered to operational, commercial and business support staff , Performance Development Review (PDR) training, Introduction of monthly 1-2-1 meetings between staff and their line managers to discuss progress and development needs – known as CLEAR Catch Ups, Training initiatives covering customer service workshops, commercial excellence workshops and team-specific training aimed at improving team effectiveness and performance. The CLEAR programme, which, is cascaded throughout the business is also supported by the introduction of quarterly People Reviews with the senior managers of each division, ensuring that employee development is discussed on a regular basis at a high level and development themes identified in addition to the TNA conducted as part of our annual PDR (appraisal) process.

McFarlane Telfer have monthly recognition awards "Shout Outs" which are to recognise any person who has gone out of their way to demonstrate the values which has made a positive impact on either a colleague or a customer. These are publicly announced during their monthly communications meetings and each person is recognised with a monetary award. Engineers' pay usually follows a clear structure upon joining to outline pay increments following successful completion of core qualifications. This is an incentive to pursue own learning and development which helps to create the right behaviours for engineers to take ownership and seek the next level.

McFarlane Telfer operates performance management reviews - job chats every six months which provides an opportunity to feedback on their role and involvement within the company as well as their own individual performance. This is also an opportunity to raise any feedback to their line manager. Less formally everyone has the opportunity to and is encouraged to feedback ideas, thoughts or ideas for improvement. These are acted on and investigated. Examples being reviews to the processes within the tablets the engineers use to a review of the HR database. Staff surveys are completed at least once during each year. A significant part of involving people in decisions is the Comms meetings which are monthly and involve all employees. Presentations are given by a range of people always welcomed by the MD. This is a genuine and established way they engage people and seek their feedback either during the meeting or during smaller workshops afterwards. They believe this is a truly innovative way to enable people to feedback ideas and suggestions in person. Feedback from new starters after their first Comms meeting is really positive, seeing the whole company together in one room. This does cost the business - engineers off the road for half a day a month, but this is viewed as an investment that works.

Contributions and promotions are announced in MBA's monthly agency meetings. Hard work and agency successes are celebrated on a Friday evening with free drinks. Senior employees are incentivised through profit related pay.

MBA have begun to share the business performance index in order to update employees on new business on a regular basis. They have also been increasingly encourage staff across the business to share their work in Monday assembly. MBA have continued to introduce more social activities, with a dedicated social budget throughout the year. They introduced Slack so people can share amongst each other and socially connect. They have decided to give staff a day off after the Christmas party to give back to them.

Marathon Oil rolled out an Employee Workplace Wellbeing Programme in January 2014 open to all offshore and onshore employees and contractors. Their aim is to bring a greater number of health interventions directly into the workplace that can have a positive impact on their workforce's health and wellbeing. Each month different wellness themes are explored with related activities and opportunities for a better understanding of how they can take control of their own health and wellbeing. Underpinning this, a Health Competition was launched open to all employees and contractors to have a number of biometrics recorded (weight, blood pressure, cholesterol etc). This information is stored confidentially then measured around mid-year with final results and winners (best overall improvement in health) being announced early next year.

One of Marathon Oil leadership commitments is to celebrate success and they have done this through various means such as MarAwards. The purpose of the MarAward is to motivate and provide individuals recognition for a specific effort or special achievement, usually in the form of gift vouchers.

On payday each month, all offices stop work (provided no urgent work for clients is left unactioned) at 4.30pm to have drinks in the office as a thank you and ‘wind down' to the month. The drinks are provided by the company and are usually held in the office, however in the summer we often arrange to take drinks to the park to play softball or some other team activity. Malcolm Hollis also have a quarterly lunch in each office, paid for by the company and give staff their birthday off work, in addition to their allocated annual leave entitlement.

Malcolm Hollis want all of their employees to be confident and comfortable and to raise, ask a question or voice a concern. Malcolm Hollis understand that speaking up can be daunting for some, which is the reason they have an initiative called ‘AskJohn', a confidential system allowing them to anonymously pose your questions by email. The responses to these are published to all staff with the identity of the person asking the question remaining anonymous. Their open plan seating arrangements with senior members of staff seated alongside more junior members also naturally promotes ideas and feedback as do regular team and manager meetings across departments.

Lucion's Managing Director, Patrick Morton delivers a directors message in each newsletter. Every month Patrick will focus on a different sector and discuss the progress within this sector. He also makes reference to the company values and praises employees on their abilities to act in accordance with these. Regional Manager calls and Commercial calls take place weekly, with Patrick attending both. This enables smooth communication between all departments and ensures that employees are aware of what we are working towards as an organisation. These minutes are all saved onto Google drive, which all employees can access and make comments on. In all our offices throughout the UK there is a strategy board which shows how the company aim to progress from 2015 to 2018. For those working on site this company strategy is available on the Google drive. This strategy has been rolled out and been widely communicated, with Patrick discussing the company strategy in the monthly newsletters and highlighting key points which will help us to reach our goal in 2018. This strategy comes directly from board of directors at Lucion and helps employees to understand the plan of action and where the company has the potential to achieve.

At present, the majority of Lucion Environmental Ltd's workforce is made up as trainees. The company train these employees who have no industry qualifications and knowledge to become fully qualified asbestos surveyors/analysts. For example, in order to service a recent contract awarded by Circle Group, they opened an additional office in Cambridgeshire and recruited six new staff members. Four of these recruits were previously unskilled trainees, who have gone through Lucion's Learning and Development Programme to become fully qualified asbestos surveyor/analysts. The qualifications they hold are national, industry standard, and are the basis of providing long term, sustainable local careers for their new employees and therefore supporting their commitment to social sustainability. Everyone at Lucion, from trainee office admin to senior site surveyor, has a Personal Development Programme which must be updated on a regular basis. This is monitored by Lucion Environmental Ltd's dedicated Learning and Development team. They also encourage employees to take responsibility for their own continuous personal development. There are ways in which they are able to plan their personal development, which takes place via many types of learning experiences. These can be formal, by attending an organised training event or workshop, studying for a formal qualification or being taught to acquire a new skill by a manager or a colleague. Furthermore, employees are encouraged to agree future goals with their Manager in order to keep themselves updated and progress into higher roles within the company.

Each department within London Square has a weekly team meeting in which all members of staff are encouraged to feedback their ideas and suggestions. The divisional director is then given the opportunity to present these ideas to other departments for feedback at the weekly management team. Each department also has a blackboard where they can chalk up jokes, thoughts and anecdotes, with a quote from the divisional director, giving them the opportunity to share these on a daily basis with the rest of their team. Every day, the team, including the Chief Executive, eat together if they are in the office at Wagamama-style tables in the dining room or play table tennis together outside, giving staff the opportunity to discuss their ideas with other members of the company. The open plan office has a relaxed open door policy so staff can approach any member of the company when they need to, including directors in their offices, to share ideas or seek counsel.

London Square has implemented the Cycle to Work scheme and has also organised corporate membership rates at nearby Hillingdon Sports Club, to help promote a healthy lifestyle to their staff. London Square has table tennis in the garden, which staff can enjoy during breaks throughout the day, giving them a chance to unwind, catch up with colleagues or even help brainstorm new ideas over a different kind of meeting table.

Their most recent team event was the summer quarterly company meeting, in which they presented the Livity business plan to the whole business. They did this outdoors in the local park, and added in some fun stuff like rounders and a quiz featuring everyone in the business, so they could all find out more about one another (such as guessing who was a childhood opera singer and who has danced with Pharrell Williams). Previously they went for lunch at The Clink restaurant at Brixton prison a restaurant onsite where prisoners gain experience in a real working environment and have a higher chance of sustainable employment post-release. Following this and a company meeting they took the team out to a local venue for a themed night out. They generally have at least two out of four of their events in a local venue to contribute to the local economy. The ‘Livity Talks' team have invited many inspiring people to the office to round off the week with a Friday afternoon talk, designed to inform and inspire. The most recent one was by Rob Burnet from Kenya based Well Told Story, a social enterprise that combines the power of good stories with strategy, creativity, deep analysis and hard science, to design and produce communications that spur positive social changes that can be proved and measured. A really aspirational talk for the teams who are working on projects with similar goals.

Their most recent team event was the summer quarterly company meeting, in which they presented the Livity business plan to the whole business. They did this outdoors in the local park, and added in some fun stuff like rounders and a quiz featuring everyone in the business, so they could all find out more about one another (such as guessing who was a childhood opera singer and who has danced with Pharrell Williams). Previously they went for lunch at The Clink restaurant at Brixton prison a restaurant onsite where prisoners gain experience in a real working environment and have a higher chance of sustainable employment post-release. Following this and a company meeting they took the team out to a local venue for a themed night out. They generally have at least two out of four of their events in a local venue to contribute to the local economy. The ‘Livity Talks' team have invited many inspiring people to the office to round off the week with a Friday afternoon talk, designed to inform and inspire. The most recent one was by Rob Burnet from Kenya based Well Told Story, a social enterprise that combines the power of good stories with strategy, creativity, deep analysis and hard science, to design and produce communications that spur positive social changes that can be proved and measured. A really aspirational talk for the teams who are working on projects with similar goals.

There are a number of formal processes that take place at Liverpool Hope University, from team meetings to full departmental or Faculty forums. At these meetings, staff are encouraged to participate and make their views known. In addition, they have a corporate JCNC (Joint Consultation and Negotiation Committee) with their recognised trade unions that meet each term. At these meetings, the unions have the opportunity, on behalf of their members, to put forward any issues, ideas or comments and these are given full consideration by management. All these formal forums are minuted.

As part of their Liverpool Hope University's volunteering initiatives, staff and students host "Contact the Elderly" tea parties each summer.

An example of how Limelight support employee development was demonstrated with Alice. Alice was working as a co-ordinator in the CRM team and in the middle of 2013 she expressed an interest to develop her technology skills and asked that if there was an opportunity to work in the Technology Department, could she be considered. Following conversations between Department Heads it was decided that Alice should be given the opportunity, as she demonstrated passion, commitment and a desire for excellence and was transferred to that department at a co-ordination level. Whilst working in that team it was soon recognised that Alice had an aptitude for UX Designing and therefore, an opportunity was created to allow Alice to become a UX designer. She was put on a 5 day intense UX designing training course, which resulted in her achieving 88% in her final exams. Supporting staff who have a desire to develop in other areas is a key part of their talent management strategy and they will openly support and encourage employees who wish to develop their skills in other areas of the business. This was also seen with Rachel, now a Project Manager in their experience team who had expressed her desire to develop her live event management skills whilst working in the Marketing team. As a result she attended a CIPD course that introduced her to management and helped her to develop the skills she would require to manage a team.

An example of how Limelight support employee development was demonstrated with Alice. Alice was working as a co-ordinator in the CRM team and in the middle of 2013 she expressed an interest to develop her technology skills and asked that if there was an opportunity to work in the Technology Department, could she be considered. Following conversations between Department Heads it was decided that Alice should be given the opportunity, as she demonstrated passion, commitment and a desire for excellence and was transferred to that department at a co-ordination level. Whilst working in that team it was soon recognised that Alice had an aptitude for UX Designing and therefore, an opportunity was created to allow Alice to become a UX designer. She was put on a 5 day intense UX designing training course, which resulted in her achieving 88% in her final exams. Supporting staff who have a desire to develop in other areas is a key part of their talent management strategy and they will openly support and encourage employees who wish to develop their skills in other areas of the business. This was also seen with Rachel, now a Project Manager in their experience team who had expressed her desire to develop her live event management skills whilst working in the Marketing team. As a result she attended a CIPD course that introduced her to management and helped her to develop the skills she would require to manage a team.

Life Fitness Maintains a healthy and safe work environment for employees including the Fit for life project which is combating the growing epidemic of limited activity in the workplace, encouraging movement within the walls of Life Fitness. The Fit For Life project will be the catalyst for a cultural shift in their office, creating stronger and healthier employees, and in turn, making Life Fitness a stronger and healthier company. Keeping health and well-being records about staff, e.g. who is off sick, when and for how long for line managers to review regularly to identify problems and then take action to solve them. Encouraging their employees to live healthy lives by organising events with sports and exercise and offering healthy food in kitchen.

The working environment at Life fitness is pleasant for all employees; it's a comfortable and enjoyable space, physically and mentally, where employees feel welcome and supported by their peers. Along with being open to learning new things, they also embrace change and adapt to new demands which not only keeps the company relevant, but also presents exciting challenges for employees that can make work less routine and even boring. Life Fitness provides a very effective performance management process whereby all employees have a six-monthly and annual review with their line manager. Exceptional work is constantly rewarded though this process and motivates employees to succeed. As part of their mission for best people and culture they have a strong focus on learning and development. Ensuring all employees have the opportunity to develop and be open to learning new things. Life Fitness arrange fun and engaging activities throughout the year to encourage team participation and growth.