Randstad consultants are most inspired and engagement when they can work in partnership with the leadership team; both putting their ideas forward and learning from their role models. The high performance camps channelled this, inviting feedback and acting as ambassadors for consultants. Employees' invitation to a two-day event had already created interest and heightened project awareness and engagement levels. To maximise engagement, the event was attended by Randstad UK's CEO and Randstad business support's managing director. In their employees' eyes, this really added value to the event. Firstly, it actively demonstrated how important the event was. Secondly, it gave employees direct access to senior team members in an informal, fun and inspirational environment. Mark Bull and Ruth Jacobs were actively involved in physical and mental challenges. Their people enjoyed ‘getting their hands dirty' in the team-building events alongside some of Randstad's most senior leaders.

Randstad hosts numerous team building days; these range from more formal training days to inspirational ‘directors day', which are always eagerly anticipated. In 2013, one of Randstad's most successful team building events was delivered within their Randstad Care business line. As opposed to being a tactical team building event – the bespoke and strategic event was created in direct response to external market research report and internal employee feedback. Firstly, the Randstad Care team surveyed both existing current clients and prospective clients. This gave the team valuable feedback on both business perceptions and experiences and helping identify where they were already successful and where improvements could be made. Once the findings were in place, all employees were invited to two-day events to combine the learning obtained from the research and to further build team morale and communication. The engaging agenda ranged from practical workshops to outward bound courses, culminating in a sensational and aspirational Randstad Talent evening. The event offered a superb blend of business benefits and social activation. This activity received exceptional feedback as it gave teams valuable insight into their market and gave them an opportunity to shape what the future of their business would look like. Employees recognised that in addition to the fun team-building element, this unique event also really helped them to further succeed in their jobs and supported their career development.

Over the past year, Raglan have introduced new benefits including holiday trading and cycle to work, which help staff to make the most of their free time and work life balance. A series of workshops in all the offices have publicised the many wellbeing services available from their employee assistance providers, including an online health and wellbeing portal called Vitality. Their occupational health providers give them access to a vast range of online health information. The new intranet features 4 pages dedicated to staff's wellbeing which are regularly updated. They recently spent the first day of a 2 day conference for their top 45 managers focusing on wellbeing and resilience issues and will be discussing with them how they cascase this down to team level. They are also currently offering free flu jabs for all staff.

In Spring 2013, Raglan introduced a new staff recognition scheme. Devised by a focus group of staff representatives, it comprised 5 elements. These are: Thank you cards (online and paper) for staff to use a public recognition forum on the intranet for staff to acknowledge other's contributions a suggestion box on the intranet for good ideas, innovations, money-saving suggestions, etc. A staff awards scheme with the postings on the recognition forum and the suggestion box forming the nominations managers' budgets for recognition, to be spend on team lunches, coffee and cake, small gifts, etc. The scheme has been really well received by staff and the managers' budgets in particular are having an impact on staff perception of how their efforts are recognised and the confidence of managers to acknowledge a good job well done. They will be formally assessing the impact of the scheme after the first 6 months and the first staff awards at Christmas 2013.

In addition to its paid employees, the Hospice is supported by over 1,000 volunteers both at the Hospice itself, and in its retail outlets. The social capital created by these volunteering opportunities makes a huge contribution to the local community. Research by the Charity Retail Association highlights the very positive impact that charity shops have in their local community.

As a charity their ability to use money as a reward is restricted, however they seek to celebrate success and additional effort by publicly thanking staff in their weekly all staff newsletter. In addition, their chief executive personally thanks staff who have gone the extra mile. They are keen to establish an employee reward and recognition scheme but want to do it in a way that is valued by all their staff so are planning to consult with staff so that they have a better sense of what would be meaningful to them.

An action from Posturite's summer 2013 conference was to hold a series of workshops hosted by their sales director Geoff Thompson. These workshops helped them in the development of a new business strategy. They have learnt how to talk to the right people at the right level, expand existing accounts and get to the stage where they are in an enviable position of being able to more or less hand pick their new customers. They are obviously helped by the fact that they are clear market leaders and they have a strong level of brand awareness but the process helped them to focus – this entire process was stimulated and driven by their summer sales conference which the whole company attended.

An action from Posturite's summer 2013 conference was to hold a series of workshops hosted by their sales director Geoff Thompson. These workshops helped them in the development of a new business strategy. They have learnt how to talk to the right people at the right level, expand existing accounts and get to the stage where they are in an enviable position of being able to more or less hand pick their new customers. They are obviously helped by the fact that they are clear market leaders and they have a strong level of brand awareness but the process helped them to focus – this entire process was stimulated and driven by their summer sales conference which the whole company attended.

PhotoBox are constantly trying to improve the working environment for their people. Office moves, soft areas for rest and play during the working day and improved canteen facilities have been made in the last 12 months all as a result of feedback. Free fruit is always available and valued by everyone.

A shift in PhotoBox's marketing mix during 2013 has seen the PhotoBox brand advertise on TV for the first time. While clearly aligned with their objective of engaging customers and driving sales this change has contributed enormously to the sense of significance, pride and engagement of employees. There's no doubting the positive effect this has had on their business internally, providing evidence that included in the mix of levers of engagement is a belief in the vision/brand of their company.

Pharmalink Consulting Ltd set SMART objectives. With these they allow a timely consistent follow up and development opportunities from both internal and external sources.

Pharmalink Consulting Ltd's company charity is a strong and firm foundation of their company, their employees are very supportive of their events and always attend as volunteers if possible.

The company has recruited an HR manager to help managers with employee engagement.

The company has recruited an HR manager to help managers with employee engagement.

Pagan Osbourne provide the framework and training but it is their managers who bring everything to life. They work closely with their team so that they are aware of exactly what's going on so are perfectly placed to give timely praise and recognise a job well done. Every year, new objectives are set in conjunction with the individual and every month the manager holds a 1-1 meeting where they review progress, and can help alleviate pressure points if and when they appear. Their annual Personal Development Review (PDR) records the person's overall performance and their rating influences pay awards, as exceptional performance is given above average pay increases (when the business is able to do so). As managers are aware of progress and regularly check client feedback and commendations, they personally recognise achievements and make sure that their director also knows of any key successes. In turn, the management board then recognise successes by sending cards to high achievers on a monthly basis and praising top performers in their monthly blog.

Pagan Osbourne provide the framework and training but it is their managers who bring everything to life. They work closely with their team so that they are aware of exactly what's going on so are perfectly placed to give timely praise and recognise a job well done. Every year, new objectives are set in conjunction with the individual and every month the manager holds a 1-1 meeting where they review progress, and can help alleviate pressure points if and when they appear. Their annual Personal Development Review (PDR) records the person's overall performance and their rating influences pay awards, as exceptional performance is given above average pay increases (when the business is able to do so). As managers are aware of progress and regularly check client feedback and commendations, they personally recognise achievements and make sure that their director also knows of any key successes. In turn, the management board then recognise successes by sending cards to high achievers on a monthly basis and praising top performers in their monthly blog.

In October 2013, the senior management team at Octopus were searching for ways to bridge any perception of distance between themselves and the rest of the company as a result of their significant growth. They decided to don the aprons and chef's hats and cooked a Jamaican-themed lunch of goat curry (complete with side dishes, vege options and pudding) for the entire company. This was achieved with the help of just one trained chef to help guide them – they arrived at 6am to help set up a temporary kitchen and worked solidly until the middle of the afternoon in order to cover all aspects of service. All staff were invited to 6 different sittings and were sat randomly in order to create a mixed environment in a relaxed setting where employees mingled between teams and all levels of seniority/tenure in the company. The event was such a success in building positive levels of engagement that two more “cook offs” were planned for November and December 2013 and there are more on the agenda for 2014.

All staff are invited, twice a year, to a fun day – in which they join with a random selection of their colleagues (numbering 25-30) in a half day fun event of their own design. The emphasis is on team building and networking in a fun (usually competitive!) environment. Recent examples have included: go-carting, Crystal Maze-type challenges, cocktail and pizza making, walking history tours, table football/ping pong competitions, pub quizzes, attending greyhound racing, crazy bingo, a murder mystery, and amateur magician classes. In addition, they have a company-wide team building and fun event that takes place around midsummer's day, each year. Previous examples include a company values-themed fashion show (swapping a donation to Age Concern for a variety of vintage clothing as base materials!) and this year all staff went to Pineapple Dance Studios where they were separated in to random teams, paired with professional choreographers and entered in to a team dance-off, on stage at the Lyric Theatre in London's West End. Each team is invited to host a monthly drinks and social party of their own theming. A budget is provided to cover the cost of drinks, food and entertainment props. Recent examples include a “Casino Royale” evening, a kids-themed party (e.g. with pass-the-parcel and musical chairs), a US-style “Frat” party complete with party games, and a New Zealand wine-tasting evening.