What are companies doing with regards to 'My Company'

In many businesses the contributions of 'backroom staff' can be forgotten; however at Swansway they do things differently. On a regular basis the company celebrate the 'backroom staff' by asking the Managers to nominate a colleague who they believe has made an outstanding contribution to the business, is not expecting an extra reward and who is a shining example of company culture and values. The awards are given every quarter and the number of winners is not limited. Wherever there is a nomination and the Unsung Hero board considers it be valid, the nominee will receive a trophy to keep, is treated to afternoon tea and even a £50 voucher to treat themselves to a gift.

The creation and evolution of the Swansway Company values 'Caring, Honest & Proud' have become truly ingrained in the company's culture. This has only been possible through employee buy-in and this involves all Senior Management within the Company. The values are used as a 'sensor check' for all decision making within the organisation, the results of which filter down from board level to Senior Managers and beyond. This has promoted trust, confidence and engagement within all practices of the organisation. Michael Smyth is not only the Chairman of Swansway Group, but also the founder. He has been in the motor retail business for 48 years and is incredibly passionate about what he does. With the gritty training of life as a door to door salesman for Hoover, Michael built the business from scratch, always with the drive and determination to be the best. Through the years Michael has embraced change, always been open to new ideas and ways of doing things and is happy to share his knowledge with his staff. Everyone knows that Michael is happy to roll his sleeves up and lead the way. He is honest, expects honesty in return and is rightly proud of the business he has built and of the people who have helped him to build it.

All of the offices have the Core Values printed as large vinyl's onto the wall. Swanstaff promote the company ambition right from the outset at interview stage, through to the induction and this is also spoken about regularly by the CEO and Management team at events andtraining. Swanstaff ‘thank you' badges on the HR system refer to the Core Values so that staff can recognise when someone has met the value. The annual appraisal process, probation reviews and monthly one on one supervisions also refer to the core values and staff are asked to reflect on how well they work to these values and how well they feel these are reflected in the company culture. These are also spoken about in the induction video, showing new employees how these are reflected in every day work. Employees often recite these core values when speaking to clients and candidates - they are also shared with candidates through the Ambassadors programme.

Swanstaff encourage people to share good news or innovative ideas via the ‘All Staff' email thread. This increases communications and opens up visibility of best practice. They run regular team challenges including a "Spaghetti Tower" challenge that took place at a recently quarterly meeting ensuring groups sat with other branch and teams to encourage cross company communication and interaction. They encourage their staff to thank their colleagues, this is done via the system ‘People HR' and notifies the employee when they have received thanks. This has been used over 150 times in the last month alone.

Stott and May launched their Career Progression Scheme this year for both sales and support functions, with the scheme enabling development and progression within the business that is seemingly limitless. The CPS is supported by a blend of internal and external training sessions, as well as useful desk coaching. As well as all this Stott and May have paired up with Andrew Sillitoe, founder of The Strategic Team Coach, who uses a unique method to quantify the health and psychological state of staff, monitor the level of fatigue, observe in real-time the psychological impact of recruitment and enable staff to manage thoughts, feelings and emotions under pressure using biofeedback during phone calls. A mentoring system is also put in place for senior managers using external industry experts, with everything stemming back to the Career Progression Scheme. Managers are measured through the performance of their teams and also engagement across the whole business. The company reviews teams on a monthly basis through the Career Progression Scheme and always takes the temperature of engagement each quarter.

If they are not consistent or authentic in articulating their purpose and values internally, Stott and May becomes just another recruiter in an already crowded marketplace. As such they are constantly pushing the envelope and finding new ways of articulating ‘the Stott and May' way of doing things. They believe it starts with the workplace and in an attempt to create a positive and unique work environment for our staff to dare to fail Stott and May have created themed offices, including Alice in Wonderland in New York and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in London. The company wants their employees to think laterally and to be the ‘dreamers of dreams' or the ‘music makers', all of which was the underlying philosophy behind the office transformations. Founder and CEO Stephen Stott commented “It's a fun and slightly wacky idea I came up with and it's been evolving ever since. The story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is really all about pushing creative boundaries and, much the same as Willy Wonka's factory, I wanted the office to be a space for innovation, where staff could think big and not be afraid to fail. We're not your typical corporate company and I wanted the office to reflect that.”

During the year STL removed water machines from each office and one plumbed in machine was installed in the centre of as an alternative. This encourages staff to get up and walk to the machine. They also introduced a Wednesday waddle, where staff had a lunchtime walk together if they wanted around the local canal or village. STL also provide fruit and a smaller number of larger printers to encourage people to get up from their desks. There is a staff room including a Wii, computer, large screen TV, sofas and magazines. STL provide ice cream on hot days, books in the staff room for all staff to use and all staff can book an appointment with any Manager for ten minutes to discuss anything they would like or to chat to HR.

STL use spot awards, which are £50 gift cards that are presented to an employee if they have gone above and beyond their job description, thereby showing appreciation for the efforts shown. Office staff awards are given in front of the whole office in a two-minute ceremony they are then followed up to remote staff. Remote staff awards are posted but emailed to all staff. As well as showing appreciation, the awards encourage employees to work hard and to live the company values.

Stevens and Bolton encourages its employees to join several charitable and community initiatives. One example of such an initiative is the Tour de Law, in which every employee rode static bikes to help raise money for charity. Other examples include the company's Give & Gain initiative, work for Sports Relief, the Guildford Legal Walk and the Surrey Hills Challenge. These events occur alongside many other initiatives that take place more regularly in the workplace, such as Macmillan's World's Biggest Coffee Morning, a charity day for Phyllis Tuckwell in the office and managing members of the firm being put in stocks and having sponges thrown at them for money. Stevens and Bolton is a member of PRIME, an alliance of law firms and legal departments across the UK that has made a commitment to broadening access to the legal profession. As a PRIME member since 2015, the firm is committed to providing work experience placements for students from less privileged backgrounds and, by using the firm's resources and expertise, help them gain important employability skills.

Stevens and Bolton currently operates the 'Thx!' scheme. One of the key strategic objectives for the firm is to make this a great place to work for all their people and an important part of that is acknowledging and showing gratitude for the help their colleagues give day to day. Often a simple ‘thank you' will suffice, but sometimes it would be nice to acknowledge people in a more public way. This can be done via the 'Thx' online system, which allows staff to allocate Thx points to their colleagues for exemplary work. Each staff member is allocated 25 Thx points for the year and can award single or multiple points via the profile of a certain staff member on the online 'Sandbox' platform. At the end of the year, the top five employees at the top of the leader board are then given a budget to use on a joint treat day or experience.

Stephensons Solicitors produce a full CSR review document twice a year, which sets out all the community initiatives in place at the firm. During 2016 the firm donated £1,600 to Mustard Tree, a Greater Manchester based charity which provides support to homeless and marginalised people. For over 20 years, Mustard Tree has helped support communities challenged by poverty, disadvantage or unemployment. The charity provides a number of initiatives to provide much needed life support, promoting mental and physical wellbeing and providing avenues into training and employment. Janine Turner, head of HR and an associate at the firm, joined staff and volunteers from Mustard Tree in Manchester to learn more about the charity and witness its work first-hand.

Stephensons Solicitors produce a full CSR review document twice a year, which sets out all the community initiatives in place at the firm. During 2016 the firm donated £1,600 to Mustard Tree, a Greater Manchester based charity which provides support to homeless and marginalised people. For over 20 years, Mustard Tree has helped support communities challenged by poverty, disadvantage or unemployment. The charity provides a number of initiatives to provide much needed life support, promoting mental and physical wellbeing and providing avenues into training and employment. Janine Turner, head of HR and an associate at the firm, joined staff and volunteers from Mustard Tree in Manchester to learn more about the charity and witness its work first-hand.

St Dominic's is a Roman Catholic Sixth Form College committed to the personal and spiritual growth of all its members based on Christian values, academic excellence and high quality pastoral care. They all have a responsibility to themselves and to others. Education concerns the whole person - body, mind and spirit - and enables each person's God-given talents and skills to be used for the benefit of all creation. They have a responsibility to build relationships within their community and reach out to the disadvantaged in the wider world. By worshipping and praying together they can all acknowledge their need of God and each other, as well as promote the self-esteem of all the members of their community. Their common nature enables them to respect the diversity of faith and culture in their College.

St Dominic's is a Roman Catholic Sixth Form College committed to the personal and spiritual growth of all its members based on Christian values, academic excellence and high quality pastoral care. They all have a responsibility to themselves and to others. Education concerns the whole person - body, mind and spirit - and enables each person's God-given talents and skills to be used for the benefit of all creation. They have a responsibility to build relationships within their community and reach out to the disadvantaged in the wider world. By worshipping and praying together they can all acknowledge their need of God and each other, as well as promote the self-esteem of all the members of their community. Their common nature enables them to respect the diversity of faith and culture in their College.

Working in a high risk industry SPV run a regular training plan which they draw up in conjunction with the CITB & NFRC. Over and above this, in 2016 they have put all supervisors through training to enable them to get gold CSCS cards. They have four team members booked on a heritage roofing course which they have requested and will also ensure they can offer another service to their clients. They have also enrolled all administration members in a customer services NVQ Qualification that they enrolled out to newly promoted supervisors onto the Institute of Roofing management and technician course. The MD Howard is The institute of Roofing Midlands Regional Chair and as such the company has a number of manufacturers CPD courses coming up later in the year. In 2016, SPV enrolled two new apprentices on a built up felt roofing apprenticeship with a further two to be enrolled later in the year. In 2016 they put three team members through a cladding apprenticeship which they are due to complete in early 2017. In 2015, they enrolled six team members on the pilot Liquid Waterproofing Specialist up skill Course. This programme was written by the Liquid Roofing and Waterproofing Association in conjunction with the CITB to infill the training gap in the industry between the Apprenticeship and OSAT. SPV Group then subsequently put a further three team members through the course early this year. In 2016 they enrolled a further three onto the Liquid Waterproofing Specialist Apprenticeship course.

Working in a high risk industry SPV run a regular training plan which they draw up in conjunction with the CITB & NFRC. Over and above this, in 2016 they have put all supervisors through training to enable them to get gold CSCS cards. They have four team members booked on a heritage roofing course which they have requested and will also ensure they can offer another service to their clients. They have also enrolled all administration members in a customer services NVQ Qualification that they enrolled out to newly promoted supervisors onto the Institute of Roofing management and technician course. The MD Howard is The institute of Roofing Midlands Regional Chair and as such the company has a number of manufacturers CPD courses coming up later in the year. In 2016, SPV enrolled two new apprentices on a built up felt roofing apprenticeship with a further two to be enrolled later in the year. In 2016 they put three team members through a cladding apprenticeship which they are due to complete in early 2017. In 2015, they enrolled six team members on the pilot Liquid Waterproofing Specialist up skill Course. This programme was written by the Liquid Roofing and Waterproofing Association in conjunction with the CITB to infill the training gap in the industry between the Apprenticeship and OSAT. SPV Group then subsequently put a further three team members through the course early this year. In 2016 they enrolled a further three onto the Liquid Waterproofing Specialist Apprenticeship course.

Specsavers seeks to reward employees in a variety of formal and informal ways, from peer to peer shout outs and customer first awards to long service recognition and the annual Specsavers Ball. The company's quarterly bonus is also based solely on an individual's achievement of their objectives and is in no way related to company performance. All employees who have passed their probation are eligible to receive this. The scheme creates employee engagement, motivation and the need for Managers to manage their people effectively and appropriately. The scheme also means that all Managers have to meet each quarter to calibrate their bonus recommendations. This creates the need for a discussion about overall performance, like a mini people review on a regular basis, which thereby enables consistency and employee recognition amongst leadership teams.

Specsavers seeks to reward employees in a variety of formal and informal ways, from peer to peer shout outs and customer first awards to long service recognition and the annual Specsavers Ball. The company's quarterly bonus is also based solely on an individual's achievement of their objectives and is in no way related to company performance. All employees who have passed their probation are eligible to receive this. The scheme creates employee engagement, motivation and the need for Managers to manage their people effectively and appropriately. The scheme also means that all Managers have to meet each quarter to calibrate their bonus recommendations. This creates the need for a discussion about overall performance, like a mini people review on a regular basis, which thereby enables consistency and employee recognition amongst leadership teams.