The Macmillan World's Biggest Coffee Morning – the cancer charity's biggest fundraising event – took place virtually this year with employees encouraged to grab themselves a cuppa and a slice of cake and join the online chat to have a natter with colleagues.

Global CEO Werner Lieberherr set up a monthly online meeting to update all employees on company-wide activities, including the impact of Covid-19 on the business. This takes place live, virtually, and people are free to ask him questions directly on any topic.

Staff were surveyed to check productivity, mental health and any support desired and the results suggested that 87% of employees felt KG was communicating enough and 90% believed they were receiving the right manager support. While company updates during lockdown were typically business-focused, any direct workforce concerns were addressed.

Starting from January 2021, key performance indicator objectives for all managers include supporting the delivery of the group's Leadership Academy programme. Objectives are agreed at the beginning of every year; individual performance is assessed throughout; and 1:1s take place at the manager's discretion, according to need and regulatory requirements.

KPUK aims to be a valued partner in the communities it serves. The group supports charity partners to build futures for people of all backgrounds and circumstances. Employees are empowered to support local good causes through paid volunteering days and fundraising activities.

Kaplan significantly increased its two-way communication with the top 50 managers to ensure they had all the information they needed to cascade to their teams. In the early weeks of lockdown, a team status tracker quickly identified those under the most pressure. Once everyone settled into a new rhythm this was stood down.

Continuous training at all levels is part of its success. An Effective Manager programme has been delivered virtually to 500 managers in the past year. A new Emerging Leaders programme moves participants beyond management fundamentals to four modules dealing with commerciality, connecting people, high performing teams and influencing.

In September, CEO Brendan Mooney, who joined the company as a software engineer in 1989, was given the Chairman's Award for Excellence by the IOD for his personal impact on the culture and success of his organisation through outstanding professionalism and implementation of best practice in governance and leadership.

Staff received Just Eat vouchers and there were gardening competitions, fun-run challenges and other company-wide events to keep team spirits high. Mental health support channels were set up and senior leaders were visible and on hand as people adjusted to remote working.

All managers take part in monthly 1:1s for feedback and to give them the tools they need to perform in their roles. They are also invited to undergo two further annual appraisal and review processes. Minimum expectations around communicating with their teams are in place.

All managers at Zen are enrolled onto a Living Leader programme. The programme is very different to other programmes, it looks at the individual as a whole, rather than the person in work. It explores empowerment, responsibility, appreciation and communication – all qualities for helping people to build powerful relationships with everyone they meet and speak to, both inside and outside work. Due to the huge success and feedback, this is now being rolled out company wide.

All managers at Zen are enrolled onto a Living Leader programme. The programme is very different to other programmes, it looks at the individual as a whole, rather than the person in work. It explores empowerment, responsibility, appreciation and communication – all qualities for helping people to build powerful relationships with everyone they meet and speak to, both inside and outside work. Due to the huge success and feedback, this is now being rolled out company wide.

XLN prides itself on “promoting within” and as an organisation that can only be achieved by constant employee development. If any employee requests any training, whether specific to their role or not, they will always say yes. They believe if an employee wants to better themselves, then they should do everything possible to retain that ambition within the business and offering unlimited training resource is key to that.

XLN have found that Shadowing is the most effective form of support. Their team always feedback that learning by directly following someone with experience in a higher grade role gives them the confidence to step up. It offers the knowledge and clarity of what is expected. It's the simplest way to find out what good looks like and also identify potential areas where they can make improvements to the way the roles are managed.

They have recently introduced a choir session directed by the Choir Leader that led the group that won last year's BBC Pitch Battle competition. According to research from the CIPD, singing together can be one of the most positive activities they can engage in to boost wellbeing, increase confidence, improve communication and gain a sense of overall achievement.

Their Environmental Group meets regularly to assess the ways in which they can make a positive contribution to their surroundings. Some of the projects initiated by the group have included installation of solar roof panels, sourcing of electric company cars to reduce carbon emission, replacing lightbulbs with LEDs (many on motion sensors) and sourcing their additional electricity from a green energy supplier.

The Trainee Recruitment Programme is aimed at those with no or little recruitment experience and consists of 6 different workshops which cover the whole of the recruitment lifecycle. They recently had their ‘Festival of Training', the biggest single training event in the history of the company. The programme was covered in a three day event, with delivery from 10 of their managers and Senior Consultants sharing best practice.

The Trainee Recruitment Programme is aimed at those with no or little recruitment experience and consists of 6 different workshops which cover the whole of the recruitment lifecycle. They recently had their ‘Festival of Training', the biggest single training event in the history of the company. The programme was covered in a three day event, with delivery from 10 of their managers and Senior Consultants sharing best practice.

They use a variety of tools to help employee development. One of which is their WW Inspire events where they invite guest speakers to share their experiences of development, including the Olympic Champion Alex Gregory and Celebrity Ambassadors Curtis Pritchard and Alison Hammond.

More recently they have encouraged WW employees to bring the inside out, sharing externally what it feels like to work for their brand. They have achieved this through more effective use of social media - sharing their internal events and development opportunities across LinkedIn and holding Facebook Live Q&A recruitment sessions that give candidates an opportunity to meet the team and ask about their opportunities.