My Company

Orion Electrotech

"The beating heart of our business is our people. They are Orion and represent everything that Orion stands for. Therefore, employee engagement is central to our business decisions as we strive to build an environment that our employees both admire and flourish within," says director Ross Benham.

Staff with two or more years' service can take up either free health insurance or gym membership. Employees who are off sick continue to receive full pay, removing the stress caused by a drop in income.

Office layouts have been reorganised so that senior staff work in an open-plan setting. The move ensures that they continually interact with other employees and creates the sense that everyone is involved in the day-to-day working of the company.

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Recruitment

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Breathe

Breathe funds team-building and social events. Teams can decide what they want to do, ensuring that it is inclusive for all. Activities last year included pottery-painting, bowling, wreath-making and clay-pigeon shooting.

New initiatives at Breathe include a challenge-yourself scheme that supports people in doing something that stretches their comfort zone. A day per month has been allowed for personal development and no-meeting Fridays are a wellbeing initiative to help people manage work pressures and create some headspace time.

A flexible working scheme, Breathe-flex, allows people to manage work and personal demands better. It has a positive impact on people being able to work in ways that suit them and it helps to reduce stress.

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Technology

60a43081c04f23c7f7bd65d5

Source Group International

The company supports three charities every year, such as Great Ormond Street Hospital and Meningitis Now. Last year, it raised over £6,000 through a range of events such as team runs, a Halloween event and sponsored virtual fundraisers.

Employee recognition plays a large role across the business, with individuals at all experience levels being recognised for their work and for sharing the company's values. Each month winners of the top-performer and best-improver awards are chosen across six categories.

Last year, SGI signed the Mental Health in Recruitment pledge, which committed it to driving change in how mental health is viewed and supported in the workplace. Employees take the lead in arranging fitness-focused activities through SGI Fitness Events, to boost physical and mental health. These include 10km runs and Tough Mudder challenges

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Recruitment

60a42fee82899d978c972840

Southern Housing Group

Following a Group-wide awareness exercise for World Menopause Day, which was accompanied by a personal blog from one of the company’s directors, several initiatives have been launched. These include managers menopause guidance, live workshops for menopause awareness and a Yammer page for menopause support, amongst many others in what is an ongoing campaign.

Thanks to Chief Executive, Alan Townshend’s natural leadership style, authentic engagement with colleagues in the Group is achieved through monthly meetings with managers and regular email communications to staff. He also attends staff forums where he invites open questions from all colleagues, enabling him to keep in touch with how colleagues are feeling.

A new set of company values have been embraced by colleagues, thanks to them being relatable for everyone in the business. These values are used when launching new initiatives, from projects and programmes through to general announcements and events to help add clarity and purpose for employees.

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Housing Associations

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Advanced

With faith and trust in its hiring process, Advanced no longer sets probationary periods for new starters. Instead, it says it gives everyone the best chance of success in their roles by setting clear objectives and personal development plans from their very first day.

To reward the top performers in the organisation, Advanced runs a quarterly talent review process, which gives the opportunity for employees to be given a salary increase at least once per year. Guided by a tool called the 'Advanced Performance Score', people data from six different areas is pulled and analysed.

To thank staff for their hard work and resilience throughout the pandemic, Advanced introduced its #SummerFridays initiative. This saw every colleague gifted nine half days extra annual leave throughout the summer months to use as they like - from bike rides and walks to picnics and gardening.

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Technology

60a43081c04f23c7f7bd65d5

Swale Borough Council

The Developing Everyone Framework, provides a tool for managers and their team to discuss performance and career aspirations, and discover the appropriate training and development for all. It has helped to identify the top talent and rising stars, as well as those who need additional support.

Chief executive Larissa Read says: "Our commitment to staff engagement is that every member of Swale Borough Council and our Mid Kent colleagues will be supported to make their voice heard, be it positive or negative."

The council operates hybrid working and promotes the benefits of this new style when advertising job vacancies. It hopes the new strategy will aid the retention of staff who have expressed support for a more flexible way of working.

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Not For Profit Body's

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Empiric Student Property

Managers in city locations are given funding to organise social events. These may involve the community, such as a beach clean in Falmouth. During the summer turnaround, when students leave, unwanted items are given as donations to the British Heart Foundation, food banks and animal charities.

Results of the last survey were presented to the senior leadership team and then all staff. Managers use a presentation of the results at team meetings to promote discussion and give feedback on proposed improvements. The colleague forum refines actions further and discusses the next steps.

Additional training, in-house or with external trainers, is offered on key aspects of managers' roles, such as health and safety, and budget and people management. All people managers must complete the Mental Health Champion course to increase their knowledge of wellbeing support for their teams and themselves.

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Property

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MBDA UK

Staff can claim £150 per year to support external learning, such as language lessons, software courses, football coaching and Open University modules. The Momentum and Connect programmes focus on personal development, backed up by Careerbuilder, which incorporates videos, e-learning modules and enables staff to build a CV and receive feedback.

All news starters have two inductions. The first is led by the individual’s manager and focusses predominantly on their role. The second induction is delivered at a later date and acts as an introduction to the wider business, with sessions led by leaders of each department across the business to encourage inter-departmental collaboration.

Dynamic working allows employees to work flexible hours to fit around their needs. The company also pays overtime for anything beyond its standard 37-hour contracted week. Employees can choose to have the monetary value of their overtime paid as part of their next month’s pay, or the hours can be converted to "flexi-leave" days.

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Manufacturing

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Broads Authority

After the pandemic forced different ways of working, the organisation is now trialling agile working practices in those teams where the nature of the work undertaken allows it. All newly appointed employees will be invited to participate in the trials.

As well as having an Employee Assistance Programme in place for employees' wellbeing needs, the organisation gifted each member of the team an extra day's annual leave between Christmas and New Year in recognition of their hard work during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Both new and developing managers are provided with specific management training and all are given access to an annual development programme to help them develop the key skills needed in their roles.

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Not For Profit Body's

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Seafish

"New squids on the block" is the name give to those joining the company. Staff comment on how friendly and welcoming the organisation is. It believes its people are its best asset and it showcases that belief throughout the recruitment and onboarding journey.

Keeping a sea theme, the company organises beach cleans and hosts fish and chip lunches, for which Seafish matches the cost of the lunch and donates it to the Fishermen's Mission.

Seafish's results-only working environment is a key attraction for staff. Having worked this way since before the pandemic, the company is committed to creating an environment where its people are trusted to take responsibility for their own success in a way that works for them.

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Not For Profit Body's

60a42cf42dc6b4e3d0d1fbbf

Pride Powers Performance

Orion Electrotech

Breathe

Source Group International

Southern Housing Group

Advanced

Swale Borough Council

Empiric Student Property

MBDA UK

Broads Authority

Seafish

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