A particularly memorable and enjoyable social event held by Integralis, was the Olympics on Ice event in May 2011. 46 employees, from different divisions of the business, came together at a local ice-rink, for a number of team-building exercises. Without knowing what they were getting themselves into, Integralis employees turned up ready and willing to enjoy the event. There were a number of games that took place on the ice, all of which were based on creating trust and confidence in team members. Employees were linked up with other people that they may not have normally interacted with on a daily basis. Trust was a real necessity, especially as employees wore shoes (and not ice-skates), so were even more likely to slip and fall without their colleagues' help. This was a totally different event, something that had never been done before. It was great fun, and everyone talked about it for a long time afterwards.

The Social and Charity Committee nominates a local and national charity for the company to support each year. Often, Integralis purchase a table at an event or ball, usually for the national charity, and they invite all employees to nominate someone to attend the ball who they believe has gone above and beyond the call of duty in their work. Nominations must be backed up with examples and then the 10 employees who receive the most nominations are invited to the ball. In November 2010, 10 employees attended the Enchanted Ball at the Savoy for Macmillan cancer support.

As part of POPs across the business, Managers will hold informal monthly and more formal quarterly and annual reviews with their team members. During these meetings Managers ask what support their team member would like - what do they find tricky? Are they confident? Can more support be provided? Informally Instant has a very open plan environment, everyone has the same equipment and is visible and totally approachable in the office. Instant genuinely cares about employees wellbeing and want success for each other.

As part of POPs across the business, Managers will hold informal monthly and more formal quarterly and annual reviews with their team members. During these meetings Managers ask what support their team member would like - what do they find tricky? Are they confident? Can more support be provided? Informally Instant has a very open plan environment, everyone has the same equipment and is visible and totally approachable in the office. Instant genuinely cares about employees wellbeing and want success for each other.

All staff are actively encouraged and consulted on their personal development formally through the performance appraisal process and informally through 1-2-1 meetings with line managers.

InHealth Group has an Employee Assisted Programme where staff are encouraged to take advantage of a range of facilities available to them, which include Medical Referrals and Stress Related Counselling services. Line Managers can also apply for performance coaching, which is available from an external resource.

ING Direct provides Lifeworks which is an employee Assistance Programme; they also offer counselling services and alternative therapies every quarter for their employees.

ING Direct provides Lifeworks which is an employee Assistance Programme; they also offer counselling services and alternative therapies every quarter for their employees.

At Incisive Media each team meets at least once a week, the company also has peer group meetings with managers to share expertise and best practice.

Incisive Media values the wellbeing of its employees and they have a category in their flexible benefits programme dedicated to Health & Wellbeing to prove it! The company has fortnightly Chair Massages that are on offer to all staff. This has proved to be a very popular benefit and Incisive Media have received great feedback from employees. On top of the ‘ordinary' benefits that most companies offer, such as gym membership, private medical insurance and health cash plan, Incisive Media has gone one step further and has introduced a variety of Health Screenings which are available to all employees. The types of screenings on offer range from a wide selection of BUPA Wellness screenings to Skin Screenings and the newly introduced Breast Screenings which are on offer to all staff and their partners. Everyone knows that prevention is better than cure.

Inchcape's CEO encourages empowerment and colleagues' acceptance of responsibility for the creation of solutions to business challenges. He also encourages a commercial attitude with the willingness to take acceptable risks in decision-making.

Inchcape provides consultancy advice on customers' fleet, including advice on creating an environmentally efficient fleet.

The senior management team took part in a roadshow to improve employee engagement across hyphen. The team visited each on site team to give them a platform to ask questions to management but also provide them with key insight into initiatives / financials etc. This has been extremely well received and hyphen will be looking to make it a regular event going forward.

hyphen held a 'Question Time' session for onsite teams Virgin Media, Nokia and Aviva at Head Office at Bouverie Street where members of the team from Hook, Manchester and London were introduced to representatives from both the hyphen senior management team and Adecco Group central services. They took the opportunity of having some new faces on site to host a “Q&A Question Time” panel at the end of the day where everyone was invited to ask questions of the panel. Rory Jeffcock played Paxman for the session and armed with a microphone “borrowed” from his local Karaoke bar, audience members comprising of a mix of hyphen Head Office employees and the Aviva, Virgin Media and Nokia teams were invited to grill the panel. The event was a success and following the encouraging feedback from attendees, hyphen have decided to roll the event out on a more regular basis and across all their employees.

Henderson Wholesale has won many awards for the contributions which are made to charities, through Give-As-You Earn payroll deductions. Last year, employees contributed more than £100k of their pay to charities of their choice and this sum was matched by the company. The company was recently Highly Commended at the National Payroll Giving Awards for the generosity of its employees.

Many employees are paid a bonus for their contribution to the business. This provides a clear and effective link between their performance and the improvement in the business. The company also offers a 'site finders' fee to employees which encourages them to activitely seek opportunities which will benefit the company.