People Managers Matter

Every Christmas, Energy & Utility Skills ask their staff to donate an unwanted gift or buy a little something extra when doing their Christmas shopping so that they can donate them to Solihull Women's Refuge. The Refuge provides a range of services for women and children from six months of age to early teens who have been affected by domestic violence, rape and sexual abuse, who have to leave their homes, often with very little. Thanks to the generosity of staff over the past few years giving back to the local community, their donations have meant that many local families could have a happier Christmas. Energy & Utility Skills is a relatively small organisation with limited resources to focus on fundraising activities, but in fact, they do an incredible amount of fundraising work. As well as raising funds every year for a broad range of worthy causes, they also recycle their old IT equipment by donating it to local charities, schools and groups who need it. They're immensely proud that with the help of their staff, they've raised so much money and most importantly, made such a difference to so many good causes.

Energy & Utility Skills' staff play a vital role in contributing to the overall success of the EU Skills Group, delivering objectives as an organisation, as a team and as individuals. Their Performance and Development Review process places importance on ensuring that everyone who works at the EU Skills Group understands how the work they do contributes to the overall delivery of their Vision, their Business Plan and their business success. They want their staff to share the success of the organisation. Alongside the Annual Review Process, their Performance-related Bonus Scheme recognises and regards employees' collective contribution to the delivery of the EU Skills Group's financial and business objectives by providing the opportunity for them to earn a personal bonus.

Elmhurst holds an annual barbecue event every summer. Families of their employees are also invited and all is paid for by the organisation. They also hold fun 'race nights' every 3-4 months at the local golf club. The food and venue is all paid for by Elmhurst. Elmhurst holds quarterly employee briefings. Some are interactive and some are for giving employees information. They involve their staff during these sessions and invite and encourage them to give feedback on strategy development.

Managers at Elmhurst support the wellbeing of employees by giving paid time off for medical and dental appointments, working from home to support domestic challenges, and paid time off for funerals and bereavements. The company also offers its premises for weekly yoga classes.

Elior's Safety & Wellbeing team developed a management programme and awareness campaign helping deal with stress before it becomes an issue which can have an adverse affect. It addresses the person as a whole and also encourages them to seriously look at their lifestyle and what they can also do to help themselves. Having spoken to both the colleague and the line manager who participated in the assessment, they both felt it had been very productive and unblocked the communication between them which was partly causing the problems. Elior's Safety & Wellbeing team encourage all colleagues to think about everyday activities and provide thought provoking summaries about how they can go about things in a safer way. On Elior's internal Extranet this year they have provided guidance about safety at Christmas including Christmas tree lights, driving in adverse weather, how to keep cool in extreme summer weather. They are also trying to encourage managers to use their common sense. It's not necessarily about going by the rule book, but by being genuinely supportive.

Linked to Elior's multi-award winning eXperience programme, Training Journal and Personnel Today, the “You Made a Difference” recognition scheme was introduced in the spring of 2012. Its goal was to move the spotlight from the negative to positive and designed to reinforce and encourage positive behaviours, recognising progress being made by their colleagues by thanking them each time a job is well done. Noticing, and thanking their colleagues for doing jobs well and with a warm, friendly and genuine attitude creates job confidence and satisfaction, colleague engagement and commitment to Elior UK. This in turn drives positive results for all. When an Elior colleague is seen to be “Making a Difference”, and demonstrating something exceptional, they are immediately recognised with a ‘thank you' and issued by their Manager with a ‘You Made a Difference' thank you cheque. The Manager then records the entry on their internal extranet giving the colleague an opportunity to win one of 40 gift vouchers each month. This scheme has been so successful and well received by the business, that it has been incorporated as a distinctive category in its own right at the annual awards ceremony where those individuals who have made a unique difference are recognised. Last year's winner introduced a healthy eating ‘points mean prizes' initiative which was so successful at site, that it was replicated across other operating sites.

DCH recognises that the engagement and commitment of skilled and enthusiastic staff is absolutely essential to the achievement of their group strategy and the long term success of DCH. They want to be a high achieving employer that people aspire to join, enjoy working for and where all staff feel recognised and rewarded for their contribution. Their reward strategy outlines the core principles that will shape their pay structures, benefits, terms and conditions together with associated initiatives. To attract skilled and enthusiastic staff and to motivate everyone in the group in supporting achievement of group strategy, its aims and values.

DCH's first staff conference saw all their staff from Devon and Cornwall come together to celebrate their successes, embed their values, understand their aims and contribute to a variety of workshops. Launched by their group management team on a selection of percussion instruments, including a step ladder, drumming everyone into the auditorium, it was apparent from the start that this was a different sort of event reflecting the growth, ambition and aspiration of DCH. Their key note speaker, John Bird, founder of the Big Issue, struck a chord with many, talking about the importance of each person's contribution to an organisaiton and, of course, reflecting the social ethos of their own company.

Company information and success is shared with all in the organisation, so as to enable decision making processes and also show the bigger picture of working towards a common goal. Creditcall's CEO runs entire staff updates on average 3 to 4 times per year, where free lunch is provided, and various people in the company present what is going on in their part of the organisation. Their CEO also has regular monthly meetings with all the other various managers and this information is then disseminated to other team members. In addition, the company has an open door policy and all staff are encouraged to ask questions on anything they don't understand. There is also a ‘no blame culture' at the company. All colleagues are treated as equal, no matter of any other factors and encouraged to come up with new innovative and efficient ways of dealing with any work challenges they face.

Regular, and whenever necessary, daily meetings are held to discuss objectives, progress and obstacles. Underlying these meetings is the philosophy that it is the managers' responsibility to ensure that their reports have the best possible environment in which to succeed. Notice is also taken of individual working preferences and where possible these are accommodated. The current flexi time policy was a direct result of manager feedback and a desire by the company to accommodate individual preferences. The company ethos is to demonstrate how they are all working towards a common goal and how all the various working parts are vital to the overall success. Informally, managers are encouraged to hold informal sessions with their team or individuals within the team if they see any signs of under performance or symptoms of any kind of problems and difficulty.

All staff are offered the option to enrole in PruHealth Vitality scheme as part of their private medical offering. This scheme provides members with a wealth of wellbeing information and offers them rewards in the form of cash bonuses and discounts for engaging with it. It also subsidises gym membership and schemes such as 'Fitbug' to promote exercise. They have also turned a currently empty office space into a relaxation lounge where people can rest, read, eat, or just chat. It is basically made up of bean bags and second hand couches that people can nest into for times when they need to be out of a strict office environment.

Employees are rewarded for their efforts through their release and end of project parties which are used to celebrate achievements as well as thank the entire groups who have committed huge time and effort into getting a job done and done right for their clients and partners.

As an organisation Cooper Lomaz have a very strong commitment to employee development, encouraging promotion from within, taking risks to give staff new opportunities and investing generously in training. One of the clearest indicators of this is the Sales Director and the Operations Director both of whom started their careers at Cooper Lomaz as consultants and have achieved director status in as little as 5 years. Progression is based on merit rather than length of service and Cooper Lomaz are constantly reviewing their staff to see what their next step could be. Last year 38% of their staff received a promotion. Much of this progression is achieved by mentoring and whenever they identify a rising star they will buddy them up with someone already in the role they are aspiring to. Cooper Lomaz run internal training on sales, recruitment and management topics, and have training boards in both offices where anyone can sign up to offer training on a given topic or to request it. They also invest in external training, and currently have staff working through their CIPD and taking Prince 2.

As an organisation Cooper Lomaz have a very strong commitment to employee development, encouraging promotion from within, taking risks to give staff new opportunities and investing generously in training. One of the clearest indicators of this is the Sales Director and the Operations Director both of whom started their careers at Cooper Lomaz as consultants and have achieved director status in as little as 5 years. Progression is based on merit rather than length of service and Cooper Lomaz are constantly reviewing their staff to see what their next step could be. Last year 38% of their staff received a promotion. Much of this progression is achieved by mentoring and whenever they identify a rising star they will buddy them up with someone already in the role they are aspiring to. Cooper Lomaz run internal training on sales, recruitment and management topics, and have training boards in both offices where anyone can sign up to offer training on a given topic or to request it. They also invest in external training, and currently have staff working through their CIPD and taking Prince 2.

Clearswift seeks to reward employees for their efforts in a variety of ways. They offer total rewards statements, pay reviews, pay benchmarking and recognition awards. One example which has been particularly effective is Hero of the Month and Presidents Club.

The organisation seeks to enhance the wellbeing of employees through access to a number of events such as fitness clubs, shopping events etc. on the business park. They also have an employee assistance programme, a bike to work scheme and an internal coach.

CIPD are passionate about developing their people and highly committed to the learning and development of all their staff. They have an annual cycle of performance and development reviews and action implementation to address any areas of need. Their internal mentoring scheme exists for five years, received very positive feedback and has now been extended to include external mentors. They make available approximately 15 different training programmes to meet the tailored needs of their employees according to their personal development programmes. They have also recently launched an online training tool accessible for all staff which contains all their mandatory programmes in addition to approximately 250 additional online tutorials, case studies and self-assessment tools. They believe the best example of employee development and encouragement to take ownership for personal development is their annual Personal Development Allowance available for all employees. They can spend money on development related to their role or a future aspiration in addition to access to programmes.

At CIPD they firmly believe in the correlation between employee engagement and employee wellbeing. They hold health and wellbeing events twice yearly where they engage with the community and invite local businesses offering complimentary taster sessions for their products and services. This ensures staff have the opportunity to focus on their personal well-being both inside and outside of the workplace. These days are well attended by a cross section of staff as they work hard to provide something for everyone. Alongside this, they also arrange free of charge influenza vaccinations for all staff who wish to have them on site and offer staff eye care vouchers. Another aspect of how they try to enhance the wellbeing of their employees is by offering all staff every day a free lunch. These are freshly made on site and very balanced and varied.

The CEO, owner holds quarterly breakfast meetings with pre-selected staff which change for each event, so they can share ideas, be recognised etc. The CEO has an open door policy and all senior management work in their respective areas in an open plan office amongst their teams which creates an environment of sharing and invaluable discussion. The COO asks for feedback, news and ideas for the monthly company update which goes out electronically to all staff.

The CEO, owner holds quarterly breakfast meetings with pre-selected staff which change for each event, so they can share ideas, be recognised etc. The CEO has an open door policy and all senior management work in their respective areas in an open plan office amongst their teams which creates an environment of sharing and invaluable discussion. The COO asks for feedback, news and ideas for the monthly company update which goes out electronically to all staff.

Calyx have a strong apprentice scheme in place offering work opportunities to school leavers in the local area. Their HR assistant and finance assistant came through the scheme three years ago. They have a service desk analyst who finished her training before the year and now has a permanent role and a few others coming through the ranks. In addition, their chosen corporate charity, Francis House, is a local charity and was chosen by the staff because of this reason – the team wanted to support a local charity.

Accessibility to the executive and senior management is seen as essential to the culture within Calyx. As such, none of the executive or senior management have their own office. Everyone works together in one open plan environment. All senior management are expected to attend social events with staff. Staff are actively encouraged by the CEO to seek out and question management about decisions or issues that they want better to understand. The reward scheme, which is agreed by the executive team, is based on which member of staff has best demonstrated the values of the company.

BrightHouse hold an Annual Management Conference each summer, bringing together representatives from every store and engineering and distribution centre from around the country as well as managers and the leadership team to build relationships and learn from each other and to understand the vision and priorities for the year ahead. This is not a single event but the start of a series of regional and local meetings at which all colleagues become involved. Each year within this event a significant amount of time is given over to team building activity. For example in 2013 Brighthouse built 50 children's bikes from scratch and these were donated through the NSPCC to deserving children around the country. As a geographically diverse organisation they fund a range of local team building events. For example, this summer in their Supply Chain Division, the Customer Service Centre based in Manchester put on a BBQ and charity raffle for all colleagues and their families.

At BrightHouse, they recognise that the talent and diversity of their people is the foundation of their success, so they are committed to helping all colleagues develop their personal and professional skills in order to bring out their strengths. With their vision to be an employer of choice, it goes without saying that their people are the masters of their own destiny. Supported by us, they can drive their own learning, their own development and their own career. From day one, BrightHouse treat all colleagues as individuals. They ensure that their induction programme offers a comprehensive introduction to their role and how they fit within their business as a whole. To equip colleagues with the right learning and development at the right time, BrightHouse offer a range of learning opportunities.

Any member of staff at Botanix can nominate anyone who they work with for a spot payment. Nominations may be made for a whole team if is believed that it has performed exceptionally as a whole and it would be unfair to pick out individuals for special praise. The nominations will then be reviewed at the Business Team in that month and will decide who will receive a spot payment, taking into account all the reasons put forward, while at the same time being aware that there is a limit to the amount of money available in the bonus pot. Reasons why an employee/team might receive a bonus include but are not limited to: showing an unusually accelerated personal development; completing a particularly onerous or demanding task or project; displaying a high degree of professionalism during the year; doing a large amount of extra work, for example because of a staff shortage or the need to complete an important project; coming up with something particularly innovative within the job; exceeding a sales target by an amount to be decided by individual managers and notified to employees in advance of the bonus period and acting in a way that has led to particular success for Botanix, in terms of both financial gain and enhanced reputation, for example the winning of an industry award.

Demonstrably, the senior management team are seen to work well with one another, treating all individuals with respect, whether they are members of the company, suppliers or customers, striving to achieve high levels of customer service. They recognise that they are part of a larger business organisation through their willingness to engage and share information with other managers in the group, being seen to be flexible and adaptable to changing business priorities and pressures.

Biogen undertook a community project this summer to refurbish a former local pub in order for it to be used as a tea room and training centre for a charity that supports adults with learning difficulties - Beds Garden Carers. Employees from across the business were able to take part, giving up their time both inside and outside of working hours. Biogen also supports the local Bedford Christmas Food Bank where staff are encouraged to donate food that goes to the homeless at Christmas.

Biogen undertook a community project this summer to refurbish a former local pub in order for it to be used as a tea room and training centre for a charity that supports adults with learning difficulties - Beds Garden Carers. Employees from across the business were able to take part, giving up their time both inside and outside of working hours. Biogen also supports the local Bedford Christmas Food Bank where staff are encouraged to donate food that goes to the homeless at Christmas.

8 out 11 of Bazaarvoice's managers in the UK have been promoted internally into their roles - they did not join Bazaarvoice as managers. This means there is a great understanding within the management team of the needs of the team members and their clients in line with their core values as a business. Also each manager is held accountable on each of their values and they should demonstrate qualities in their work aligned to these. This also applies to recruitment and the people they hire. Each candidate should be left with a very clear impression of the values of Bazaarvoice and how they implement that into day to day work. Candidates are all assessed based closely on their values as well as their core competencies.

Each year at Bazaarvoice's annual ‘All Hands' meeting employees that have gone above and beyond within their roles or by contributing to company culture are recognised with a reward of equity within the company. Additionally within quota carrying teams there is the opportunity for over achievers to attend ‘Winners Club' with the CEO and other senior executives. This year five of the team flew to Mexico for a five day 5 star break. These are both examples of significant rewards but throughout the year Bazaarvoice will look to reward and recognise individuals who display and represent their values through spot bonuses and adhoc announcements to the team.

Arrows Group's values rely on total company commitment to being United, Open, and Bespoke. All Arrows Group managers, including Directors, work on the floor of the refurbished open plan offices, making themselves available at any time for their teams. This physically displays their intentions to ensure Arrow Group is completely open internally. Their employees benefit from such accessibility to managers by tapping into their knowledge when they need it, so they can deal with any challenges they face, personally or professionally. Management also lead from the front, in terms of commitment and timekeeping, ensuring they set the tone at the top that their teams can incorporate into their daily habits. Managers are also managed by behaviour and productivity to ensure they are leading by example. They achieve this through daily ‘stand ups' each morning with their teams. The stand ups are short meetings, typically 15 minutes, for teams to update each other on their key priorities, any issues they might face, and sharing any expertise that helps others overcome challenges.

Arrows Group held its inaugural Arrows Group Sales Conference in October, bringing together the current and future leaders from all offices. The overall aim of this conference was to revisit the group strategy, explore best practices across the business and gain some in depth feedback from each division around how they are doing and how Arrow Group can improve. The event focussed on representing everyone within the company and the majority of the work done on the day was designed to take away practice improvements that were shared with everyone, so all colleagues can participate in building a world-class company. One of many reasons for appointing Greg Searle as Board Advisor for Coaching and Development, was to ensure Arrow Group could use his expertise in eliciting maximum engagement from employees to achieve the company's vision. One method involved offsite sessions for two days with team leaders, spending time with them to share the company's vision and performance goals, and encouraging participants to commit to actions and processes that contribute to these goals. These were then fed back for review against ongoing initiatives. The company's Personal Development Plans provide the primary route for a tailored approach to developing Arrow Group's employees' careers. Feedback is a critical component to the PDPs, ensuring the employee has a voice in their career path, and how their career contributes to the company's success. Feedback is gathered by each manager, and implementation is assessed in terms of practicality, relevance, and scope.

The senior management team in Academy Insurance Services are empowered to make decisions and lead the company with the support but minimum guidance from the directors, so decisions are made quickly cutting out a lot of red tape.

Academy's directors operate a door always open policy and ideas and suggestions are encouraged from the teams.

The organisation has a number of processes in place that allows colleagues to feedback their ideas and suggestions. Firstly, the organisation makes use of the intranet, Sharepoint and social media, Yammer, as tools for knowledge and idea sharing. All employees have access to these sites. A suggestion facility allows employees to share and feedback any ideas and suggestions they may have on any area of the business. This is a straightforward and effective process to allow all employees to be heard. The organisation also holds regular ‘town hall' meetings, which all employees can attend. In these meetings, a brief executive report is made about the current status of the business. Employees will then have the opportunity to ask any questions they have, discuss any emerging issues, voice their concerns and feedback on any ideas and suggestions they may have. The meeting is usually fairly informal, allowing the employees to take the lead and discuss the topics they feel are necessary. Abellio also aims to gain feedback from employees by conducting yearly engagement surveys. A gap analysis is used to understand areas for development and the feasible measures necessary to close the gap.

One of the many ways Abellio seeks to reward employees is through the Abellio Annual Achievement Awards. The awards evening is for all of the Abellio Group, including the operating companies. This special ceremony which is a formal black tie event, is a time for Abellio to award their employees for their efforts in a number of areas such as Excellence, Values, Innovation, Leadership, Teamwork, Employee of the Year. The awards have been established to celebrate the amazing job that their people do everyday for Abellio and for their customers. A particularly unique feature of the Abellio Awards, is the extra mile that the organisation goes to show how much they appreciate the efforts of the employees. As well as receiving an award for their efforts and a special evening out, Abellio also supply the winners with a gift experience voucher of their choice to the value of £350 per person and to a maximum of £1,750 for the team entry. Finalists who attend the Awards Ceremony also have all their expenses paid for to attend this, including travel, subsistence and overnight accommodation. If required, formal attire costs are also repaid.

For the past 2 years 1st Credit have been visiting Oakwood School in Horley to provide financial awareness training as part of the educational curriculum. Nine sessions were delivered this year by employees who volunteered their time to provide lectures on Credit and Debt awareness, Credit Scoring and Credit Histories, as well as how to be aware of managing Credit as a young adult. In addition to this they also support a work experience programme as well as a kick start your career programme where they offer support and careers advice. Oakwood School is an important project for 1st Credit as it's not just a community initiative, but an opportunity to contribute to the future of their local community by providing sound career advice, debt management awareness and an opportunity for the students to experience a real working environment. 1st Credit hope the partnership that has developed with Oakwood School, will continue for many years to come.

For the past 2 years 1st Credit have been visiting Oakwood School in Horley to provide financial awareness training as part of the educational curriculum. Nine sessions were delivered this year by employees who volunteered their time to provide lectures on Credit and Debt awareness, Credit Scoring and Credit Histories, as well as how to be aware of managing Credit as a young adult. In addition to this they also support a work experience programme as well as a kick start your career programme where they offer support and careers advice. Oakwood School is an important project for 1st Credit as it's not just a community initiative, but an opportunity to contribute to the future of their local community by providing sound career advice, debt management awareness and an opportunity for the students to experience a real working environment. 1st Credit hope the partnership that has developed with Oakwood School, will continue for many years to come.

In the the first Wulvern Staff survey in 2011 only 47% of staff felt that they were paid fairly so Wulvern Housing have worked to improve this and in the 2013 survey they have improved this response to 67% of staff now feeling they are paid fairly in comparison to the external market. They have made this shift over two years by firstly in 2012 providing all staff with an information leaflet explaining how they benchmark salaries with the external market and how their budget is used across the business for pay awards. Feedback on this leaflet was that it was useful but staff would have preferred to have discussed it face to face and ask any additional questions there. Wulvern Housing accepted this and this year they held a series of drop-in pay workshops for staff. At these sessions they explained the process for benchmarking and calculating pay rises and then gave staff the opportunity to act as the leadership team and using a set of money make their own pay decisions for the business. The workshop concluded with a questions and answer session where staff could ask any questions or they could stay behind to ask specific questions about their own pay.

Managers hold informal one to ones with their staff and formal quarterly reviews and both of these are used as methods to thank staff for a job well done. Some Managers also choose to use team meetings as a way of thanking staff in front of their colleagues so everyone is aware of what they have done. One Manager has her own set of thank you cards and she takes the time to write a personal message to the staff member thanking them or praising them for the action they have taken. All of their Managers use the mantra that they would not ask any of their team to do something they would not do themselves.

He listens and acts! He is also very accessible to every employee at every level, and insists on meeting every new starter.

The organisation celebrate Thanks giving, Christmas, Eid and Divali.

This year Updata Infrastructure introduced the Employee Assistance programme which offers a helpline where employees can speak to an experienced counsellor, legal representative or qualified nurse 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. This provides around the clock advice and counselling on matters such as, emotional issues, bereavement, relationships, health concerns, healthy living advice, alcohol/quit smoking advice, debt/money matters and landlord/tenant disputes. Employees also receive access to the Worklife Solutions website where you can gain access to help on a number of topics including: relationships, family, home, bereavement, finances, sickness, disability, retirement, change, workplace conflict, working as an expatriate, work-life balance, stress, nutrition, smoking, drinking, ill health, physical health and healthy heart. The Healthy Living website includes an online health coach, Heath Matters E-Zine and information on an extensive range of health related topics. Employees can set personal fitness goals and track their progress online. Finally, employees can take an online assessment, generating their own ‘Q' score, understanding the impact that their lifestyle is having on their health. There is also an area for line managers providing management tools and advice. In addition to this, the company have launched an income protection scheme, the policy will provide 65% of base salary until the age of 65 should an employee become medically incapable of performing their duties. This takes the stress and worry out of any long term sickness situations for the employee.

This year Updata Infrastructure introduced the Employee Assistance programme which offers a helpline where employees can speak to an experienced counsellor, legal representative or qualified nurse 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. This provides around the clock advice and counselling on matters such as, emotional issues, bereavement, relationships, health concerns, healthy living advice, alcohol/quit smoking advice, debt/money matters and landlord/tenant disputes. Employees also receive access to the Worklife Solutions website where you can gain access to help on a number of topics including: relationships, family, home, bereavement, finances, sickness, disability, retirement, change, workplace conflict, working as an expatriate, work-life balance, stress, nutrition, smoking, drinking, ill health, physical health and healthy heart. The Healthy Living website includes an online health coach, Heath Matters E-Zine and information on an extensive range of health related topics. Employees can set personal fitness goals and track their progress online. Finally, employees can take an online assessment, generating their own ‘Q' score, understanding the impact that their lifestyle is having on their health. There is also an area for line managers providing management tools and advice. In addition to this, the company have launched an income protection scheme, the policy will provide 65% of base salary until the age of 65 should an employee become medically incapable of performing their duties. This takes the stress and worry out of any long term sickness situations for the employee.

Managers at Unruly will arrange for international secondments for employees who wish to develop their skills and see how the company works in other territories. This generates job enrichment, engagement and is a form of reward. Their managers have a management style that is a product of their company culture and as such, talking to people as individuals and demonstrating care for their needs comes naturally, rather than this being a process or requiring a formal intervention.

Unruly offer spot ‘superhero' bonuses to team members who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. These £1000 bonuses are given each quarter to nominated employees. Managers globally are given the opportunity to nominate Unrulies for a superhero bonus, and these nominations are reviewed by the executive team to ensure senior Unrulies are aware of special contributions team members have made. In addition to monetary rewards, Unruly provide a mentoring programme which partners team members based on skills, this is not about hierarchy, it's about subject matter experts providing support to team members seeking development in this area. If someone has delivered wow in a spectacular fashion they are given a pair of tickets to an exclusive film preview, hosted by the NSPCC in Mayfair. This helps the company to reward Unrulies who have delivered wow and to share the love with the NSPCC. They always try to make sure their most dedicated Unrulies are given lots of high profile networking and speaking opportunities, which have included lunches at #10 Downing Street, appearing on stage at the Barbican theatre, industry leadership dinners and invitations to the opening of the market at the London Stock Exchange.

Everyone within the Ultimate Finance Group contributes to their success. There are flexible working patterns with employees being able to flex their working hours subject to availability during core hours. The company find it difficult to explain the level of passion to deliver by every person within the organisation however, it is a truly united effort.

What works really well at the Ultimate Finance Group is the fact that there appears to be no political agenda by any member of staff. If people identify an opportunity the management will review and regularly support employees allowing them to deliver and drive their own personal development. The company seeks to promote from within allowing personnel to develop without leaving to a competitor or third party.