Pride Powers Performance

DCIdeas is a corporate-wide programme that gives every employee a chance to participate in the decision-making processes that directly influences their work as well as the company's overall direction. DCIdeas offers employees a way to share their ideas and suggestions with Discovery leadership using an intuitive online interface. Employees can submit ideas directly to senior management and track the review and evaluation of their ideas as they move through the evaluation process. Since the re-launch of DCIdeas in 2009, more than 130 ideas have been submitted for review and implementation. One example of this system at work is Discovery's Planet Green at Work initiative, a special submission platform that was developed to allow employees to suggest ways for the company to employ environmentally-friendly practices in the workplace as well as in the way it conducts business. Discovery also hosts weekly Executive Breakfasts and yearly Executive Road Shows where staff have the unique opportunity to informally meet and engage directly with senior management. This year also saw the launch of the London office Creative Think Tank, which offers a corporate and creative platform respectively for staff to provide feedback and to seek their ideas, for example for new programming or marketing ideas.

Community involvement and philanthropic efforts are cornerstone philosophies for Discovery's corporate social responsibility, and this emphasis is reflected in the numerous programs that Discovery implements with the sole purpose of making a positive impact on its neighbouring communities. Every year Discovery employees take part in a one day volunteer initiative called 'Discover Your Impact Day', which brings thousands of employees globally to volunteer at more than 100 different service sites. In the London office every employee has the opportunity to choose a charity close to their heart and in their neighbourhood from a comprehensive list compiled by the Communications and HR team in partnership with the Media Trust and CSV. Employees can take part in various activities for the charity ranging from gardening, helping build a shed, painting a new centre, cooking at a homeless refuge or simply spending time with end users at their chosen charity. In addition, each of Discovery's brands and businesses embark on a number of partnerships each year with various charities. Discovery Networks UK's premier charitable partnership is with The Scout Association which provides adventurous activities and personal development opportunities for 400,000 young people in the UK aged 6-25. Discovery is sponsoring the Scouts pioneer badge which Discovery re-launched together with the Scouts in September 2011.

Denplan has put processes in place to ensure that employees are given regular support. A monthly one-to-one form is completed which looks at successes, actions, any issues and also the ongoing support the employee needs. Managers, Supervisors and Coaches were trained in using these forms at a bi-annual business event. Managers then meet with their teams on a regular monthly basis and bi-annually through the formal appraisal process. This enables them to gain an understanding of their team's work-life balance. They are able to conduct flexible working meetings with HR Support, providing inventive solutions to requests.

Denplan undertake community actions that make Winchester a better place whether this is painting the local theatre, renovating a youth club or helping to clear ground so everyone can enjoy it.

Cubic Transportation Systems contribute more than £60,000 to charities including Winston's Wish, Headway, Heavenly Stars, Railway Children and Horley Lions. But they also see our contribution in a different light: they build systems that make living in cities safer and more enjoyable by making public transport easier and more attractive to use. They are the people who devised the Oyster card system. In interviews following the roll-out of the system, one Londoner said that he felt, “..with my Oyster card, I own London...”. Oyster is now a London icon, one of the reasons why so many people love the city. And they do the same in Chicago, New York, LA, San Diego, Brisbane and Miami. Few products or services can be said to have made such a positive difference in peoples' lives.

Cubic Transportation Systems have introduced the Medicare cash scheme which includes cash back for a number of health related services, EAP and discounted gym membership. They have also introduction of the cycle to work scheme.

CTN Communications' charity of the year, Changing Faces, was holding a campaign week called Face Your Fears (for which they had designed the online campaign material). That week, their staff faced many fears: they overcame fears of maggots, spiders and snakes by handling them and they overcame their fear of needles by giving blood. On the final day, all staff overcame their fears of looking silly by dressing up at work. This light-hearted and sociable week of fund-raising brought the company together and raised over £1,500.

Listening to employees is mission-critical for CTN. They are a people business and benefit hugely from the views, ideas and opinions of their own people. In addition to the daily dialogue they have with individuals, CTN have institutionalised the following forums: a) Off-site company meetings: 4 times a year, all staff are invited to participate in an off-site exchange of ideas and a debate about future plans. b) CEO lunches: a rolling program of team 'working lunches' with the CEO for informal Q&A and debate.

The firm has a permanent Health & Wellbeing Page on their Intranet, with information and links to various websites, including local personal trainers & health clubs, nutrition sites and health & wellbeing articles on the NHS Direct & BBC websites. They have run a series of Health & Wellbeing seminars that were well attended and very much appreciated by all staff. They are also very proud of the success they had with their "Stop Smoking Scheme". For this they arranged for the NHS to run an in-house stop smoking scheme, which they offered as part of their health & wellbeing programme, several members of staff participated in the scheme and all managed to complete the programme and quit smoking.

The firm's appraisal process is comprehensive, detailed and fully supported. It ties together all aspects of training and development and all appraisals are reviewed and training is designed and provided to meet demands. The firm consistently achieves a 100% completion rate of appraisals and as such it is the major tool in ensuring personal growth.

Crest Medical take the approach to wellbeing whereby they try to identify and tackle the cause and not the symptoms of their people's welfare. Wherever possible they try and accommodate and support any changes and adjustments to relieve any pressures that may occur either personally or professionally. They do this by ensuring they maintain an open dialogue with their employees through their communications infrastructure and people management.

Within the organisation a working party has been implemented following an employee suggestion, with the aim to review operational progress and identify any areas for improvement. It involves a group of voluntary representatives who provide a voice for the rest of their team to highlight key operational concerns and any ideas/suggestions to rectify them. The MD is also in attendance as the final decision maker on feasibility from a commercial point of view. The Management focus group meet on a weekly basis to evaluate business as a whole. This encourages sharing best practice, cohesion and support between departments. Feedback is communicated back to teams and actions implemented. The mission, vision and values workshop encouraged the involvement of respected employees and demonstrated the business commitment to listening to its employees and reinforced the inclusive culture and open door policy.

Managers within the organisation make clear to their staff the objectives of their team and the organisation at a level that is appropriate to their role, ensuring that they understand how they are expected to contribute to developing and achieving them. They ensure they meet with their staff regularly and involve them in developing what they consider a viable reward and recognition strategy and how that connects with their own input toward the achievement of the organisation's goals. They also encourage their staff to recognise the contribution they and their colleagues make to the organisation, and recommend deserving colleagues for recognition. They implement an informal and formal evaluation of how their staff manage to keep on top of their expectations and offer constructive suggestions as the need arises. They also encourage a similar openness among their staff as they themselves enjoy with senior management, with the ultimate goal of an organisational culture of mutual support and encouragement..

Managers within the organisation make clear to their staff the objectives of their team and the organisation at a level that is appropriate to their role, ensuring that they understand how they are expected to contribute to developing and achieving them. They ensure they meet with their staff regularly and involve them in developing what they consider a viable reward and recognition strategy and how that connects with their own input toward the achievement of the organisation's goals. They also encourage their staff to recognise the contribution they and their colleagues make to the organisation, and recommend deserving colleagues for recognition. They implement an informal and formal evaluation of how their staff manage to keep on top of their expectations and offer constructive suggestions as the need arises. They also encourage a similar openness among their staff as they themselves enjoy with senior management, with the ultimate goal of an organisational culture of mutual support and encouragement..

Cougar Automation seeks to reward their employees for their efforts in a variety of ways. They recognise everyone that gives 10 out of 10 for customer service. This is done every two months at the company wide meetings and again at the awards presentation and at their annual Company Day.

To enhance wellbeing within the organisation, they encourage people to do work that plays to their strengths. They feel that when individuals play to their strengths they are happy and fulfilled and feel energised. Compared to asking people to do work they find dull and boring it's a no brainer! Then, they give people total control over what they do.

Managers take a holistic approach to their reports, both professionally and personally which can only be done by recognising strengths and weaknesses of individuals, guiding them through difficult challenges and always being available for advice. They understand that from time to time situations arise which may be unplanned and endeavour to take a flexible approach to day to day working and will accommodate life outside of the working day where possible, e.g. appointments, deliveries at home or when illness arise. They also go out of their way to make sure enough time is taken to resolve any issues, even if this may mean working from home. They also recognise achievement, both individually and externally and celebrate every success and achievement as a team.

COMPUTERLINKS are committed to recycling, using Biffa recycling bins internally and externally, recycling all technical or printer equipment through an environmentally friendly agency and using only recycled stationary and toilet paper. As an organisation they provide market leading solutions that protect organisations of all sizes against Cyberthreats. Protecting infrastructure from cyber-attacks is critically important as any disruption can have a severe effect on the world. Due to the complex, interconnected fabric that controls the globe, Cyberthreats impact most aspects of our everyday lives from personal banking through to vital resources such as electricity and water supplies. Any compromise can cause significant economic and social damage and can even be fatal. They distribute both established and new technologies to provide protection against such threats. Working with trusted partners, these solutions are implemented by organisations across all markets to ensure the attacks are kept to a manageable level, to minimise disruption and protect the livelihoods of the global population.

Arthur Hindmarch the MD spends a morning every month with all new starters, taking the time to get to know them individually, taking them around the premises, explaining the functions of teams, developments that have taken place and plans for the future. He is very involved and hands on working with sales people across all divisions of the company. He personally launched the Added Value Programme and is spending time working with Business Development Managers across the business to empower and train them to sell cross divisionally all of the products and services. Arthur is a humble, open, understanding, funny and empowering individual. He firmly believes that staff should be given the space to grow and at times learn from their mistakes in part of that growth, is hugely appreciative and constantly praises all the staff personally.

Commercial has run a successful environmental programme for a number of years. It is the first company in its sector to become CarbonNeutral and was declared a Beacon Company for sustainability in 2008. It has successfully reduced waste to landfill by over 90% and normalised carbon emissions by over 70% since 2006. They also have Green Angels, which are a small group of staff from different parts of the business with different levels of seniority who work together for a short time on a project. They are tasked to deliver two things; communication and business transformation. Each Green Angels group selects one commitment as the focus for their activity. One team focused on Eliminate Waste and revamped the internal signage, introduced new recycling bins and added two new recycling streams. They also held a “What a Load of Rubbish Day” which included all staff in seminars, tours and a game to encourage recycling. Following their activity, not only did the level of contamination in recycling bins decrease, but staff also reported much better recycling rates at home.

Social events at COAL IT are circled in everyone's diary and none more so than the annual incentive. A memorable trip was where a group of 17 attended a 4 night all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas. It was a fantastic experience especially for those who had not been before. Staff stayed at the Encore which is one of Las Vegas' new hotels and dined in top Las Vegas restaurants including Koi and Steve Whynn's SW restaurant. The holiday was topped off by a night in the Encore's new club XS, seeing the Rat Pack show and even bumping into the legend that is Tom Jones.

Social events at COAL IT are circled in everyone's diary and none more so than the annual incentive. A memorable trip was where a group of 17 attended a 4 night all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas. It was a fantastic experience especially for those who had not been before. Staff stayed at the Encore which is one of Las Vegas' new hotels and dined in top Las Vegas restaurants including Koi and Steve Whynn's SW restaurant. The holiday was topped off by a night in the Encore's new club XS, seeing the Rat Pack show and even bumping into the legend that is Tom Jones.

In response to feedback received from Managers' during their annual reviews in March 2011 requesting presentations from external speakers; the company engaged with Philip Hesketh, a world renowned motivation speaker to conduct training seminars for all staff. The seminars aimed to energise and motivate staff, build their confidence and enhance their customer service abilities. These were well received by all staff members and feedback was very positive. The leader of the organisation leads the organisation with real passion and drive, believes in quick decision-making and does not shy from making hard choices. His open door policy extends to emails and telephone calls and staff do not shy away from contacting him as they know he will listen and offer fair and direct feedback or advice. He is a people's person and makes each member of staff feel valued and appreciated. He values his good relationship with staff and will always ensure they receive the appreciation of the company for their hard work. At the core of his business style is a non-judgemental broad-minded attitude which is evidenced by his positive focus on and interaction with staff.

In response to feedback received from Managers' during their annual reviews in March 2011 requesting presentations from external speakers; the company engaged with Philip Hesketh, a world renowned motivation speaker to conduct training seminars for all staff. The seminars aimed to energise and motivate staff, build their confidence and enhance their customer service abilities. These were well received by all staff members and feedback was very positive. The leader of the organisation leads the organisation with real passion and drive, believes in quick decision-making and does not shy from making hard choices. His open door policy extends to emails and telephone calls and staff do not shy away from contacting him as they know he will listen and offer fair and direct feedback or advice. He is a people's person and makes each member of staff feel valued and appreciated. He values his good relationship with staff and will always ensure they receive the appreciation of the company for their hard work. At the core of his business style is a non-judgemental broad-minded attitude which is evidenced by his positive focus on and interaction with staff.

As an organisation they seek to enhance the wellbeing of employees by providing daily fruit portions for every member of staff and managing stress and losing weight. They have weekly exercise classes and encourage sporting events and participate in many local firm sporting activities. They organise monthly end of the week get-togethers to wind down in readiness for the weekend and close the office during office hours to celebrate Christmas. They also operate a Health Benefit scheme which provides counselling and has a general health enquiry line.

As an organisation they seek to enhance the wellbeing of employees by providing daily fruit portions for every member of staff and managing stress and losing weight. They have weekly exercise classes and encourage sporting events and participate in many local firm sporting activities. They organise monthly end of the week get-togethers to wind down in readiness for the weekend and close the office during office hours to celebrate Christmas. They also operate a Health Benefit scheme which provides counselling and has a general health enquiry line.

Citywire Holdings believe their holistic approach to promoting socially responsible behaviours towards the environment, social justice or local community relations is the most effective thing they do in ‘giving something back'. They have a dedicated ‘in the Community' team formed of employee and senior management representatives who help identify, develop, communicate and support employee participation in a breadth of ‘giving back' opportunities and initiatives. They include schools careers fairs, tea party concerts for the elderly and operating a food bank donation facility. Beneficiaries include local, national and global representatives including the young, the elderly, people in poverty or facing other social and educational challenges, people with disability and victims of natural disaster. They also sponsor every employee who undertakes a charitable fund raising initiative or challenge and actively encourage them to pursue internal promotion and awareness of their cause.

Citywire has an open plan office for all staff including senior management, this helps keep communication lines open at all levels of the business and direct feedback is welcomed by the Senior Management Team. The Chairman and CEO hold quarterly "town hall" meetings, where everyone in the company is invited; this keeps the staff up to date on company progress and actively encourages questions from staff. Citywire Improvement Group selects twelve individuals each year and gives them the opportunity to present their ideas to help improve the company. The Citywire Improvement groups have been continued with a further two offsite meetings taking place this year. The people invited are asked to come up with ideas to improve life at Citywire.

As an organisation they undertake staff surveys twice a year as part of their biannual performance review process. At one of their sites an annual staff survey clearly stated that better internal communication was needed. A Comms Group was subsequently created consisting of a diverse range of volunteers from across the site and they have been successfully creating a quarterly newsletter for all of their staff at Nottingham. This is a great way of communicating upcoming events, charity information, recommendations and other areas which might be of interest to staff. It also regularly profiles different partners at the Treatment Centre and has received great feedback from all staff. They also operate an open-door policy for all management including the CEO. Despite being split across a number of sites, they come together every Monday for a video-conference call run by the CEO with contributions invited from all Partners.

As an organisation they undertake staff surveys twice a year as part of their biannual performance review process. At one of their sites an annual staff survey clearly stated that better internal communication was needed. A Comms Group was subsequently created consisting of a diverse range of volunteers from across the site and they have been successfully creating a quarterly newsletter for all of their staff at Nottingham. This is a great way of communicating upcoming events, charity information, recommendations and other areas which might be of interest to staff. It also regularly profiles different partners at the Treatment Centre and has received great feedback from all staff. They also operate an open-door policy for all management including the CEO. Despite being split across a number of sites, they come together every Monday for a video-conference call run by the CEO with contributions invited from all Partners.

Ceuta spread the 'green word' outside by way of communicating and encouraging their people and all their suppliers to be thoughtful about the environment at home as well as at work.

Ceuta spread the 'green word' outside by way of communicating and encouraging their people and all their suppliers to be thoughtful about the environment at home as well as at work.

Centrica Energy are aware that learning new skills and building capability is key to personal growth and to making Centrica Energy high performing, pioneering and safe. Their approach is to offer blended learning solutions to cater for all employees including at an individual, team and organisational level. Examples of this will include their Induction Day and Management Orientation, supporting Career Days for their Business Units and leading on HiPo programmes such as ELP to identify future leaders within the business.

This year Centrica Energy launched their new recognition guidelines with a series of workshops to help managers recognise examples of High Performance, Pioneering Spirit and Safety within their teams and individuals that really live The CE Way. They believe that recognition is important for everyone in Centrica Energy; saying thank you can have a positive impact on individual and team morale. It is encouraged in their business so people feel increasingly motivated and engaged. Managers thank their people in ways that suit the individual; it could be a bottle of their favourite wine, dinner at their favourite restaurant or even a thank you letter or card. Centrica's philosophy is: “it is encouraged, it is up to you, you can take ownership and decide who and how to recognise”.

Catermasters give on the spot gifts for people, for example a bouquet of flowers, a meal out for two and additional holiday. Catermasters have also worked on communications and making employees more aware of some of the things that they do as a business. They have also improved the induction programme and induction package to appeal to more front line team members.

Managers receive training in reviewing with staff. Managers also work alongside staff on a daily basis and teamwork is heavily promoted. Managers have monthly staff meetings to review how things have gone etc. Managers are required to carry out monthly training bites and ensure job descriptions and information is up to date.

Managers have to ensure that the maintenance of the PRIDE boards and the free flow of information is delivered consistently throughout the year. They also need to be aware of issues within the team and particulary if individuals within their team seem to be struggling and in turn giving them the advice and support they need to continue to be fulfilled within their role.

Managers have to ensure that the maintenance of the PRIDE boards and the free flow of information is delivered consistently throughout the year. They also need to be aware of issues within the team and particulary if individuals within their team seem to be struggling and in turn giving them the advice and support they need to continue to be fulfilled within their role.

ByBox gives everybody the chance to prove to themselves how good they really could be. It helps them to find and unlock the unique energy that is in all of us but that so many other companies work so hard to stamp-out. At ByBox, it doesn't matter a jot where you came from, how old you are, how you were educated or what you do in your spare time. All that matters is that you have the true desire to be part of something memorable.

ByBox gives everybody the chance to prove to themselves how good they really could be. It helps them to find and unlock the unique energy that is in all of us but that so many other companies work so hard to stamp-out. At ByBox, it doesn't matter a jot where you came from, how old you are, how you were educated or what you do in your spare time. All that matters is that you have the true desire to be part of something memorable.

Building Adhesives offer an occupational health facility on site which is open to all employees. They are able to self-refer to discuss any issues with their health advisor, who are independent of the organisation and information is confidential. They provide counselling for individuals if they are having a difficult time, not just work related but if they have any issues in their personal life that they need support with. Building Adhesives also offer mini medicals for all employees.

They regularly support local charities that have a meaning or link to employees. They also support local educational establishments in work placements/work experience. This included taking eight students for a four week period where they gave them a specific project to work on supported by employee mentors and gave the students real life work experience to support university applications.

Brookson Ltd held a 15 Year Party in September 2010 to celebrate the 15 year anniversary of the company. There was a large focus on how the company had progressed over the 15 years it has been in operation and awards and special mentions were given to staff that had helped to contribute to the success of the business. The event celebrated both the achievements of the company and also the achievements of individual staff members. There was a three course meal, free bar and lots of entertainment this combined with the awards demonstrated that the company recognised and wanted to reward staff for their hard work over the past 15 years which collectively has resulted in the company's success.

The Operational Board have increased the level of authority that managers and team leaders have in relation to employee relations and budgetary control. This was done to empower the lower tiers of management. In addition to this they are the people that work closest with staff members, they know them as individuals and by allowing them more authority to make decisions based on what they feel is best for their staff has helped to boost staff morale, productivity and in turn engagement.

As part of Brocade's global WellFit strategy all employees in Europe, including the UK, are invited to participate in all global contests and challenges by leveraging on line tools and resources. Wellness programmes provide unique fitness alternatives for employees and are designed to improve their overall health and wellbeing globally while decreasing benefits costs. Most recently this has included an Executive Fitness Challenge. In this challenge Brocade's CEO Michael Klayko and his direct reports challenged all Brocade employees to partner in teams of 12 to complete at least 30 minutes of exercise for two weeks. Over 500 people participated in 44 teams across all geographic locations. In the end the executives came in 28th place. Their CEO said it was a humbling experience for him and it was a fun event for all employees who participated. They also held TheHealthy Living Family Fun Challenge. In its first challenge designed for families, Brocade's WellFit team launched the Healthy Living Family Fun Challenge. Participants tracked the number of fitness minutes they completed with a family member. Another event was Specific for EMEA and was called The Step on it Challenge, Walking is simple and an easy way to get fit you can do it any time, anywhere, on your own or with your family. In this challenge, designed to meet the needs of Brocade's employee population in Europe, participants were given a free pedometer from WellFit so they could track steps and complete against colleagues.

As part of Brocade's global WellFit strategy all employees in Europe, including the UK, are invited to participate in all global contests and challenges by leveraging on line tools and resources. Wellness programmes provide unique fitness alternatives for employees and are designed to improve their overall health and wellbeing globally while decreasing benefits costs. Most recently this has included an Executive Fitness Challenge. In this challenge Brocade's CEO Michael Klayko and his direct reports challenged all Brocade employees to partner in teams of 12 to complete at least 30 minutes of exercise for two weeks. Over 500 people participated in 44 teams across all geographic locations. In the end the executives came in 28th place. Their CEO said it was a humbling experience for him and it was a fun event for all employees who participated. They also held TheHealthy Living Family Fun Challenge. In its first challenge designed for families, Brocade's WellFit team launched the Healthy Living Family Fun Challenge. Participants tracked the number of fitness minutes they completed with a family member. Another event was Specific for EMEA and was called The Step on it Challenge, Walking is simple and an easy way to get fit you can do it any time, anywhere, on your own or with your family. In this challenge, designed to meet the needs of Brocade's employee population in Europe, participants were given a free pedometer from WellFit so they could track steps and complete against colleagues.

Casterbridge use a direct email system called 'Mail Matt', where employees can email Operations Director Matthew Moore directly with any kind of query, idea or feedback. This is available in a link off the intranet site. Additionally there is a 'Directors' email address, allowing employees to contact all the senior team directly. Casterbridge hold a quarterly Employee Forum where questions can be raised and they invite questions at all staff meetings which can be passed through the appropriate communication channels to whoever can serve the question best. Casterbridge aim to engender a feeling of being able to communicate across the organisation freely and easily.

The leader of the organisation is a person of high integrity, committed, passionate and a leader who has never lost sight of the Company's vision to be the premium provider in their sector. He has a most engaging management style, is open to ideas and listens to everyone. He is clear and reasonable, in setting objectives and supportive in their efforts to achieve these goals. In terms of interacting with employees, he is genuinely warm in his approach, has an astonishing capacity to remember names and a scary capability to remember previous conversations. At social events he is never happier than mixing with staff at all levels and always the first man to put his hand in his pocket. In summary he is a man that is recognisable as Casterbridge's leader and a leader who everyone is happy to follow.

Company social events are a regular feature. Addiction Worldwide hold Friday drinks every week, when they all get together at the end of the day to chat over a few beers. Their monthly staff meeting always adjourns to a local pub, and turns into a social event. Recently they decorated the building with cobwebs and pumpkins for Halloween, most people dressed up and the day ended in a party. They also have a well-supported softball team. They are hardworking, highly motivated individuals who genuinely enjoy each other's company. People will often hear of staff members who go on holiday together and spend time together out of office hours. Fun and playfulness are key to a culture that is creative and encourages innovation and socialising is a lovely by-product of this. Social events are not limited to the 'junior' or 'younger' members of staff. The long standing, more senior members of staff are not afraid to get stuck in either.

Company social events are a regular feature. Addiction Worldwide hold Friday drinks every week, when they all get together at the end of the day to chat over a few beers. Their monthly staff meeting always adjourns to a local pub, and turns into a social event. Recently they decorated the building with cobwebs and pumpkins for Halloween, most people dressed up and the day ended in a party. They also have a well-supported softball team. They are hardworking, highly motivated individuals who genuinely enjoy each other's company. People will often hear of staff members who go on holiday together and spend time together out of office hours. Fun and playfulness are key to a culture that is creative and encourages innovation and socialising is a lovely by-product of this. Social events are not limited to the 'junior' or 'younger' members of staff. The long standing, more senior members of staff are not afraid to get stuck in either.

Bovey Castle display the correct behaviours by communicating regularly in the form of meetings and appraisals. They also provide training sessions.

Bovey Castle display the correct behaviours by communicating regularly in the form of meetings and appraisals. They also provide training sessions.

They have a passionate belief in supporting their colleagues and have faced numerous challenges since the merger of the two heritage businesses, each with their own training methods and practices. To further develop their customer service training, they knew they needed to radically change the way they developed the capability of their practice colleagues adopting not just a ‘Best of Both' but a ‘Better than Both' approach to the challenge. Historically D&A had operated a compulsory NVQ programme for all of its practice colleagues whilst Boots had adopted a less structured but customer-led approach. To best support their colleagues the decision was taken to retain the formal NVQ approach. They also decided to make the programmes increasingly flexible and fit for purpose in a fast moving sector. So last year they made the Level 2 NVQ apprenticeship programme compulsory for all new joins - 400 new apprentices each year with capacity to flex up to over 600, and to ensure a consistent training experience for all learners whether full time or part time, government funded or non funded. In the last year, with the mission to ensure successful take up of the NVQ programme, they have opened five new satellite or regional training centres across the country. These have been carefully sited to ensure that all colleagues are within reasonable travelling distance of a centre, and that their Optical Consultant population do not have to stay overnight. This is particularly important given the number of part-time colleagues and colleagues with families, for whom residential training is extremely difficult. The company have invested large amounts in facilities, equipment and staff for these centres and they have all been created with colleagues' personal needs in mind. They want to ensure all of their colleagues have the knowledge they need to succeed in their role and the opportunity to develop themselves personally while at work, and the apprenticeship programme is just one example of that.

They have a passionate belief in supporting their colleagues and have faced numerous challenges since the merger of the two heritage businesses, each with their own training methods and practices. To further develop their customer service training, they knew they needed to radically change the way they developed the capability of their practice colleagues adopting not just a ‘Best of Both' but a ‘Better than Both' approach to the challenge. Historically D&A had operated a compulsory NVQ programme for all of its practice colleagues whilst Boots had adopted a less structured but customer-led approach. To best support their colleagues the decision was taken to retain the formal NVQ approach. They also decided to make the programmes increasingly flexible and fit for purpose in a fast moving sector. So last year they made the Level 2 NVQ apprenticeship programme compulsory for all new joins - 400 new apprentices each year with capacity to flex up to over 600, and to ensure a consistent training experience for all learners whether full time or part time, government funded or non funded. In the last year, with the mission to ensure successful take up of the NVQ programme, they have opened five new satellite or regional training centres across the country. These have been carefully sited to ensure that all colleagues are within reasonable travelling distance of a centre, and that their Optical Consultant population do not have to stay overnight. This is particularly important given the number of part-time colleagues and colleagues with families, for whom residential training is extremely difficult. The company have invested large amounts in facilities, equipment and staff for these centres and they have all been created with colleagues' personal needs in mind. They want to ensure all of their colleagues have the knowledge they need to succeed in their role and the opportunity to develop themselves personally while at work, and the apprenticeship programme is just one example of that.

Employees recieve handwritten cards from the Managing Directors for exceptional work. Staff are proud to receive them and it really encourages motivation and commitment.

Boodles genuinely and sincerely care about staff uplifting and motivating. They are 100% hands on and accessible to all staff, setting high standards and leading by example.

Bond Pearce has a confidential and free employee assistance helpline, for anyone to call and discuss personal or work-related problems. They also have regular occupational health visits by a qualified GP to each of their office locations. He is available for any employee to attend a private consultation, should he/she need to do so. They also have free eye tests and flu jabs for all employees.

Bond Pearce has an active Corporate Responsibility agenda with local committees in each office. One of their most innovative actions is the Business Action on Homelessness (BAOH), which is a unique partnership between business, homeless agencies and the Government. The campaign runs in a number of cities, including Bristol, and aims to break the cycle of "no job, no home", by helping homeless people to find employment and achieve independent living. The people on the campaign are “hidden homeless” i.e. not rough sleepers but people living in hostels or other forms of temporary accommodation. They all share the aim of wanting to change their lives by returning to work but often lack the confidence and the know how to achieve this for themselves. Bond Pearce (Bristol office) has hosted part of the BAOH training programme for their homeless clients. They help by providing some volunteers to help clients improve their interview skills. Bond Pearce have participated in this programme over a number of years. The homeless clients gain an immense amount of confidence simply from coming into a professional office environment, being treated with respect and finding out that people who work in this type of firm are interested in seeing them achieve success

The most innovative thing that the organisation has done this year with regard to giving something back, centres on the adoption of a more proactive and structured approach to organising their community and charity programme. The programme seeks to give back to the community and engage their people in a range of volunteering and charitable opportunities through the use of the company volunteer policy, allowing up to two days out of the office per year to participate in community initiatives. Run by an employee-led CSR steering group, the programme has been organised in two main areas; charitable giving and community investment. The objective of the charitable giving element is to ensure both employee involvement and maximum benefit for charity through fundraising and donations. This year Macmillan Cancer Support was selected by their people as the national charity and they set an ambitious target of raising £50,000, enough to fund a Macmillan nurse for one year. Employees can also sign up for payroll giving or apply for matched sponsorship for personal charity fundraising activities. Building on the theme of employee involvement, the community investment element of their programme aims to develop an awareness of the impact of their business on the wider community, encouraging their people to volunteer to participate in community based initiatives. These initiatives range from employability skills workshops to painting and maintenance in the local community. All volunteering activities are made available through their ‘oneCommunity' online volunteering platform.

Managers are expected to use the 'LMS' system to conduct regular reviews with teams. Employees are asked to rate each objective on a given scale and constructive feedback is provided to support development. Managers are also expected to use the 'Shine' recognition platform by reviewing nominations for employees and approving awards. Managers are also expected to utilise the full range of resources on offer to support personal and career development. Using such programmes enables managers to adapt to a variety of challenging situations and also offer support in giving feedback to teams.

BMT celebrated its 25th anniversary by launching a new significant philanthropic project called BMT Giveback. All staff were invited to submit ideas for ways in which the application of BMT's technical scientific and engineering capabilities could make a difference to the lives of people in developing countries. The winning idea which has been put into practice is the design and implementation of a low cost sewerage and sewage treatment system for a rural village in India. At present, with no sanitation system, dirty water flows in open channels down the middle of unpaved roads, creating health risks. The project is much more than just a charitable donation, it is a technical challenge which BMT's engineers have taken on to design a novel system which will work with very low water flows and be easy to maintain by the local people. By choosing materials and skills for the construction which area available locally, businesses in the area have been able to secure contracts to deliver the works, ensuring the maximum economic benefit to the local community. The new design having been created and piloted by BMT's technical experts is being given away to an international development charity who will seek to implement it elsewhere. So not only will the 2500 people in this village experience a significant increase in their quality of life, but potentially many thousands elsewhere.

BMT celebrated its 25th anniversary by launching a new significant philanthropic project called BMT Giveback. All staff were invited to submit ideas for ways in which the application of BMT's technical scientific and engineering capabilities could make a difference to the lives of people in developing countries. The winning idea which has been put into practice is the design and implementation of a low cost sewerage and sewage treatment system for a rural village in India. At present, with no sanitation system, dirty water flows in open channels down the middle of unpaved roads, creating health risks. The project is much more than just a charitable donation, it is a technical challenge which BMT's engineers have taken on to design a novel system which will work with very low water flows and be easy to maintain by the local people. By choosing materials and skills for the construction which area available locally, businesses in the area have been able to secure contracts to deliver the works, ensuring the maximum economic benefit to the local community. The new design having been created and piloted by BMT's technical experts is being given away to an international development charity who will seek to implement it elsewhere. So not only will the 2500 people in this village experience a significant increase in their quality of life, but potentially many thousands elsewhere.

The company recognised the need to re-visit some of the fundamentals of their 5 year business plan: the market had changed significantly, they had been through a tough year financially and needed to re-ignite some of the passion employees felt about working for Blue Rubicon. They consulted and engaged everyone in this process – and ultimately re-shaped a bolder and ambitious growth plan for the next 5 years. This was presented by the senior management to the whole agency where we were clear about: Where the company was headed and why, Identifying the opportunities for individuals to have personal progression. As a result this inspired debate across the agency – at the Q&A session and during the following days. Specific feedback was sent directly to their CEO and included: “Thank you for today's presentation – I found it really inspiring. It's really exciting to be part of an agency with such bold ambitions!”

Blue Rubicon has created a unique reward scheme that recognises the efforts of individuals while at the same time reinforcing the culture of thirst for knowledge and knowledge sharing. The scheme is called R&R – Rest and Relaxation through Reward and Recognition. The purpose is to recognises the effort put in by every member of staff to delivering great work by encouraging time out for work life balance. All 130 staff are given an annual pot of £200 to draw down from over the year to encourage time out from their daily routine. The money can be spent on gaining new insights, a fresh perspective, indulge their passions or enhance wellbeing. £100 must be spent on taster classes/experiences set up by the company on a quarterly basis. These events are social and encourage people to spend time with colleagues who they may not work with and get to know them learning something new together –from ghost walks of London to wine tasting or yoga. The other £100 can be spend on anything the individual chooses as long as it supports gaining new experiences or enhances their well being. The things people have chosen to spend it on range from; learning how to be a cookery writer, buying a sewing machine to indulge a passion for clothes design to enlisting a personal trainer to get ready for a marathon. All of the activities are a thank you from the company for the individuals contribution to Blue Rubicon's success whilst encouraging time away from their desk to learn, have fun and encourage work life balance.

All partners and directors attended a workshop designed to help them to motivate, recognise and retain their employees. The Senior Management team have also approved a firmwide strategy session off site for May 2012. This is currently in the planning stages. Bob Rothenberg became Senior Partner at the company in 1997. He has an approachability and warmth that make him very popular with everyone within the organisation. He successfully lives the firm's values and has managed to nurture a firm that cares about its staff whilst also being supportive of new and innovative approaches to the way they do things.

The company provide employees with their own, personalised mug upon joining the firm to eliminate waste from the use of paper cups.

As well as having an employee assistance programme in place, employees are able to have massages during their working day. The firm also offer access to a doctor and occupational health specialists. A full workstation assessment programme is also in place.

Birketts has an ad-hoc reward system where individuals or teams are rewarded for achievement, outstanding work or going the extra mile. Rewards vary and can be money for a meal out or weekend away or vouchers. In addition, Birketts also has a published profit share scheme.

All employees from Senior Account Manager level and above attend the BCL Academy Line Manager Training.

November 2010 saw Billington Cartmell host its 20th Birthday Party celebrations at Paramount, situated on the top floor of London's Centre Point Building. The venue has 360 degree vistas of London reinforcing the company's view to the future and vision. Dinner and welcome drinks were followed by a motivating speech by guest speaker, Craig Sams founder of Green and Blacks (to expand on their core principles and OA), live music from the James Taylor Quartet and comedy from Reginald D Hunter.

To initiate employee engagement, new employees will be given a structured induction over two weeks from arrival at Barlows. Their personal development process provides a two-way framework that balances a structured approach with flexibility and informality. It is also intended to integrate a process of employee and company improvement into the everyday running of the business by improving hard and soft skills, addressing behaviour and liking roles to the company mission. The company also share their knowledge and skills in the workplace through coaching and mentoring, workplace secondments and collaborative planning. All have an immediate impact on business results.

To initiate employee engagement, new employees will be given a structured induction over two weeks from arrival at Barlows. Their personal development process provides a two-way framework that balances a structured approach with flexibility and informality. It is also intended to integrate a process of employee and company improvement into the everyday running of the business by improving hard and soft skills, addressing behaviour and liking roles to the company mission. The company also share their knowledge and skills in the workplace through coaching and mentoring, workplace secondments and collaborative planning. All have an immediate impact on business results.

Bank Machine has a number of ways in which it rewards its employees but one of the most effective is their 'Employee of the Quarter' awards. Nominations are provided by employees for employees (not necessaily from their own department) who they believe have gone the extra mile in their job. Nominations have to be well detailed with explanations of specific instances or situations that have prompted the nomination. The winner or winners each receive £1,000 whilst the runners-up receive £500 each.

Bank Machine has a number of ways in which it rewards its employees but one of the most effective is their 'Employee of the Quarter' awards. Nominations are provided by employees for employees (not necessaily from their own department) who they believe have gone the extra mile in their job. Nominations have to be well detailed with explanations of specific instances or situations that have prompted the nomination. The winner or winners each receive £1,000 whilst the runners-up receive £500 each.

An open and caring attitude of the company to staff health, welfare, safety and care. Avidity IP do the basic things very well (as an office based business), such as the office environment, facilities and ergonomics (seating, IT equipment, ergonomics). Also their policy of keeping capacity always reduces stress on employees. Some of the smaller things which are done every day include: Methodical office and kitchen cleaning, decontamination of door handles and work surfaces, thorough kitchen cleaning. Additionally the company provide annual Eye checks and care, and Flu Jabs.

An open and caring attitude of the company to staff health, welfare, safety and care. Avidity IP do the basic things very well (as an office based business), such as the office environment, facilities and ergonomics (seating, IT equipment, ergonomics). Also their policy of keeping capacity always reduces stress on employees. Some of the smaller things which are done every day include: Methodical office and kitchen cleaning, decontamination of door handles and work surfaces, thorough kitchen cleaning. Additionally the company provide annual Eye checks and care, and Flu Jabs.

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.

Agrovista's chairman knows everyone's name and is happy to make time to see or call any member of staff if they wish to discuss something with him. He interacts well at all levels and always makes time for anyone who wishes to see him. An example of his involvement is that he always makes a point of contacting every employee on their birthday to wish them 'Happy Birthday'.

Agrovista's chairman knows everyone's name and is happy to make time to see or call any member of staff if they wish to discuss something with him. He interacts well at all levels and always makes time for anyone who wishes to see him. An example of his involvement is that he always makes a point of contacting every employee on their birthday to wish them 'Happy Birthday'.

Addleshaw Goddard's Managers provide clear vision and direction to their team members to enable their team to understand their role and their value to their team. One of their core values is that the Firm is open and honest, and they expect their line managers to listen to their employees and ensure that they are open to considering any queries or concerns that they may have. Their managers explain their decisions and actions and give people an opportunity to respond. Their Managers devote time to coaching their team members and are objective and fair in the way they assess and reward performance. They expect their Managers to provide timely feedback on an open, honest and constructive basis. Feedback sessions are important as it helps an individual understand how they are doing and what is required of them. Importantly, this acts as important upward communication tool so managers can receive feedback and ensure that what they are asking is realistic but also provides stretch and development for the individual.

A current example of how they support their lawyers is their Lawyer of 2014 programme. This is about equipping each of their fee earners to have the skills and expertise to be able to make a positive contribution to their business in a way that is aligned with their 2014 objectives. They have identified a number of key stages of an Associate's career, namely: New Associate, Associate Level 1, and Associate Level 2 and moving on to Managing Associate promotion stage. Their development programme has been built around each of these stages. They were one of the first law firms in the UK to introduce the MA level our programmes mark a stage in an associate's career; all have been specifically tailored to Addleshaw Goddard, and are very practical and delivered by a combination of internal and external experts. The programmes have been, and will continue to be, benchmarked against what is offered by other leading professional services providers.

Giving back to the wider community is very important to Abel & Cole. Every week they give food to local hospices and charities. Every week, through their Farmer's Choice not-for-profit scheme, they sell wholesale organic fruit and veg to schools, so they can sell them to parents and teachers, keeping the profit for school equipment and other fundraising projects. Every month Abel & Cole donate approximately 15 free boxes of fruit and vegetable to small charities, for auctions, raffles and other fundraising activities. Since June 2010 they have collected hundreds of unwanted bicycles from their customers, repaired them and shipped them to community projects in Ghana.

Keith Abel and Ted Bell, the leaders of the organisation, make regular ‘pilgrimages' to every sight in the company and meet with every single employee either as an individual or in small groups for a Q&A session. Managers are not present at the employees' meetings. This sometimes involves visits to the drivers' depots at 3.00 am and a lot of travelling around. These meetings have a huge impact on employee engagement as they cut out the middle-man and allow employees from all levels to sit down with those at the top of the company. Employees are invited to ask questions and give feedback and often the sessions can be quite intense and challenging from the directors. Afterwards, lists of actions are produced for each department and all employees are regularly updated on the progress of these actions.

The company allocate an experienced senior manager to mentor and coach each individual employee throughout the employee's entire employment life-cycle.

4C Associates regularly work with charitable organisations that encourages youth from deprived backgrounds and ethnic origins, including people with disability to find work and do something worthwhile in order to keep people off the streets and help the environment we live in. The organisation also provides training and information regarding "going back to work" for everyone. They give up their time to assist in their project by assisting people in interviewing skills and providing office space for meetings and training.

Both Managing partners of the business are as a result of internal promotion and success. Both are hugely respected individuals in the business. 1HQ has supported them through their growth.

1HQ consider the level of support individuals will need to achieve their tasks. They review this regularly asking for feedback on how they feel things are going and set up shadow opportunities.They work with individuals on clearly explaining what is required, measuring where they are achieving and what needs to be done next. The company shows an interest in people as individuals and care for their needs. The company seeks to understand their ambitions and encourages their potential. Managers know their team inside out through team building events.

Zeus have quarterly CEO awards, one to an individual in each team in the business, in recognition of outstanding achievement or efforts. The most recent awards in one department were i-Pads.

Zeus have quarterly CEO awards, one to an individual in each team in the business, in recognition of outstanding achievement or efforts. The most recent awards in one department were i-Pads.

QC Supplies have a nominated charity which receives their organisation's support and employees are actively involved in choosing which charity to support. They support the Send a Cow Charity, to which they donate a percentage of their Own Brand turnover towards provision of cows in Africa. In addition they also sponsor events held by local schools and charities.

At QC Supplies a selection of fruit is available to all staff, free of charge to encourage healthy eating and Employees are given paid leave, when required for mental health issues. QC Supplies encourage staff to get more exercise and regularly have Inter-departmental team sports events. They also offer a Debt Counselling service and provide interest-free loans upon request.

Their leader actively encourages team members to get involved and has weekly meetings with department heads to ensure he is constantly aware of all areas of the business. He sets high personal standards, leads by example and is always approachable.

They have been very selective when moving offices, despite wanting the most suitable accommodation they have taken into consideration the location for team members, for example close to town for public transport and lunch hours. The cycle to work scheme and they also encourage participation in sports teams, including football, cricket, badminton and unihoc and arrange and fund the games.

They have an annual company conference, which not only gives the opportunity for employees to be updated regarding business performance and future strategy and developments, but also involves team building events, on a company wide scale. These are held in September of each year and this year, the employees worked in 4 teams (in line with our 'House system') and took part in 'it's a Knockout.' The budget has been utilised for their annual Christmas party, team based Christmas meals and a 12 days of Christmas campaign in the office, in which there is a different treat or competition for the 12 days of Christmas. There are also social events incorporated into the incentives for the sales team on an adhoc basis outside of this budget.

They have an annual employee of the year award, voted for by staff and have a 5 and 10 year service award which amounts to a £500 bonus after 5 years and currently an Omega watch at the 10 year mark. These are awarded by their MD at company events such as the annual conference or Christmas party

They support a charitable organisation which was founded by Working LInks - this is the Links Foundation. Each year they give a percentage of our profit (over £5m in 10 years). Local organisations within the communities where they work can submit bids to use this fund for local budgets. During this, their 10th anniversary year, every person in Working Links will be given a day to support a charity or local community project of their choice.

Although Working Links doesn't have a set budget for social events, they do support local managers to make their own decisions on funding events for their teams. These range from team lunches through to full days out. During their 10th bithday year as an example each team across the business was able to choose a day out for everyone to attend. Teams decisions ranged from days at theme parks or horse racing through to a 'car park carnival', where a team organised a fair in the office car park. As 2010 is Working Links' tenth anniversary as a business they also organised a huge event in London to celebrate. For this everybody in the business was given free transport and accommodation to London, where they had a huge black tie event. This brought together the whole business, with special prizes, fun activities and entertainment.

Leads by example, ultimate professional, consistent and fair and commands respect without having to ask for it.

To ensure employees feel rewarded they send Thank you letters and hard work is always acknowledged .

The company has an instant policy including things such as Meals/trips/football matches/wine.

Training activities are provided by the company are things such as Credit regulation and collections practice Law, Marketing Finance Social media to encourage employees to grow.

Philippe Jouy was appointed Managing Director in November 2009 following the retirement of the CEO after over 30 years with the Company. He has faced many challenges over the year particularly as a result of the economic climate and its impact upon the construction industry. He is open, honest with a fresh outlook, he challenges his people and has high expectations of himself and others.

The RESPECT Programme promotes positive behaviour in health, education, personal well being, citizenship, relationships and environment. Warings are proud to be the official corporate partner of the programme, allowing them to offer and support opportunities for young disadvantaged people including supporting apprenticeships and accredited training. Since partnering with the Respect Programme, Warings have taken part in a number of volunteering projects including the environmental clear up at Milton Locks, the Portsmouth Games Sports Festival and the Southsea Skate Park refurbishment. Their Health & Safety Advisors also volunteered their expertise prior to the work, undertaking a complete risk assessment of the park's ongoing repair programme.

There are many courses that employees can take part in: Manual Handling, HACCP Auditor courses, IOSH NEBOSH Environment Awareness, Forklift Training, HR Workshops, Management Programmes, Finance for non Finance Managers, NVQ's in Warehousing, iTQ,Business Skills, Business Improvement Techniques, ESOL Skills for Life, Food Hygiene, Diversity.

There is internal support counselling and recommendations for external providers to assist employees if required through Andover Mind and other counselling services. These can also be part or full funded by the company. Vitacress have a professional therapeutic massage consultant that comes in weekly and conducts 15 minutes head and shoulder massages for any employee that would like to participate. The employee pays for this service but Vitacress pay the employee whist they receive their massage.

Village Vets try to encourage team work by holding Staff dinners, Theatre trips, bowling, ice skating and many more fun events.

Village Vets support employees' wellbeing by offering healthy eating advice, Fit club and they also have external organisations to provide help with stress.

In ValueClick we regularly meet up for social events such as Friday beer, Team-lunches and events such as Christmas parties, Summer Parties and Leaving parties.

In ValueClick we regularly meet up for social events such as Friday beer, Team-lunches and events such as Christmas parties, Summer Parties and Leaving parties.

All Turner &Townsend offices with more than ten people around the globe have a CSR representative and each of these provides a quarterly report to the CSR committee on how they have engaged with the community where they live and work. There is also an emphasis on children and homelessness. Staff have been given total freedom to choose local charities and good causes that have popular support within their particular office. Such activities as fund raising, taking volunteer days, time given for pro bono advise are monitored via key performance indicators, with a view to achieving a consistent approach globally and demonstrating continuous improvement.

All Turner &Townsend offices with more than ten people around the globe have a CSR representative and each of these provides a quarterly report to the CSR committee on how they have engaged with the community where they live and work. There is also an emphasis on children and homelessness. Staff have been given total freedom to choose local charities and good causes that have popular support within their particular office. Such activities as fund raising, taking volunteer days, time given for pro bono advise are monitored via key performance indicators, with a view to achieving a consistent approach globally and demonstrating continuous improvement.

Thomson Online Benefits hold a Company conference, team meals and drinks and a Christmas party. There are various team outings and social events. Team celebrations are managed locally. Team/Reward bonuses are given through the recognition programme.

Performance is recognised with annual employee awards. Instant recognition is given with spot rewards through their Moments of Magic programme.

In addition to their informal and staff-initiated events, The Futures company provides pro-bono services for a number of charitable and other NGO organisations. Examples include: The Teenage Cancer Trust where they delivered a keynote speech on evaluating the impact of the built environment at their annual conference. The Futures Company provide support in a variety of ways offering disadvantaged young people from City Gateway the opportunity for a three month Apprenticeship and offering annual office-based work experience opportunities for a local high school.

The Futures Company offer Management Training consisting of People management, Business and Financial Management, Negotiation skills, Leadership and Trusted Advisor training as well as Industry-specific training. There is learning on the job, mentored and coached by seniors, given opportunities to work across the teams to gain breadth as well as depth of experience.

The Crown Estate local communities span the UK. They are developing a corporate community investment strategy but already operate in a number of estate based (Rural, Marine or Urban) communities. They work with agricultural tenants to help them diversify or join a prestigious food store's supply chain. They have a Marine Communities Fund through which about £400k p.a. is directed at specific projects. They are a founding member of the Westminster Small and Medium sized Business forum, have provided community halls for various groups and regularly permit the use of their Board Room as a local unit for community events/local groups.

The Crown Estate local communities span the UK. They are developing a corporate community investment strategy but already operate in a number of estate based (Rural, Marine or Urban) communities. They work with agricultural tenants to help them diversify or join a prestigious food store's supply chain. They have a Marine Communities Fund through which about £400k p.a. is directed at specific projects. They are a founding member of the Westminster Small and Medium sized Business forum, have provided community halls for various groups and regularly permit the use of their Board Room as a local unit for community events/local groups.

The Brand Union believe in instant recognition, they give vouchers and cards for hardwork and going above and beyond. They also reward ideas or innovation at the Mongrel Vigor awards and WOW awards for specific achievements.

The Brand Union have a budget specifically for fun and social events examples of these events are: Christmas party - Summer party - Events - Visits. In addition to this they also have Team celebration events such as, Dinners and outings and Team reward/bonuses in the form of vouchers. The Brand Union describe their most recent or best experience of a team building event as their Mongrel Vigor away days.

On average, employees at Teva UK Limited receive 60 hours per year formal training with an average spend being £850 on training per year. Examples of the sorts of training activities your employees might undertake are: Management & Leadership Development, - coaching, motivation, situational leadership, influencing & assertiveness, communications, presentation skills, negotiation skills, junior, middle & senior management development programmes; development centres Specialist/Operational training per function, eg regulatory training, operations training, warehourse, distribution training, packaging training, medical training, competition law training, sales effectiveness training, account management training, Attending conferences/seminars based on functional needs. eg HR attends the CIPD conferences.

On average, employees at Teva UK Limited receive 60 hours per year formal training with an average spend being £850 on training per year. Examples of the sorts of training activities your employees might undertake are: Management & Leadership Development, - coaching, motivation, situational leadership, influencing & assertiveness, communications, presentation skills, negotiation skills, junior, middle & senior management development programmes; development centres Specialist/Operational training per function, eg regulatory training, operations training, warehourse, distribution training, packaging training, medical training, competition law training, sales effectiveness training, account management training, Attending conferences/seminars based on functional needs. eg HR attends the CIPD conferences.

Teletext Holidays have a budget specifically for fun and social events. Some examples of these events are: Bowling, Quizzes and Nights Out. Team celebrations are held with regular monthly meets and specific milestones are always celebrated in various styles. Staff at Teletext Holidays recently celebrated Stag and Hen do's for two team members.

Teletext Holidays have a budget specifically for fun and social events. Some examples of these events are: Bowling, Quizzes and Nights Out. Team celebrations are held with regular monthly meets and specific milestones are always celebrated in various styles. Staff at Teletext Holidays recently celebrated Stag and Hen do's for two team members.

TD Waterhouse match funds raised by their employees for charity pound for pound with no upper limit. Their HR Director is chair of the Leeds and Bradford Cares Advisory Board. - In the past 12 months they have won the CARES North West Community Impact award and more than 48% of employees have so far taken part in one or more CSR activity this year. They also achieved a Gold Award for their Investors in People Application. They use CSR as a development tool and have a CSR module on their Management Development Programme. They have a mix of volunteers across all of the business areas at all levels, from the CEO and beyond and their CSR strategy adopts a community based approach to ensure that they are giving back consistently to the communities in which they operate.

Quitting smoking, Eating healthily, Losing weight, Managing stress, Healthy heart/ cholesterol and Getting more exercise all form part of TD Waterhouse's calendar of well being events. They offer support for other mental health issues through their employee assistance programme, Validium. TD Waterhouse believe the investment they give to employee well being is above and beyond what other companies offer and clearly demonstrates their commitment. In 2010 they were awarded with the Investors in People Good Practice Award for Health & Well-being.

Personal Growth is an important area and on average employees at Tameside College receive 45 hours per year formal training, with the organisation's average spend per employee on training per year being £140. Some examples of the sorts of training activities their employees might undertake are: Higher Educaiton Qualifications, Professional Qualifications, Teacher Training, Professional, Updating Skills, Updating Equality and Diversity Health and Safety.

Tameside College has a budget specifically for fun and social events such as their Fun Day and Christmas Party. The College leadership and management team meet 4 times a year to share ideas and the challenges that the organisation faces. In addition to this there are individual team training activities as part of the 5 Development days in place for staff training each year.

Talkington Bates visit local colleges and schools for chefs where they hold live Q&A or surgery sessions. Their offices are open plan and senior management hot desk, they always operate an open door policy. They have a staff forum on the intranet with an intranet based ‘Ask the leader' system and the leader/ senior management interact with employees during regular site visits. The leader of the organisation in particular knows all staff by their first names, visit all sites on a regular basis and takes a personal interest in all staff.

Talkington Bates have training programmes on the intranet for their managers and offer pay/ support for external management qualifications through NLP and external training facilitators. Individual training plans are set and 360 feedback is given at 6 monthly appraisals. All managers have a mentor as well as external coaching/ mentoring through Skills south east. Managers regularly attend seminars on employment law as well as field trips to other sites, suppliers and high street organisations.

System C plc ensure that employees feel they are rewarded for their efforts. They have a Competitive benefits package, Annual performance related bonus (based on company performance and indiividual performance), Competitive salaries (internal/external benchmarking to ensure fair and equitable salaries), Comprehensive Appraisal process in place as well as regaular one to one meetings with line managers to discuss progress against set objectives. The Company supports employees through professional qualifications, both financially and with given study leave. There is a dedicated training budget in place for each employee, to ensure continued personal development. Share options are awarded to employees for performance periodically and they have implemented a SAYE for 3 years sharescheme.

At System C plc they offer HR mentoring/support, dedicated training budget should external course be required and support from Executive Directors and Operations Board for all line managers. Paid time off and financial support is given to support management qualifications(i.e. FCIPD MCIPD MBA PhD CIMA Management Accountancy qualifications. Mentoring and Coaching schemes are in place as well as 'HR In Touch' - Coaching for employees and managers and 360 feedback internal and external schemes are in place. External coaching/ mentoring are available for executive and operation board directors and the HR team regularly attend external seminars on employement law which are run by local and london law firms and Work-Stream Manager Meetings Senior Management Meetings.

On average employees receive 32 hours per year formal training with an average spend per employee on training per year of £665. Examples of the sorts of training activities their employees might undertake are: SMSTS, First Aid at Work, Fire Warden, Asbestos awareness, Working at Height, IOSH In Design Managment & Leadership Customer Service, IT skills NVQ's, Business Administration Funding for Degree courses, Public speaking, Presentation skills, Stress Management, Time/ Programme management and Personal Development Reviews.

Styles&Wood match funds raised by their employees for charity as many times as they can or they will provide funds for raffles and activities to enable the events to take place. They will generally match up to £250 per event. As a Project Management company delivering projects for their clients on a national basis, they recruit colleagues based in locations accross the UK. They therefore deliver an agenda which supports nationally recognised charities such as Barnardos along with projects based around their office locations. Their sites often engage in activities local to the site area where they are based, this can range from mini challenges, recruiting local labour, engagement with client community acitivities and supporting local schools.

Stephenson Harwood professional fee earning employees receive technical and legal training coupled with a comprehensive range of key business skills such as people management, financial management, business development and leadership. Similar topics are run for their support staff alongside their personal development plans. In addition to specific role-related training. All staff receive a full induction and ongoing IT training. Stephenson Harwood also offer intermediate language training and compulsory training to comply with the Solicitors' Regulatory Authority and Solicitors' Professional Skills Course. Additionally, they offer support for the external technical, legal or professional courses, as appropriate, such as an LLM, CTA, or ACA.

Stephenson Harwood's Chief Executive is not only down-to-earth and personable but a pragmatic, effective and well respected leader. Her style is informal and relaxed and she makes every effort to attend Firm social events and other opportunities to mix with employees, such as the associate management lunches. She has an exceptional understanding of the Firm's business, people and culture and is well placed to lead the business forward over the coming years. She continues to head up Stephenson Harwood's corporate practice and therefore keeps in touch with issues on the ground as well as the bigger picture. She also remains actively involved in people aspects such as recruitment and development.

Some examples of the sorts of training activities Steljes employees might undertake are product training event weekends, bespoke training courses written for Managers and employees, Health and Safety Training, Professional Qualifications, Role specific courses, Internal Product Training and Product Certification Training. There are fully funded professional courses, time off work for study leave and exams and fully paid for course materials.

Steljes have a sales Employee of the month award which comprises of a plaque on the wall and a prize awarded by the Sales and Business Development Director. Milestone recognition is awarded with Fortnum and Mason Hampers at the Company Christmas Party by the Chairman for those staff who have reached 5, 10, 15 and 20 years service. There is instant recognition in the form of thank you cards, instant rewards, peer recognition etc. Steljes have Boy and Girl Done Good Awards from the Group Chief Executive of a meal for two at a restaurant of their choice awarded at monthly company meetings for staff nominated by others in the business and customers for things they have done well.

On average, employees receive 8 hours per year formal training, with an average spend per employee of £500 on training per year. Examples of the sorts of training activities STA Travel employees might undertakeare: Head Office Brand and Culture training sessions, Presentation skills courses (2 day), Recruitment Training sessions, 3-week induction courses, Assistant Manager course, Coaching courses, STAy workshops, Eurostar courses, Travel Connect courses, 1 day finance team training, new Branch Manager support days, weeks training in Sweden, Sales Training Courses, webinar sales training sessions for Sweden and The design of 60 coaching cards to support the face to face with the customer programme…

Managers toolkits are available on the intranet at STA Travel as well as formal external management courses. Internal management development training is offered as formal leadership training opportunities and coaching/ mentoring is provided by external leadership specialists. STA Travel have external meetings within peer groups and HR Breakfast meetings provided by Employment Lawyers etc are supported. They support and enhance the development of people managers within their organisation by working alongside the employees providing easy access to decision making and coaching.

SRK conducts annual appraisals of all staff, supported by 6-monthly mid-term reviews and regular feedback from managers. In additon, SRK rewards all staff trough an annual discretionary bonus scheme.

SRK conducts annual appraisals of all staff, supported by 6-monthly mid-term reviews and regular feedback from managers. In additon, SRK rewards all staff trough an annual discretionary bonus scheme.

All Hotels employees except GMs have their hours monitored , Somerston don't encourage opt out from Working Time Directive though a few do in order to meet their personal economic and social needs. They encourage employees to take their annual leave in small chunks on a regular basis rather than saving up for a long holiday though they are often receptive to such requests for long breaks. Somerston do assess the potential impact on the employee not taking regular breaks.

Full range of tailored HR policies and procedures to enable Managers to get the best of their people including recruitment questionnaires, leadership training etc. Leadership development is given through action learning with secondment to other groups e.g. HR Building Blocks Group, F&B Development group, Health & Safety committee etc. Somerston strive to get Deputy Managers to carry out Maternity Leave cover so that they can get their feet well and truly wet over a six to nine month secondment and they get a real opportunity to handle the rough and tumble of managing people and teams with high expectations of their leaders.

Skills Training encourage employees to form peer to peer groups particularly when they have been training together. These groups share knowledge and experience with each other. When employees have attended training they do a presentation for their peers that have not attended to share their learning. For example their trainers from the delivery centres pooled their expertise and designed and rolled out an innovative one day intensive support programme which was a success. Skills Training operate a buddy system ensuring that new staff are matched with an experienced colleague to support with settling in time and development of job role.

Skills Training make a positive difference to the lives of their customers through their role in obtaining meaningful work, striving to ensure their customers stay in work for the long term. Their financial and non-financial incentives are built on these principles. Skills Training employees are also rewarded and recognised through team building events which may range from bowling, a theatre visit, paint-balling or a team meal. They have an annual event which usually takes place at a prestigious location in London in which their employees are rewarded with a sit down meal, entertainment and an Awards Ceremony led by the Chief Executive and Chairman.

Simpson Millar LLP Solicitors have a budget specifically for fun and social events. Examples of these events are: Christmas Party's, pre-wedding celebrations, regular Friday evening social events for staff providing nibbles and drinks, Corporate Race day. Each department holds celebrations at year end together with other milestones. In particular, one of their most recently added teams celebrated the end of their first 6 months with Simpson Millar by way of a celebratory meal. Certain departments with Simpson Millar operate on a team target rather than an individual target and are therefore rewarded by way of a bonus upon reaching target. A Training Weekend is held annually in Birmingham where all Partners & Fee Earners attend Austin Court for training, seminars and presentations as well as an evening social function.

Simpson Millar LLP Solicitors have a budget specifically for fun and social events. Examples of these events are: Christmas Party's, pre-wedding celebrations, regular Friday evening social events for staff providing nibbles and drinks, Corporate Race day. Each department holds celebrations at year end together with other milestones. In particular, one of their most recently added teams celebrated the end of their first 6 months with Simpson Millar by way of a celebratory meal. Certain departments with Simpson Millar operate on a team target rather than an individual target and are therefore rewarded by way of a bonus upon reaching target. A Training Weekend is held annually in Birmingham where all Partners & Fee Earners attend Austin Court for training, seminars and presentations as well as an evening social function.

Their HR Director runs masterclasses in People Management, Employment Law, Employee Satisfaction. They have ran Presentation skills and Train the Trainer sessions for managers who deliver Team Talks.

Every new Stylist hired attends their Advanced Academy for 7 days induction training to RUSH hair techniques. They run a full programme of leading edge hairdressing training at their purpose built Advanced Academy, delivered by their Award Winning Artistic Team. They offer an Award winning NVQ Apprenticeship programme for their 16-18 year old Apprentices. They also run Monthly Masterclasses for Managers covering all the functional training in HR, Marketing and Finance. Monthly Management 1-1 Coaching sessions with our Chairman

RPM ensures that success, as a result of an indivdual or team, is not only made public to the whole office, but also celebrated. For example, in their weekly news letter they have a special 'thank you's' section,which specifically encourages and therefore recognises hard work or particular individual achievements. Also, everytime there is a new client win, a member of that team will ring the 'new business bell' that sits on the Account Team wall, which lets everyone know of this achievement and helps to bring the office together. Whenever an employee is promoted they are given bottle of champagne by the MD.

RPM ensures that success, as a result of an indivdual or team, is not only made public to the whole office, but also celebrated. For example, in their weekly news letter they have a special 'thank you's' section,which specifically encourages and therefore recognises hard work or particular individual achievements. Also, everytime there is a new client win, a member of that team will ring the 'new business bell' that sits on the Account Team wall, which lets everyone know of this achievement and helps to bring the office together. Whenever an employee is promoted they are given bottle of champagne by the MD.

Team building events are generally organised by department/team rather than whole company. The last time the whole company was involved in a team building event was with Picture Perfect. This involved different teams having to sketch and paint what seemed like abstract prints. However when it came together it actually was a 25ft long Roland logo.

Roland's most recent total spend on training was approximately £100k, This, however, is not split per person. Line managers assess their employees training needs on a regular basis and will arrange training wherever required. Employees are also encouraged to request relevant training which is paid for by the company should it benefit both the employee and the company.

Robinson Low Francis say "Steve is a strong, visible leader who interacts with his partners and staff on a daily basis. He encourages ideas, he is enthusiastic, he believes in his company and his staff, he is outspoken and approachable and believes in transparency."

The Westfield Scheme is available to all employees for help quitting smoking, eating healthily, losing weight, managing stress, other mental health issues and getting more exercise. They also have regular medicals for partners to support healthy heart/cholesterol, know your numbers. Westfield offers advice and if what was required was not there, they would be able to speak to someone to find out where help could be found. On approval, they have access to Clare Haynes, a life coach. A work life balance is also encouraged.

RLB Academy was set up specifically to focus on development of all the staff to ensure consistency of knowledge, skills and behaviours in whatever role is being performed and to ensure that all their staff are given the training, education and development opportunities they need to enable them to fulfil the requirements of their jobs and to achieve their potential in line with their PDP's. As RLB continues to expand, so do the Academy initiatives to ensure that RLB fulfil the needs of all their people and all their businesses including a drive on service delivery competence this year to exceed client demands in the tough economy.

Rider Levett Bucknall believe in a culture of recognition to ensure that everyone is given verbal and other forms of recognition and reward, which has been established as part of their Behavioural Principles. They benchmark salaries and benefits at least annually to ensure that the employees are offered salaries and benefits in the upper quartile of the industry. RLB continually seek to offer flexible benefits which allow their employees to ensure that they are able to make the most of tax and NI efficient schemes e.g. purchasing bicycles, childcare vouchers etc plus SMART pension scheme which allows Employer NI savings to be paid to their employee's pension pots and interest free loans for season tickets and gym.

RFIB Group Limited have an EAP scheme for Eating healthily, Managing stress and Other mental health issues in addition to medical referral. They take employee wellbeing seriously and once a month they have accupunture massages available as well as holding subsidised in house pilates classes twice weekly.

RFIB Group Limited use performance recognition and have an Unsung Hero Award - awarded monthly at the company presentation evening. This is given for excelling in one of the core competencies of Strive for Excellence, Technical Competence, Problem Solving, Working with Others, Working with Others, Communication and Commercial Awareness. They also have a milestone recognition scheme where additional leave is given upon reaching 10 and 15 years of service and after 25 years of service employees are given the gift of a watch.

Renaissance Personnel operates flexible working patterns to enable employees to strike a fair balance between work life and social life. There are free annual medical checks for all employees, free health assessments for Night Workers and staff are allowed time off to attend sponsored walks or the London Marathon. All staff are offered free basic healthcare which comprise of vital signs checks. If there is anything unusual, they are referred to their own GP. The employees are encouraged to take regular exercise which does not only have to be about paying gym membership.

Renaissance Personnel operates flexible working patterns to enable employees to strike a fair balance between work life and social life. There are free annual medical checks for all employees, free health assessments for Night Workers and staff are allowed time off to attend sponsored walks or the London Marathon. All staff are offered free basic healthcare which comprise of vital signs checks. If there is anything unusual, they are referred to their own GP. The employees are encouraged to take regular exercise which does not only have to be about paying gym membership.

Randstad Technologies ensure that their employees feel rewarded for their efforts by combining financial rewards and recognition. They have an advantageous commission scheme and they put their efforts into celebrating their employees' good efforts. They also invest in high quality competitions' rewards to ensure all employees feel their efforts will be recognised. Instant recognition is commonly used by sending a company email highliting the efforts of their employees. Lunch and drinks happen to celebrate employee achievements and they also have a monthly company results meeting where champagne is provided to the best performers of the month.

The MD Rodney Jackson, conducts quarterly roadshows to give a picture of how the company is performing and what the future business plans are. It is also a great opportunity for all members of staff to have a direct exchange with their MD and ask any questions. All team leaders work closely with their team members in an open plan office environment and they operate an open door policy for all senior managers and MD office. There is a weekly Managing Director Blog where any important news, change, amendment, new project, new client is communicated to all members of staff via this publication.

Ranstad hold Top 100 meetings - 100 managers across the group meet to share knowledge and best practise and Client Account Manager meetings monthly to share knowledge and best practise. Ranstad also provide the following Senior Exuctive programme, Leaders in Action programme and First line managers programme.

Ranstad encourage team work and interaction by holding Christmas Parties, Annual conference Summer Event - outdoor activites- quads,treasure hunt,bbq Charity quiz night Company birthday party networking events Football and netball tournaments.

Ramboll UK do not have an upper limit for matched funding and funds have been matched for Haiti Disaster Relief, and the Royal Marsden Hospital Cancer Unit. Ramboll also allow their employees to choose a charity once a month at an office drinks event where the proceeds for funds raised go to this charity. In partnership with Kier Group and timber panel supplier KLH, Ramboll UK created an exhibition as part of the London Festival of Architecture that highlights issues of climate change. An interactive artwork that invites users to consider questions around sustainable living, the Carbon Cube also promotes the use of renewable materials in construction.

At Ramboll UK the MD conducts a Friday morning presentation every month which gives employees the opportunity to ask questions and all offices in the UK are open plan with an open door policy. Their MD has his own page on the intranet which provides regular updates to the organisation as well as having an online Q&A discussion board. Senior management interaction with all levels of employees is a daily occurrence with graduates and all employees throughout the organisation having the opportunity to work directly on projects with senior managers. The MD encourages open communication throughout the business. He has been an employee for almost 20 years and was promoted to MD in 2009. He knows the company and it's employees well and has a very strong working relationship with a number of their employees. Ramboll's MDs approach is one of empowerment and personal development. Staff say he is approachable and has a very casual style about him which encourages employees at all levels to relate to him openly.

Radley Yeldar have a budget specifically for fun and social events. They run a range of away days during the year so that everyone has the opportunity do get out and do something that appeals to them with their colleagues. They hold RY Community Days volunteering in the local community and other activites include: football, cheese tasting, poker and wine tasting And of course the RY Summer and Christmas party. A recent team bulding workshop focused on encouraging people to: Develop greater trust in one another through honest adult feedback, Develop greater degrees of openness and honesty with one another, Use plain honest speaking as a way of building trusting relationships, Recognise the tension between personal performance and team ethos and develop personal strategies to manage the tension.

Radley Yeldar have a budget specifically for fun and social events. They run a range of away days during the year so that everyone has the opportunity do get out and do something that appeals to them with their colleagues. They hold RY Community Days volunteering in the local community and other activites include: football, cheese tasting, poker and wine tasting And of course the RY Summer and Christmas party. A recent team bulding workshop focused on encouraging people to: Develop greater trust in one another through honest adult feedback, Develop greater degrees of openness and honesty with one another, Use plain honest speaking as a way of building trusting relationships, Recognise the tension between personal performance and team ethos and develop personal strategies to manage the tension.