Europ Assistance held a free Family Fun day at Warden Park School. The event also raised money for their two staff charities, Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre and St Peter & St James Hospice. All members of staff at Europ Assistance were invited and encouraged to bring along their friends and family. The day started with traditional races; egg & spoon race, sack race, three legged race etc. This was enjoyed by both the children and adults! There were various prizes for the winners but the adults were definitely more competitive which provided good entertainment for all those spectating. Other events included; face painting, balloon modelling, a bouncy castle for the children, giant jenga, rounders and table tennis. Food was laid on with a fish and chip van followed by ice creams for all from an ice cream van. Raffle tickets were sold on the day and prior to the event with donated prizes including; Champagne, Family Portrait and Cinema voucher, plus many more. Everyone enjoyed the day whether they were taking part in the events or simply relaxing and soaking up the sun. The Social and Charity Committee members put a great deal of effort into organising the event and feedback from members of staff was extremely positive!

They consider flexible requests and work with staff to agree suitable work patterns. Back to work interviews are carried out to ensure that staff are OK. They then provide specialist equipment and increased support if needed such as phased return to work, reduced hours and change to shifts. All managers and heads of department take part in the QSM's. They also have Q and A's and feedback forms for staff to communicate. Managers lead by example and this cascades down to staff, positivity, enthusiasm and drive. They provide incentives to staff through minor rewards or company recognition.

Across the business, employees have the opportunity to develop through different training schemes. The Raising the Bar programme is more than the run of the mill training programme. It is based around changing the mind-set of the company's senior store colleagues, and giving them the tools to inspire and lead their teams to be the best they can be and enhance service to customers. STEPS is a tool that helps Argos' non-management employees achieve desired levels of performance, it is used for stores to develop their teams, whilst delivering exceptional customer service. Idevelop is used in Argos' Head Office and is an online development tool which facilitates learning. Distribution: Connecting You, is designed for the senior team, to give them the tools to understand the needs of their teams. SkillPac – includes the distribution induction, and specific training including H&S/manual handling and department role training. Professional training: Across the whole business, any employee can opt to do a funded professional course related to their role including paid study leave.

Across the business, employees have the opportunity to develop through different training schemes. The Raising the Bar programme is more than the run of the mill training programme. It is based around changing the mind-set of the company's senior store colleagues, and giving them the tools to inspire and lead their teams to be the best they can be and enhance service to customers. STEPS is a tool that helps Argos' non-management employees achieve desired levels of performance, it is used for stores to develop their teams, whilst delivering exceptional customer service. Idevelop is used in Argos' Head Office and is an online development tool which facilitates learning. Distribution: Connecting You, is designed for the senior team, to give them the tools to understand the needs of their teams. SkillPac – includes the distribution induction, and specific training including H&S/manual handling and department role training. Professional training: Across the whole business, any employee can opt to do a funded professional course related to their role including paid study leave.

Arena Media aim to create as many opportunities as possible to share ideas, encourage feedback and most importantly to listen. The company actively encourages each employee to ‘make a difference' as set out in their mission statement. One good example of this is the Arena's Dragon Den, which they introduced last year. Staff were invited to persuade the Dragons, a panel made up of staff at various levels, to part with their cash - a chunk of the charity budget for a charity they felt was most deserving. It was a way for them to ‘make a difference' and 50 employees chose to take part. To ensure they live up to their proposition, Arena Media carried out several workshops to discuss what Further, Faster means to individuals and departments, as well as generating ideas. Keeping the groups small and making it informal has given everyone a voice at all levels. Attendance at the workshops was very high, as people recognised it was their chance to get involved in shaping how the business is run.

Arena Media have their very own social team who organise all their social events during the year. Every quarter, they have an all staff party to get together outside of work to mingle and socialise. A particular memorable occasion was the Summer Party last year which was held in July. It was a pirate/treasure hunt theme which consisted of staff getting into coloured teams to follow a twitter treasure map to find the 'treasure' - the party venue! The night was a great success and staff had a wonderful time. It allowed everyone to interact and especially allowed new staff members to meet people in the company.

Aquamarine Power believes their people are their company and that fulfilled people lead to a successful company. They value learning, sharing expertise and expanding their knowledge and skills. As such, they are committed to a range of initiatives which develop their people professionally and personally. One of the key initiatives which they have introduced to support employee development is their accredited professional development programme, which is designed to help the company's young engineers achieve Chartered status. Almost 30% of their staff are involved in the scheme and it provides a framework for the development of the company's junior staff who are mentored by senior members of staff. The main objectives of the scheme are to ensure that young engineers develop the technical and business competence, innovation and interpersonal skills required to contribute to the company's success and to achieve corporate membership of the IMechE and registration with the Engineering Council.

Aquamarine Power believes everyone's voice should be heard, whether it's coming up with a new idea or feeling able to challenge the status quo. As part of their commitment to genuinely listen to staff, Aquamarine Power has conducted bi-annual anonymous staff surveys for three years. This has proved a highly effective way of listening to staff and has allowed the company to make business improvements based on staff feedback. Participation in the staff surveys has consistently been between 95 and 100% which demonstrates the value staff place on this opportunity to give their views. In addition to their surveys, the company also hold regular focus groups and workshops to explore issues raised within the survey in more detail. They also listen to staff queries, which can be raised anonymously at their All Staff Update – a monthly get-together, which encourages two-way communication and is the cornerstone of their staff engagement strategy.

Almac's late Founder, Sir Allen McClay, supported by their CEO always considered their employees as an extended family - "the Almac family". That sincere belief in the Almac people is what sets them apart and makes the company a special place to work. Almac's CEO is hugely active and visible in all aspects of the business. He remains on first name terms with everyone regardless of position or stature and his informal manner is highly motivational and encourages an easy flow of communication across the company. Due to his friendly, approachable and flexible attitude he is known, liked and truly respected by everyone. He is involved in every major business decision right throughout the organisation, ensuring all aspects are resourced adequately and their potential is maximised. He is a true leader who relentlessly drives the company forward with confidence and passion.

In the last twelve months Almac have carried out a number of well being health promotion events/initiatives. An example of these are The Blood Transfusion Service has been on site on three occasions. On the last visit, 114 employees attended; 76 of whom where able to donate and there were 14 new donors. Almac have had the Action Cancer Big Bus on site and also The Big Bus which is a multi purpose facility offering the following services to employees, Digital Mammography, Health checks, Body composition analysis. The company held Mind and Mediation Workshops monthly for several months and aimed at covering the importance of breathing in dealing with stress in daily life. Participants had the opportunity to learn techniques to de-stress the mind and body including simple breathing techniques, light chair yoga and mediation. They had Skin Cancer Awareness in May/June, The Ulster Cancer Foundation came on site and carried out facial skin scanning and gave one to one information to employees on skin cancer.

The Positive Leadership Objective focuses the managers into the important elements of communicating with their teams. The company have in place a robust and detailed annual appraisal process which is reviewed with staff at half year intervals. All Senior Managers and the HR department are accessible and integrated within the organisation - attending meetings and informal events to listen to and engage with staff from all parts of the business. They have recently initiated a "GoodToGreat" email address for staff to feed back and provide suggestions for improvement.

Over the last year, the company have put in place specific additional bonus schemes related to enterprise-critical projects, where all involved staff can obtain a financial reward if the project deadline is hit. This has proved to be a valuable way to focus and motivate the teams involved. They also have access to 8 Wembley stadium tickets, which are given out to different members of different teams by the CEO and ExCo, as a reward for delivery or working successes.

The company frequently celebrate successes.

The company provides Wellness testing for cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes and also provides free Flu jabs.

On December 10 2010, the company held their annual Christmas Party and put on a stunning Venetian-style Masquerade Ball and invited everyone at Albany Software to buy or create a mask for the occasion. On the night, there were awards for the most spectacular mask, the most creative mask, the most striking male and the most dazzling female. The Ball was well attended by 40 staff and 21 of their partners and everyone there enjoyed themselves, seeming to relish the occasion to let their hair down at the end of a challenging year. As always, these events are a great opportunity for staff at all levels including the Senior Management team to communicate and interact.

On December 10 2010, the company held their annual Christmas Party and put on a stunning Venetian-style Masquerade Ball and invited everyone at Albany Software to buy or create a mask for the occasion. On the night, there were awards for the most spectacular mask, the most creative mask, the most striking male and the most dazzling female. The Ball was well attended by 40 staff and 21 of their partners and everyone there enjoyed themselves, seeming to relish the occasion to let their hair down at the end of a challenging year. As always, these events are a great opportunity for staff at all levels including the Senior Management team to communicate and interact.

The company provides a heath cash plan, which contributes towards the cost of everyday healthcare treatments such as dental, optical chiropody and specialist consultations up to a set policy limit. They also have a Occupational Nurse, Chiropodist Acupuncturist and Physiotherapist who visit the site on a bi-monthly basis. The company have a long term absence policy, to ensure all employees have the full support they need when suffering from any long term illnesses. They offer counselling to all employees through an independent councellor, which is funded by the company.

The leader of Aimia Foods operates an open door policy; any staff wishing to speak to him will feel very comfortable and can do this quite informally during any working day. He is very family orientated and will always take into consideration people's personal circumstances, which has ensured Aimia has been able to maintain its family culture. He is also happy to share the success of the business with staff. This is apparent by the large number of benefits on offer to all staff. As the Managing Director, he is extremely passionate about customer service, quality and health and safety.