What are companies doing with regards to 'My Company'

The senior management team at Foundation involved all staff in the development of the organisation's three year Strategic Plan 2012 - 2015. This involved meeting staff and customers at a series of "World Cafés" at which issues facing the organisation were discussed, and staff had the opportunity to put forward their ideas, comments and suggestions. Some staff also accompanied customers to customer meetings to assist them to take part.

Foundation's core function is to support the most vulnerable people in society. Staff are encouraged to enhance their personal development by sitting on the boards of other charitable organisations.

Through offering a flexible benefits package that includes a bike to work scheme, gym membership and private health. The company also offer free yoga, pilates and climbing to all staff as well as other sporting activities. They have introduced a new Employee Assistance programme that provides a full concierge service to staff as well as counselling and advice.

For the second year in a row the company were lucky enough to be taken to Las Vegas for their company Christmas party in December 2011. The company covered all costs, flights, accommodation, meals and entertainment. This was a fantastic team building event and was also seen as a reward for each employee's contribution to the company's ongoing success.

A particularly memorable and enjoyable social event that they recently held, was the Foolproof 10th Birthday Party. This was a really exciting time, where everyone, including ex-staff, was invited to spend the evening at Caistor Hall Hotel in Norfolk to celebrate with food, drink and accommodation expensed by the company. This was a memorable evening, where past, current and future successes were celebrated. This was also an opportunity for Management to announce the exciting news of the acquisition of their Singapore office!

Foolproof is led by the Managing Director, Leslie Fountain. What is distinctive about her approach to management is how she applies her own and the company's values through all levels of the company. Leslie demonstrates how she expects people to work and behave by leading by example. Leslie is continuously on the office floor and sits within the open plan office, to support a true open door culture. Leslie takes opportunities to add her own touches to individuals' work and engages in creative discussions to broaden the employees' views on projects. In summary, Leslie's management style encourages Foolproofers to adapt a more open and creative approach to work as demonstrated by her.

One of the clear ways the Festo listens to employees and seeks feedback is through the process of coaching. In Festo all managers have been trained as coaches and the coaching process exists in both a formal and informal way between employees at all levels. Within Festo the coaching process is about asking questions and actively listening to the views of the coachee. Managers are encouraged not to suggest or impose their ideas but to listen to and understand the ideas that are put forward. The coaching process supports employees to develop their own solutions to problems that are faced. If employees ideas stand up under questioning the manager is encouraged to accept them. The goal here is not just to listen to the coachee but to encourage them to engage with the problem, develop their own answers and ultimatly become more empowered and independent.

All employees in the company have a target minimum number or hours that must be spent on training and personal development each year. Many people have a portion of their bonus scheme related to meeting this target. Topics for training and development are driven by the employee following a self assessment against their Balanced Scorecard and a needs audit. The employee is responsible for defining their development needs in relation to their own requirements as well as standard competency models for their roles.

Quantum Engagement Survey provides a forum for collecting feedback and evaluating levels of morale and motivation at F5. Faciilitated team sessions are interactive, where team members provide input and prepare team action plans designed to make F5 a better place to work.

F5 have internal L&D resources available for their employees including a soft skills curriculum available for employees and managers to attend, for example four weeks of Technical training in Seattle office for all new UK-based technical employees and one week for Sales Bootcamp . The in-house soft skills training courses held in the UK are effective tools for employee development but it is impossible to calculate the investment/spend as F5's internal systems do not capture this information. The company have also introduced the Personal Development Plan for each employee. This is created in collaboration between the employee and manager to leverage strengths and give an opportunity to improve where appropriate. The PDP is targeted at individual needs and focusses on the individual's goals and where they want to develop. All of F5's managers are trained to coach/mentor their employees and their technical teams have a technical Mentor as part of the structure.

Due to the nature of the organisation Exposure have tailored their training programme to suit the diverse requirements of the agency. This includes a training needs analysis for each team to identify skills gaps. Training courses both internal and external can then be matched to these requirements. This ensures employees are catered for on an individual basis.

Once a month Exposure hosts a new exhibition within their dedicated gallery space. The Exposure gallery provides a platform for established artists and emerging creatives to showcase their work - selected not only for their innovative practice but also their aesthetic qualities. So far this year has seen a diverse collection of work from the Launch of ‘The New British' Magazine that was designed and edited by Kez Glozier and Neville Brody to the ‘Not Just a Mum' photography exhibition from the hip group Mothers Meeting founded by Jenny Scott. With each new exhibition comes a private view launch event where the company open the gallery and bar to the public. Running alongside their monthly gallery exhibitions Exposure also hosts creative lectures and inspiration sessions from guest speakers and friends of Exposure, including Mutate Britain and Matt Stuart.

Exponential's Academy programme has been running since 2008. This provides an opportunity for individuals outside of sales to gain a first step into Telecoms sales. All candidates attend an assessment day and those hired attend an intensive eight week training programme on their products and service as well as core sales skills with follow-up and refresher training over their first six months. However training does not just come at the beginning of their career. On a wider scale all sales people have attended a training programme either to up-skill on Cloud or Voice technologies or their sales skills tailored at a selected vertical. The training team are currently researching providers for an advanced sales skills programme for next year.

Managers are able to set their teams and team members individual and collective targets that meet SMART objectives, so long as these are aligned to the overall business objectives. Additionally, Managers are able to nominate for the company STARS awards and also influence the pay rises for those who have over achieved against their objectives or who have gone above the call of duty.

Expedia.com Ltd operates a wellbeing reimbursement annual amount of £850 to offset against sporting activities. Also, as part of the Private Medical Insurance, there is a vitality programme focusing on wellness. Their health provider also runs an annual employee health day consisting of health checks etc. Yoga, pilates and massages are all facilitated on site. Lastly, Expedia offers annual vaccinations and heavily discounted health screens as well as generous personal travel benefits.

Expedia.com Ltd operates a wellbeing reimbursement annual amount of £850 to offset against sporting activities. Also, as part of the Private Medical Insurance, there is a vitality programme focusing on wellness. Their health provider also runs an annual employee health day consisting of health checks etc. Yoga, pilates and massages are all facilitated on site. Lastly, Expedia offers annual vaccinations and heavily discounted health screens as well as generous personal travel benefits.

Directors and managers in the business are approachable and open minded, such that staff are able to bring opinions or suggestions to them to discuss. It is well known within the business that if processes become outdated that suggestions for improvement can be made and will be reviewed at the top level. An email account is setup so that suggestions and questions can be submitted electronically. The company also tries to integrate questions and suggestions into company meetings and conferences.

ExCeL London operates extensive CRS initiatives which ensure the Company gives something back to the local community and wider world. In relation to local community projects, ExCeL gives around £1m in donations and gifts in kind to the London Borough of Newham which is one of London's most deprived boroughs. This is supported through key projects: Community Food Enterprise, Newham All Stars Sports Academy (NASSA) and .ExCeL in the Arts Camp. In addition, the company has also supported the community through free meeting space, sponsorship for local groups such as Custom House FC, conducting school tours, providing careers advice, participation in Banking on Talent scheme (2 athletes), running a Young Enterprise scheme, offering tickets/competitions to local residents and supporting the Ascension Eagles. In 2011, ExCeL had a £1.6 billion economic impact for London. This has ultimately supported up to 38,000 jobs in the capital. This is a massive impact on ‘the wider world' of London, bearing in mind that ExCeL is a privately owned business and not funded in any way by Government or local authorities like many other venues of similar nature.

Having been re-accredited for ISO14001 as an organisation ESOS continue to recognise that they have a responsibility to ensure that the impact of their activities on the environment is kept to a minimum. The company encourage activities that reduce the environmental impact on both their local and wider community including: paper, mobile phone, printer, battery, stamps, aluminium and plastic bottle recycling. All PC hardware is recycled in line with the WEEE directive. ESOS also encourage car sharing where possible. This, they believe, ensures that everyone remains aware and active in the efforts to recycle. They also have a very active Charity committee who arrange a number of fundraising events for their chosen charity. Events in 2012 so far have included, fancy dress days, bikeathon, quiz night, summer family party and various raffles.

Having been re-accredited for ISO14001 as an organisation ESOS continue to recognise that they have a responsibility to ensure that the impact of their activities on the environment is kept to a minimum. The company encourage activities that reduce the environmental impact on both their local and wider community including: paper, mobile phone, printer, battery, stamps, aluminium and plastic bottle recycling. All PC hardware is recycled in line with the WEEE directive. ESOS also encourage car sharing where possible. This, they believe, ensures that everyone remains aware and active in the efforts to recycle. They also have a very active Charity committee who arrange a number of fundraising events for their chosen charity. Events in 2012 so far have included, fancy dress days, bikeathon, quiz night, summer family party and various raffles.