For CloudSense listening to employees and seeking their ideas and feedback is at the core of engaging with them. The introduction of their social collaboration tool “Chatter” has created a mind shift at CloudSense. All of the senior management team are on Chatter and can post messages, files, videos, etc instantly to the whole company. Any employee can also direct post a message directed to each other, including the senior management team. That message is public so anyone within the company can view the response. They have found that this has created a real time conversation that has driven engagement as it has driven instant public conversations from the management team that everyone can see and respond to. The company no longer use email as their communication tool internally as Chatter has opened up the internal conversation through becoming a social enterprise.

The company have a comprehensive Performance Management policy which supports individual growth and development in line with the company's requirement for skills. Performance Management for CloudSense is a continuous process that starts the day an employee commences employment, from on-boarding through to probation review, regular one-to-ones and yearly annual appraisals. The process is designed to evaluate performance in 3 ways: 'Skills Assessment' to define their skills, 'Behaviours Assessment' to ensure that not only do employees develop the right skill sets for their current role and achieve a desired career path, but they also do their job in a way that is consistent with CloudSense brand values, and an 'Objectives Review' to assist in personal development the achievement of wider company goals.

People are motivated and engaged by working with other smart people. The way managers implement this is to not compromise during recruitment, and keep a consistently high level of motivated and intelligent staff.

People are motivated and engaged by working with other smart people. The way managers implement this is to not compromise during recruitment, and keep a consistently high level of motivated and intelligent staff.

Their corporate behaviours of Empowering & Motivating and Striving For Excellence both set the corporate expectations of how Managers and staff should perform and when they should challenge unrealistic expectations. The corporate PDR process outlines the number of performance objectives that should be set using the SMART principle. The HR team conduct a sample of all PDR objectives to ensure that they are fair and consistent across the organisation and free from any bias towards staff. Effective performance is rewarded within the PDR process with the bonus payment scheme. A corporate validation exercise process is undertaken to ensure that the performance ratings given to staff are evenly distributed and also free from bias.

There are a number of effective ways City West supports employees through the Personal Development Review process and training offered, but the Excellence Academy in particular stands out. City West's Excellence Academy develops the leaders of tomorrow through training opportunities and mentoring. The Excellence Academy is about City West identifying high performers, talent and future leaders within the company; investing belief, time and effort into developing those individuals for the future and is one strand of their approach to talent retention and succession planning. Such is the success of this initiative; many graduates have taken on new projects or have been promoted. In total nine of the twelve employees involved in the scheme have been promoted since it started.

CBG Consultants have all the standard good practice processes in place to gather feedback face to face, with regular formal meetings, presentations and informal conversation etc. They believe their open door policy and no blame culture provides the right environment to encourage honesty and transparency. The company also have a dedicated feedback
e-mail address which gives staff the opportunity to provide feedback in an anonymous way. This year CBG have also undergone their Investors in People re-assessment and they are delighted to have achieved BRONZE status.

CBG Consultants have all the standard good practice processes in place to gather feedback face to face, with regular formal meetings, presentations and informal conversation etc. They believe their open door policy and no blame culture provides the right environment to encourage honesty and transparency. The company also have a dedicated feedback
e-mail address which gives staff the opportunity to provide feedback in an anonymous way. This year CBG have also undergone their Investors in People re-assessment and they are delighted to have achieved BRONZE status.

Christmas Party – it will always be top of the list. It is the event that all the staff look forward to.. We are City based and well aware of the fall in the number of companies holding Christmas parties over recent years. The MD of the company is proud to buck this trend, feeling that a party to show their appreciation, showcase success and say thank you for your efforts is not a luxury but a must. Year on year it is the most talked about event in the office with excitement building up weeks in advance. The company pays for food, drink and a DJ so all can let their hair down. In keeping with the family ethos of the company partners are also invited to come along and enjoy the festive cheer. Inevitably the budding singers who work for us provided some of the entertainment on the night which is always a highlight.

Christmas Party – it will always be top of the list. It is the event that all the staff look forward to.. We are City based and well aware of the fall in the number of companies holding Christmas parties over recent years. The MD of the company is proud to buck this trend, feeling that a party to show their appreciation, showcase success and say thank you for your efforts is not a luxury but a must. Year on year it is the most talked about event in the office with excitement building up weeks in advance. The company pays for food, drink and a DJ so all can let their hair down. In keeping with the family ethos of the company partners are also invited to come along and enjoy the festive cheer. Inevitably the budding singers who work for us provided some of the entertainment on the night which is always a highlight.

Caerphilly County Borough Council recognises that its employees are its most valuable asset and as a result it is strongly behind looking after the health and well-being of its employees. This is evidenced by the fact that the Corporate Management Team (CMT) are fully behind health and well-being initiatives and receive quarterly updates on the strategy, progress and initiatives that the Council runs. An Employee Health and Well-being Group has been established to develop and progress the strategy across the whole of the Council. The representatives of this group are cross Directorate and include representatives from the Council's recognised trade unions. High level briefings have also taken place to all Senior Officers within the Council, so that they have not only been made aware of the Employee Health and Well-being strategy but have also been briefed on the Corporate Health Standard. Another initiative to show how seriously the Council believes in the employee health and well-being agenda is the fact that all employees have been given time off during working time to attend employee health and well-being events.

Caerphilly County Borough Council is leading the way in the UK by offering hundreds of young people the opportunity to join an ambitious Apprenticeship and Training programme. Over the past year alone more than 230 young people have signed up to the popular scheme as a work placement, apprenticeship or trainee, helping them get onto the career ladder and gain valuable work experience. The scheme, called the 'Caerphilly Passport Programme' offers a journey for individuals through the various tiers of development. There are 4 tiers in total ranging from unpaid placements to paid employees at a graduate level in specialist areas such as social work, environmental health, ecology or waste management. The authority is working closely with a number of providers including the Job Centre Plus to bring more people through who are unemployed to help them find sustainable employment. Caerphilly County Borough Council is keen to further develop the Passport Programme and provide potential opportunities for young people in the area to be able access quality work placements and training opportunities that can lead to positive outcomes.

Within their learning and development programme, Business Stream put a strong focus on developing leadership skills and nurturing the talent and potential of their existing staff. Over the past three years, 58 people have been on the Talent Stream training programme and this year they introduced an eLearning portal to give even more staff access to development programmes. Business Stream also introduced a two-year management trainee programme called the Business Stream apprentice. The apprentice gives four individuals the opportunity to rotate across all the functions in their business, gaining insight into how Business Stream works from every angle. They also receive training and development, mentoring from senior management and coaching throughout.

Within their learning and development programme, Business Stream put a strong focus on developing leadership skills and nurturing the talent and potential of their existing staff. Over the past three years, 58 people have been on the Talent Stream training programme and this year they introduced an eLearning portal to give even more staff access to development programmes. Business Stream also introduced a two-year management trainee programme called the Business Stream apprentice. The apprentice gives four individuals the opportunity to rotate across all the functions in their business, gaining insight into how Business Stream works from every angle. They also receive training and development, mentoring from senior management and coaching throughout.

Browne Jacobson's aim is to give their people what they want and need! However, their experience is that interventions have the best chance of success if they work with ideas put forward by the departments themselves. After all, they are in the best position to understand what they need. The creation and implementation of the firm's development frameworks is a classic example of this. One of the company's departments approached them with a request to help its solicitors understand what they needed to do at each stage of their career to be successful in that role and prepare themselves to move up to the next level. From that discussion was borne the development framework, a type of competency framework designed to provide a clear and consistent structure for the skills, knowledge and behaviours required by their people, focusing on the four key skills areas the business needs, personal effectiveness, management and leadership effectiveness, business effectiveness and technical effectiveness.

In addition to the thousands of pounds raised over the years by their people through activities such as jeans days, raffles, donations at the annual Christmas carol concert and firm quiz, profits raised from book and CD sales, clothing collections and sponsored events, Browne Jacobson has established the Browne Jacobson Charitable Trust which is funded by the partnership and enables employees to apply for grants for their chosen charities. In the last financial year, ended April 2012, they have distributed £12,000 to worthy causes across the Midlands.

At 5 and 10 years service BIU send staff on luxury holidays.

BIU provide subsidised gym membership, free fruit, sports clubs and counselling helplines.

British Gas' people enjoy regular opportunities to air their views on subjects important to them. Working as a team to address the issues raised is essential to maintain good workplace relations. To create a culture of ongoing feedback, the company not only coach their managers but also have more formal feedback processes in place. Their annual engagement survey gathers feedback from right across the organisation. The survey has developed over the years and now really focuses on those factors they know drive their people's engagement.

British Gas' people enjoy regular opportunities to air their views on subjects important to them. Working as a team to address the issues raised is essential to maintain good workplace relations. To create a culture of ongoing feedback, the company not only coach their managers but also have more formal feedback processes in place. Their annual engagement survey gathers feedback from right across the organisation. The survey has developed over the years and now really focuses on those factors they know drive their people's engagement.