What are companies doing with regards to 'My Company'

Yarlington are constantly rethinking and reinvigorating how they can help their team learn more and develop their approach. A recent example of this is when the company delivered a series of three half day workshops to five different management teams across the business, helping them explore the new Investors in people framework so that they could take ownership of it and use it to improve their approach to leadership, performance management and continuous improvement. Yarlington also offer bespoke workshops for individuals and teams with specific learning needs and believe that investing in face to face learning allows people to interact with colleagues and their L&D Adviser in a safe and learning orientated environment. The staff are now working in a more agile way through the ELearning Academy, a web based application which gives everyone access to the Infinity Library of courses, covering everything from IT Skills and Finance to Personal Development and Written English. For those who wish to continue their professional development, the Yarlington Bursary enables people to access the best academic courses available to them and then apply what they learn at work on a daily basis.

Yarlington are constantly rethinking and reinvigorating how they can help their team learn more and develop their approach. A recent example of this is when the company delivered a series of three half day workshops to five different management teams across the business, helping them explore the new Investors in people framework so that they could take ownership of it and use it to improve their approach to leadership, performance management and continuous improvement. Yarlington also offer bespoke workshops for individuals and teams with specific learning needs and believe that investing in face to face learning allows people to interact with colleagues and their L&D Adviser in a safe and learning orientated environment. The staff are now working in a more agile way through the ELearning Academy, a web based application which gives everyone access to the Infinity Library of courses, covering everything from IT Skills and Finance to Personal Development and Written English. For those who wish to continue their professional development, the Yarlington Bursary enables people to access the best academic courses available to them and then apply what they learn at work on a daily basis.

Xoserve charity partners all represent a business theme or consideration, rather than supporting a random selection of charities. Activities are planned, based around an events calendar, involving internal and external events. The themes are, addressing the future workforce's needs by fundraising for The Prince's Trust who are supporting young people with life skills, specifically mathematics and technology. Promoting a healthy workplace by fundraising for Mind. Supporting the local community by fundraising for Birmingham St Mary's Hospice. And Xoserve's very own grant making charity, the Xoserve Foundation Activities includes an Office Olympic Games and Christmas Jumper Day to 5k runs and a skydive. The company have an active employee volunteering programme that focusses on skill-development. Colleagues can volunteer as a team or individually. They partner a school in a disadvantaged part of Solihull and provide a range of enterprise and careers advise, including a work experience programme for A-level students and a Customer Services workshop to Year 9. They also have an apprenticeship scheme, where they take on 3 apprentices each year for an 18 month paid placement.

Xoserve have a reward toolbox where colleagues, team leaders and managers can recommend a reward as immediate recognition for employees in relation to a piece of work, consistent behaviours and such. The toolbox offers managers the choice of rewards such as, gift vouchers, team meals, meals for up to 4 people and Additional Annual Leave. Managers are also able to offer an Ex-gratia payments. The company also utilises their internal social network, Yammer, to acknowledge successes both individual and team related. They hold an Annual Christmas party for all staff and a summer event, this year's summer event was a family fun day where employees could bring guests and children or relatives to the event which included, It's a knock out, food, bouncy castles, entertainment and face painting. Xoserve host Customer Service awards where employees have the opportunity to nominate a colleague for good service, if successful they are awarded a voucher. Donut and cupcake deliveries to thank staff for supporting various initiatives. Various awards are given for employees for the following length of service, from just a year to up to 50 years! The level of award differs for each milestone.

Xero UK have an ‘All Hands' meeting fortnightly which is recorded and circulated, and have weekly Friday Night Drinks in both their Milton Keynes and London offices in order to encourage communication and a more sociable form of engagement. They have a pool table, ping pong, space invaders and play station so employees can relax and enjoy each other's company further in the office. Use Officevibe, a weekly engagement check-in tool, allows for employees to comment on 10 factors and to give feedback and dialogue about how they are feeling about work.

Xero UK receive support from their own Learning and Development Specialist. Some employees have had further coaching than that given at the beginning of employment. They have a monthly People Managers Meeting and PX are there to support and advise. Some employees are going on to do a coaching qualification themselves. 360 degree feedback is given annually. There is increasing use of Workday to initiate feedback. Engagement is measured by Officevibe and reported real time on a weekly basis to ensure that employees are happy at work. The company work hard to maintain a two-way flow of information.

Perhaps the strongest indication from the Xceed Leadership Team is that 50% of their bonuses are related to ‘Demonstrating Values'. For many years the company have had Spirit Awards which are now Value Awards. These are ‘surprise' and personalised ‘awards' or prizes for ‘catching someone doing something great' that are always tied to the company values. Xceed's Founders, CEO and Board are actively involved in the business. The CEO hosts a ‘welcome' meeting or call with all new joiners within their first week. The Leadership Team also has a schedule of internal communications so that each area of the business is heard from regularly, as well as a weekly ‘Friday Five' that provides an overview of events and headlines for each week. Xceed also have both Town Halls and Open Forums. The CEO chairs the Future Leaders Programme and has an active role in leading people initiatives and working groups. This is in addition to a strong ‘open door policy', whereby anyone and everyone is encouraged to come straight to the CEO with any concerns or issues.

Perhaps the strongest indication from the Xceed Leadership Team is that 50% of their bonuses are related to ‘Demonstrating Values'. For many years the company have had Spirit Awards which are now Value Awards. These are ‘surprise' and personalised ‘awards' or prizes for ‘catching someone doing something great' that are always tied to the company values. Xceed's Founders, CEO and Board are actively involved in the business. The CEO hosts a ‘welcome' meeting or call with all new joiners within their first week. The Leadership Team also has a schedule of internal communications so that each area of the business is heard from regularly, as well as a weekly ‘Friday Five' that provides an overview of events and headlines for each week. Xceed also have both Town Halls and Open Forums. The CEO chairs the Future Leaders Programme and has an active role in leading people initiatives and working groups. This is in addition to a strong ‘open door policy', whereby anyone and everyone is encouraged to come straight to the CEO with any concerns or issues.

This year White Stuff relaunched its benefit offer on a new online platform called ‘The Biscuit Tin'. The site went live in June 2016 for the annual benefit selection window and was a huge success, seeing a 65% increase in total logins compared to the same time last year. The Biscuit Tin offers a complete information hub with easy navigation to benefits. Employees can select their benefits whenever they wish, giving them the power to control when and how they access their rewards. The site is fully interactive, containing videos and help guides to enable their family to make choices that are right for their lifestyle. Employees can use The Biscuit Tin to claim on their insurances, access discounts and review their Total Reward Statement. They re-designed the Total Reward Statement for the June 2016 launch and employees can now see the value and split of their package at-a-glance. Staff can drill down on each element of their Reward to explore how the building blocks of their package. There is also access to historical reward statements for detailed comparison of individual's pay and benefits over time. This year they have also used The Biscuit Tin to build awareness of retirement planning and pension savings amongst their family. There is an interactive pension-modelling tool where employees can adjust their contributions, pension fund and retirement projections to get the most out of their investments. The site gives access to the annual Pension Newsletter that explains the performance of the Default Pension Fund, where 90% of the White Stuff family is invested.

This year White Stuff relaunched its benefit offer on a new online platform called ‘The Biscuit Tin'. The site went live in June 2016 for the annual benefit selection window and was a huge success, seeing a 65% increase in total logins compared to the same time last year. The Biscuit Tin offers a complete information hub with easy navigation to benefits. Employees can select their benefits whenever they wish, giving them the power to control when and how they access their rewards. The site is fully interactive, containing videos and help guides to enable their family to make choices that are right for their lifestyle. Employees can use The Biscuit Tin to claim on their insurances, access discounts and review their Total Reward Statement. They re-designed the Total Reward Statement for the June 2016 launch and employees can now see the value and split of their package at-a-glance. Staff can drill down on each element of their Reward to explore how the building blocks of their package. There is also access to historical reward statements for detailed comparison of individual's pay and benefits over time. This year they have also used The Biscuit Tin to build awareness of retirement planning and pension savings amongst their family. There is an interactive pension-modelling tool where employees can adjust their contributions, pension fund and retirement projections to get the most out of their investments. The site gives access to the annual Pension Newsletter that explains the performance of the Default Pension Fund, where 90% of the White Stuff family is invested.

Whitbread strive to support and encourage development within their Management populations. When Managers are appointed to a new role they are assigned a mentor who will be an experienced and high performing operator at the same level. In Premier Inn the ‘Shooting Stars' programme supports team members as they progress into their first management role all the way through to being an experienced multi-site manager. Whitbread also have Apprenticeships programmes to develop and support team members, starting from an Intermediate level 2 through to an MSC level 7 in Multi Site Management. Across Premier Inn 398 Apprentices have been promoted, 102 to Operations Manager, 58 to Assistant Operations Manager, 166 to a Premier Inn Host, 58 to Head Housekeeper and 14 to Head Chef. Health & Safety also features heavily, with bi-annual audits conducted by an external provider to ensure that all sites and Managers are compliant with health & safety laws and internal targets relating to the safety of team members. Across Whitbread they measure management performance through their Whitbread in numbers card or ‘WINcards', which is split into four central measures: Winning Teams, Customer Heartbeat, Profitable Growth and Good Together.

Whitbread strive to support and encourage development within their Management populations. When Managers are appointed to a new role they are assigned a mentor who will be an experienced and high performing operator at the same level. In Premier Inn the ‘Shooting Stars' programme supports team members as they progress into their first management role all the way through to being an experienced multi-site manager. Whitbread also have Apprenticeships programmes to develop and support team members, starting from an Intermediate level 2 through to an MSC level 7 in Multi Site Management. Across Premier Inn 398 Apprentices have been promoted, 102 to Operations Manager, 58 to Assistant Operations Manager, 166 to a Premier Inn Host, 58 to Head Housekeeper and 14 to Head Chef. Health & Safety also features heavily, with bi-annual audits conducted by an external provider to ensure that all sites and Managers are compliant with health & safety laws and internal targets relating to the safety of team members. Across Whitbread they measure management performance through their Whitbread in numbers card or ‘WINcards', which is split into four central measures: Winning Teams, Customer Heartbeat, Profitable Growth and Good Together.

The Senior Management Team promote excellence, community, trust and ambition in everything they do. They empower and encourage staff to raise the bar for customers and deliver excellence through team meetings, speaking at Managers' forums and other staff events, as well as by talking informally to staff. When it comes to community, they regularly visit Wheatley's communities to engage with staff and residents, particularly when they hold events to celebrate improvements in neighbourhoods, such as the launch of new homes or a programme to upgrade existing homes. They are always ambitious to do more for their communities and they lead this activity both strategically and by encouraging staff to focus on designing and delivering excellent services for customers. The senior team have been instrumental in setting up the Wheatley Foundation, a new charitable trust which distributes grant funding to community, employability and digital inclusion projects. They also led on the successful campaign to attract £300m new funding on the public bond markets to enable the organisation to build thousands of new and affordable homes in their communities. Additionally Wheatley Group has developed a new environmental training programme – the Changing Lives programme - aimed at unemployed customers who are experiencing difficulty securing employment due to lack of work history, offending background, disability etc. The Wheatley Group Apprenticeship programme targets young people from communities who have been disadvantaged, are less likely to be engaged in schools and are furthest away from the job market. In 2016 they have taken on 86 split into business admin, housing, horticulture, sustainable resource management (environmental) and for the first time this year they have created care apprenticeships, as they see this as a growing opportunity for jobs.

Wheatley Group's approach to rewarding people has been reviewed with the employee voice. This has resulted in what is now called the W.E. Reward and W.E. Benefits, with an extensive package and approach to reward and recognition now in place. WE Benefits contains an extensive range of benefits that people can draw from to suit need and choice, for example health services and insurance, contribution to eye and dental care, cycle to work support, the ability to buy extensions to annual leave, study leave, funding for education and qualifications, paid summer work placements for family and friends, salary sacrifice for childcare vouchers, discount vouchers with a range of retailers, the option to buy technology and digital equipment at discounts and pay from salary interest free via an employer scheme, discounted legal and conveyancing services, a counselling service and much more.

Due to the hazardous nature of some Wessex Water locations, for example the sewage treatment works and the industrial laundry, occupational health surveillance is instituted to all employees to identify and prevent the development of potential causes of harm and to also determine existing health problems. This health surveillance includes a screening questionnaire issued to new all employees, an annual health screening questionnaire that checks up on employee's health in the workplace, a clinical assessment that takes place if issues are raised, including a hearing test, examination of vascular and neurological function, skin assessment, eyesight and blood pressure. As a final stage, a doctor will conduct a medical assessment should chronic problems be discovered. Occupational health professionals are also able to provide support with stresses in the workplace. Wessex Water Enterprises also operates an Employee Assistance Programme which offers free and confidential telephone counselling and free legal signposting for issues that can cause anxiety and stress.

Wessex Water Enterprises are working with local charity Young Bristol to turn their vision on sustainability and renewable energy into artwork. The project will create three separate designs, which will be displayed in the new meeting space at the Avonmouth site offices at Bristol sewage treatment works. The youth driven charity works to offer a range of opportunities for all young people and the project with Wessex Water Enterprises will involve 40 young people, ranging from 8 to 16 years old, from clubs in the local communities of Avonmouth. Additionally, if any employees are taking part in a fundraising event for a local charity, Wessex Water Enterprises helps employees raise more money through their Community PlusFund scheme. For every £1 raised by staff members for a local charity, Community PlusFund will match it up to a maximum of £250. Wessex Water Enterprises also teamed up with the Prince's Trust to offer work placements to six young people struggling with long-term unemployment. They were asked to carry out a range of different duties and after impressing both Managers and colleagues, each of the trainees were rewarded with further employment within the business.

Weleda have a self-managed weekly newsletter called "The Compost Heap" which has been running for two and a half years. Each individual or team submits material to a central email address compost.heap@weleda.co.uk and one of the marketing team then compiles that week's edition. There is no leadership censorship and the newsletter has developed its own "tone of voice" over time. The content is a varied mixture of light-hearted "news", PR, Awards, customer feedback, people news and business updates. They also have a private Facebook page open to all employees where news, photos and links to relevant websites can been shared 24/7. A handful of staff act as administrators and in the 3+ years the page has existed there have been zero instances of content requiring moderation or removal.