People Managers Matter

In August 2013 Pearlfisher hosted their annual Creative Day. This is an event specially designed for their studio to get out of the office, out from behind their computers, and take part in activities that aim to inspire them in new ways and build team relations. They hire an external venue and provide food, drinks, transportation and materials for all their employees. Pearlfisher covers all costs for the team building creative event. For their team building event this year, they hired an old mansion house on the river in Hammersmith London, organised organic catering for the full day, including breakfast, lunch and tea/coffee/juice/snacks throughout the day. All Pearlfisher employees were picked up from the agency with a bus that they hired for the day and were transported to and from the venue. On the day, the team were set tasks by using the inspiring space/rooms of the Mansion House to fulfil design briefs. They promoted internal collaboration and co-creation resulting in some great future design concepts that have begun to inspire and influence the work they are now doing for themselves and for their clients. As an agency that designs the future, Pearlfisher also close the studio for 2 days a year and host internal days for the whole company in which their Futures Director presents big picture change in 1 of 4 areas – Taste, Luxury, Body and Connection. They are then tasked with breaking into smaller groups to come up with ideas for future design concepts based on the changes they've been presenting. These sessions are fantastic team building exercises because the whole company is encouraged to participate, present and work with people they don't usually work with.

It was suggested by one of Pearlfisher's Strategists that a good way to ask people for their feedback would be to use Survey Monkey. They now use the anonymous questionnaire email tool to ask for staff feedback about all aspects of the company from where they should host their next First Thursday social event to lectures their team would like to attend.

Pagan Osbourne provide the framework and training but it is their managers who bring everything to life. They work closely with their team so that they are aware of exactly what's going on so are perfectly placed to give timely praise and recognise a job well done. Every year, new objectives are set in conjunction with the individual and every month the manager holds a 1-1 meeting where they review progress, and can help alleviate pressure points if and when they appear. Their annual Personal Development Review (PDR) records the person's overall performance and their rating influences pay awards, as exceptional performance is given above average pay increases (when the business is able to do so). As managers are aware of progress and regularly check client feedback and commendations, they personally recognise achievements and make sure that their director also knows of any key successes. In turn, the management board then recognise successes by sending cards to high achievers on a monthly basis and praising top performers in their monthly blog.

Pagan Osborne have held several social events throughout the year, from quiz nights to a fireworks night at the end of the Edinburgh Festival. They recently put on a pizza and wine night to celebrate the successful move into their new Edinburgh office, and to thank colleagues for all their hard work. Probably the most memorable and talked about event was their participation in the CHAS beat the borders day. 15 staff members of all ages from 4 of their 5 offices, took part but even those who didn't enter were still talking about it. The day was physically challenging but the team raised over £5,000. Some of them are already asking if they can do it again next year! The most recent internal event was held by the manager of the Executry team – Fiona Shields. Fiona planned a half day team event in the Edinburgh office, where part of the day was spent looking at personality types within the team to help them communicate better by recognising each other's strengths and adapting their communication style to suit different personalities. After the session the team were taken out for lunch and then enjoyed the Edinburgh Festival. Additionally, several managers and teams have organised team events over the weekend, for example, drinks and dinner at one manager's house and an outdoor barbeque which the whole team, their partners and children were invited to.

All staff are invited, twice a year, to a fun day – in which they join with a random selection of their colleagues (numbering 25-30) in a half day fun event of their own design. The emphasis is on team building and networking in a fun (usually competitive!) environment. Recent examples have included: go-carting, Crystal Maze-type challenges, cocktail and pizza making, walking history tours, table football/ping pong competitions, pub quizzes, attending greyhound racing, crazy bingo, a murder mystery, and amateur magician classes. In addition, they have a company-wide team building and fun event that takes place around midsummer's day, each year. Previous examples include a company values-themed fashion show (swapping a donation to Age Concern for a variety of vintage clothing as base materials!) and this year all staff went to Pineapple Dance Studios where they were separated in to random teams, paired with professional choreographers and entered in to a team dance-off, on stage at the Lyric Theatre in London's West End. Each team is invited to host a monthly drinks and social party of their own theming. A budget is provided to cover the cost of drinks, food and entertainment props. Recent examples include a “Casino Royale” evening, a kids-themed party (e.g. with pass-the-parcel and musical chairs), a US-style “Frat” party complete with party games, and a New Zealand wine-tasting evening.

In October 2013, the senior management team at Octopus were searching for ways to bridge any perception of distance between themselves and the rest of the company as a result of their significant growth. They decided to don the aprons and chef's hats and cooked a Jamaican-themed lunch of goat curry (complete with side dishes, vege options and pudding) for the entire company. This was achieved with the help of just one trained chef to help guide them – they arrived at 6am to help set up a temporary kitchen and worked solidly until the middle of the afternoon in order to cover all aspects of service. All staff were invited to 6 different sittings and were sat randomly in order to create a mixed environment in a relaxed setting where employees mingled between teams and all levels of seniority/tenure in the company. The event was such a success in building positive levels of engagement that two more “cook offs” were planned for November and December 2013 and there are more on the agenda for 2014.

Ochre House has nurtured a culture of personal accountability and empowerement. They encourage their people to ‘ask for forgiveness rather than permission' and in turn they ask all of their people to manage their own career journey. As such the organisation places much emphasis on personal brand. Sue Brooks, Managing Director, is a recognised thought leader in the industry and is widely hailed as an innovative and expert thinker by professionals beyond the confines of Ochre House. As such her own personal brand is very powerful and she is both an inspiration and a role model to all Ochre House colleagues, truly leading by example.

One of the key tenets of the ‘way of working' at Ochre House is empowerment through personal responsibility. One of their development mantras is ‘see it, mean it, lead it' and through this the organisation urge colleagues to run with any idea they truly believe can make a difference. They support this through "Passport". The organisation believe that there is no better way to hear what people are saying, and to benefit from their ideas and feedback, than to encourage and enable them to join virtual teams and projects that operate outside their day to day role. In this way the company benefits from hearing a wide range of different ideas and the individuals benefit from working with new colleagues and leaders and evidencing their determination to develop themselves. The company also encourage subject experts within Ochre House to blog and these blogs are then shared on social media sites and within the company. This gives colleagues a chance to showcase their expertise, thinking, and opinion.

The company has retained the key principles that have been so crucial to its ongoing success. They continue to operate within a fun and vibrant working environment where people can reach their full potential and enjoy the processes in getting there. ARK proves it is a great workplace because it views everybody as a valuable asset.

The company has retained the key principles that have been so crucial to its ongoing success. They continue to operate within a fun and vibrant working environment where people can reach their full potential and enjoy the processes in getting there. ARK proves it is a great workplace because it views everybody as a valuable asset.

Managers undertake a review of their teams and individual employees and recognise when new employees are required or when a role needs to be changed to reflect the needs of the organisation.
They continually review the role of the individuals in their teams and consider appropriate ways of ensuring that what is required is completed. They support new employees during their probationary period with reviews at 1, 3 and 6 months in order to ensure they have all the required support they need. In addition to this, all employees have 4 weekly supervision meetings which are clearly documented with their manager and approved by the manager's manager. They also hold regular team meetings with team members along with other members of the senior management teams as appropriate. In addition most employees have a regular one-to-one meeting with their manager during which any issues they have can be raised and discussed. Managers will invite feedback from employees at team meetings and one-to-one meetings which are formally recorded.

There is constant consultation and engagement taking place between the organisation and its people and mechanisms such as the staff and carer consultation forums are used as “temperature checks” to gauge people's views on the way in which the organisation manages and develops them. The results from the survey will initially be understood by the senior team within the organisation and then fed back to the line managers. They will then be assisted and supported in producing a presentation to present to their teams and facilitate a feedback session in order to develop local action plans which can then be co-ordinated into an organisations action plan.

The wellbeing of employees is at the forefront of the Company's mind and it is in constant communication with employees. An Employee Assistance Programme is available for employees to help them through crises and without which their well-being could be compromised. The Employee Assistance Programme has well-being nurses and counsellors to assist with anxiety, stress and depression. They have introduced alcohol and drugs testing, not to be punitive, but to bring support to those that need it. Often when people are anxious, stressed or depressed they are more vulnerable and susceptible to addiction as a coping mechanism. The Company seeks to help and support those who are positive on a random test and not invoke the disciplinary procedure, but start a programme of support. They also have private medical, permanent health insurance cover and then an array of well-being items that can be purchased with disposable income through flexible benefits.

MWH's chosen corporate charity is WaterAid which they chose to support as it is a charity which reflects their vision of Building a Better World through delivering clean water supplies. They have appointed a Steering Group and a network of WaterAid Reps within each MWH office. The steering group and reps organise a diverse range of employee fundraising events within their local offices throughout the year. Fundraising events include activities such as dress down days, cake and sweet sales. MWH also auctioned surplus office furniture with the proceeds being donated to WaterAid. We have an increasing number of individuals and teams who take part in WaterAid National events such as The Great North Run, 6 peaks and other sporting challenges. During 2012/13 they raised £15,660 for WaterAid.

Mike Sunley has been the driving force behind Lexington since establishing the business in 2002. His determination, positivity and motivation have ensured that the company has grown year on year both in terms of turnover and people. From the start Mike wanted to do things differently and this has enabled Lexington to develop a strong culture. It's more than Mike's tireless approach to the very best food, people and service; he's also ensured Lexington is recognised as one of the UK's leading contract caterers, with an enviable reputation as one of the best employers in their sector. In a recent Investors in People audit, where Gold standard was achieved, employees commented that Mike is 'visible, communicative, professional, fun, approachable and recognises people!' Mike was also named the 'Foodservice Caterer of the Year' at the 30th anniversary of the prestigious Catey Awards in July 2013. The Foodservice Caterer award recognises an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the catering and wider hospitality world, who has combined innovation with sound financial performance as well as demonstrating clear business achievements. Mike was praised for driving business innovations across the company and operating Lexington with strong people focused policies at the heart of the business. In a time when many companies were cutting back on investment in their people it was made clear that Mike's continued investment in training and people retention has paid dividends for the company's growth and wider business success.

Mike Sunley has been the driving force behind Lexington since establishing the business in 2002. His determination, positivity and motivation have ensured that the company has grown year on year both in terms of turnover and people. From the start Mike wanted to do things differently and this has enabled Lexington to develop a strong culture. It's more than Mike's tireless approach to the very best food, people and service; he's also ensured Lexington is recognised as one of the UK's leading contract caterers, with an enviable reputation as one of the best employers in their sector. In a recent Investors in People audit, where Gold standard was achieved, employees commented that Mike is 'visible, communicative, professional, fun, approachable and recognises people!' Mike was also named the 'Foodservice Caterer of the Year' at the 30th anniversary of the prestigious Catey Awards in July 2013. The Foodservice Caterer award recognises an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the catering and wider hospitality world, who has combined innovation with sound financial performance as well as demonstrating clear business achievements. Mike was praised for driving business innovations across the company and operating Lexington with strong people focused policies at the heart of the business. In a time when many companies were cutting back on investment in their people it was made clear that Mike's continued investment in training and people retention has paid dividends for the company's growth and wider business success.

Legal and General offer sponsorship matching and time matching requests up to £500 per person per year. Employees can mix and match to claim time and sponsorship matching throughout the year up to the value of £500. Gives those employees who don't have the chance to fundraise, but do value work volunteering on behalf of a charity the chance to claim matching. Time matching is based on £20 per hour. The company matches up to £25 of the employee's monthly 'Give as you earn' contribution.

In Legal and General their drive to create a transparent and straightforward place to work where all employees can perform at their best, is supported by the reward structure which is aligned to the performance management process. Their performance and reward process recognises how employees go about things, as well as what they achieve. A great performance is about delivering results in a way that lives up to the Legal and General goals, brand and demonstrates the six behaviours. An individual's performance influences their salary and bonus. Salary is reviewed each year against how they have performed in their role and the bonus reflects how they have got on against their objectives and how they've gone about achieving them. Their salary and bonus pots always take into account company performance and the economic environment. Salary and bonus are part of the Total Reward package and sit alongside a wide range of financial, wellbeing, community benefits and staff discounts.

The family fun day is a company funded event to say thank you to all staff at ITW and their families. They hire a venue and this year it was a pleasure boat cruise along the Thames. It's a great party, always well organised and it's great for team-building. The inclusion of family members extends the thank you to husbands/wives/partners and children of all hard working and loyal staff. Their team bonus fund is based on target achievements and allocated to an event for all employees as part of continued team building and recognition.

The family fun day is a company funded event to say thank you to all staff at ITW and their families. They hire a venue and this year it was a pleasure boat cruise along the Thames. It's a great party, always well organised and it's great for team-building. The inclusion of family members extends the thank you to husbands/wives/partners and children of all hard working and loyal staff. Their team bonus fund is based on target achievements and allocated to an event for all employees as part of continued team building and recognition.

IRESS have a recognition award scheme that is used to recognise the outstanding achievements of employees. The award is intended for individuals who perform over and above their job description and who excel in the company's core values. It is particularly powerful in that it enables any individual to make a nomination for any other individual, team or department. It also encourages managers to reward team members via individual recognition and vouchers schemes. Company wide recognition of the individuals receiving awards and their achievements are then provided via the engagement team newsletters and their intranet. IRESS are currently reviewing the criteria of the recognition award scheme so that, alongside their valued behaviours, they can also align it to their primary purpose, winning ambition and strategy signposts.

Sports & social teams are in place at each of IRESS' six locations to arrange a variety of events. The company provides funding for each team based on a per head sum of money. All of the sports and social teams work in close liaison with people at their respective locations to determine the type of events people would like to attend. They are then responsible for allocating this money in support of events. These social occasions engender a real sense of team spirit enabling their people to enjoy one another's company and interact with each other outside of the office. Each team organises a summer event and this year these included the previously named Avelo X-Factor night, a Poulton Palooza and a fun day for Cheltenham employees and their families. Smaller events are held throughout the year and in recent months, have included monthly meals, quiz-nights, inter-office cricket, football matches and trips to sporting fixtures, ten-pin bowling and the theatre.

Hifx provide incentive linked pay schemes to all employees regardless of job function. Management and support services staff are eligible for a quarterly bonus that is a % of their annual basic salary.Each employee is linked to the performance of the company (or their dept) financial results (top line and/or bottom line) as well as key customer metrics such as NPS (net promoter score - driving customer excellence). Employees are paid against a blend of company metrics dependant on their role. For some involved in IT/technology and payment processing this will be STP (straight-through processing) element of bonus pay (for driving automation and efficient payment services). They then pay some functions (e.g. sales, marketing and management) on customer conversions. Some of the senior management are paid against staff survey results (e.g. senior directors and HR director and HR team). They then pay an element of people's bonus pay linked to personal / team performance (e.g. progress against actions). By having a universal framework for how they pay bonuses, they ensure that everyone from board level to the post-room is aligned to the same objectives and focused on customer service excellence. In addition to bonus/incentive pay, they also recognise star performers (or those people that go beyond the call of duty) and regularly organise fun activities such as go-karting, nights out, trips to special places (e.g. Maclaren racing Head office). Hifx also provide high performers with awards known at HiFX as "ITNs" (interesting to note) with recognition awards given for exceptional behaviour.

The CEO at Hifx 'walks the floor' every day and takes time to speak to staff and understand how they are getting on within their roles and what challenges they may currently be facing. The CEO, personally leads each staff communciation presentation and takes sigificant time to prepare for these presentations. Their CEO presents in an open/honest manner that is not sugar coated in 'management speak'. He allows people to ask questions without fear and takes time to answer all questions raised, Ensuring any questions not answered in the meeting are answered ASAP after presentations.

The Green Room's most recent team building event took place at their last Vision Day. It involved splitting the teams in cross-functional groups and setting them a task which incorporated elements of each of their roles whilst encapsulating creativity (the focus of our business) at it's core. The aim of the session was: *Embed some of the key themes shared in the morning sessions * Encourage team members to 'think freely' and come up with initiatives that could positively impact the business * bring the teams closer together * enhance individuals' understanding of one another's roles in the business and how to work with one another's strengths to maximise results across the board * develop some competitive spirit in a fun way * Encourage teams to look at issues and opportunties for the business and come up with new solutions & initiatives The event was a complete success in terms of bringing the teams closer together and enhancing understanding and overall working relationships.

The Green Room's most recent team building event took place at their last Vision Day. It involved splitting the teams in cross-functional groups and setting them a task which incorporated elements of each of their roles whilst encapsulating creativity (the focus of our business) at it's core. The aim of the session was: *Embed some of the key themes shared in the morning sessions * Encourage team members to 'think freely' and come up with initiatives that could positively impact the business * bring the teams closer together * enhance individuals' understanding of one another's roles in the business and how to work with one another's strengths to maximise results across the board * develop some competitive spirit in a fun way * Encourage teams to look at issues and opportunties for the business and come up with new solutions & initiatives The event was a complete success in terms of bringing the teams closer together and enhancing understanding and overall working relationships.

Managers at GMCP have regular KITs with their staff, which involve reviewing performance. These meetings are also used to discuss any issues and to ensure that the expectations of both parties are consistent. To enable transparency and ease of use they have devised an easy performance monitoring system, based on traffic lights, which clearly show individual performance against targets. The Managers demonstrate understanding for individuals' workload and pressures in work. Respect employees' life outside of work: time for family, friends and outside interests/hobbies
GMCP managers ensure that all their staff are aware of and have access to flexible working arrangements. Managers also monitor staff hours to ensure that staff are not over working and that any accrued hours are taken.

At GMCP a staff Working Group has recently been established, to bring staff wellbeing issues to the fore, and create a culture where negative issues are identified, minimised and managed before they affect the health of staff. They are working with a small team of staff (20 volunteers) who are helping through: Attendance at meetings, focus groups in their own teams, highlighting triggers, making suggestions for reducing the negative impact of work, offering ideas and solutions to promote a greater sense of wellbeing and one that everyone enjoys… trying out different approaches to identify what works for them. They have a budget of £1,000 to test out ideas and make recommendations for a programme that will be rolled out by March 2014. Friday afternoon Reiki sessions at thier Head Office are booking up fast! In establishing the group, they were especially keen to include people who understand how work can add to stress levels, through personal experience. They also appealed for volunteers who rarely feel stressed or are more resilient to the pressures work – so that they can better promote a healthy work-life balance. Through this Project Team, thye are designing a programme of support that is relevant and accessible to all staff and helps them reduce the negative impact of work on their lives. They already have a free Medicash scheme, providing access to doctors, counselling / therapies but GMCP want to do more to tailor a bespoke package of support available on site, at the right times for their staff

MD Jim Moseley places enormous value on the vision, culture and values of the company, and puts the company's continuing success down to the way people are empowered to do their jobs. He has previously said that as the company grows his biggest concern is to retain the family feel of the business, as losing this would be more of a danger to its long-term success than not hitting commercial targets. To prove his commitment to this philosophy, Jim takes an active role in ensuring that the company's family feel is safeguarded, from 'walking the floor' to regularly chat with employees, to attending regular company breakfast meetings where employees can publicly - or anonymously by written questions - ask him anything they like. He also takes an active role in welcoming all new employees, who are invited to a breakfast with the Executive Team. This has proved exceptionally successful as not only do new starters meet the MD and members of the Executive Team in person, they also see for themselves how the company lives its vision and values each and every day. His care for employees is evident as he makes sure that he gets to know all of the people personally.

Line managers are charged with continuing to reinforce including making the link between each employees personal objectives with those of the business in order that all can see their role in delivering the business ambition. Creating a culture of openess where all are encouraged to express their views - in 121's, small groups/teams, functional and all employee sessions. Mechanisms to name the "elephant in the room" so that all conversations are transparent no matter how uncomfortable they might be. Constant ongoing training/workshops; recognition through peers twice yearly Special Achievement Awards, leaders, Breakfast Club, emails, thank you, functional sessions, line manager thank you, performance rating, feedback etc . Coaches/trains line managers re role/expectations; Encourage work/life balance policies/communications.

FreshMinds conduct Friday morning breakfast meetings every week which bring everyone together in an informal and fun environment. There is a rota so everyone has the chance to speak about a topic they think may be relevant to their company, the work they do or their clients. FreshMinds conduct away days at least twice a year. These away days include presentations around strategy, speakers, group brainstorming sessions and team building activities, such as go-karting and most recently Dragon boat racing. FreshMinds also have half yearly celebrations such as the Summer BBQ and Christmas Party. Once a year, employees are able to attend a subsidised skiing holiday and the company has also arranged cultural nights out on the Southbank and participation in Tough Mudder - military style physical training day. Once a month Freshminds provide a budget for employees to arrange attendance at a cultural event and drinks/socialising afterwards/before.

FreshMinds offer many extra curricular actives within the company such as Bake Club, Running Club, Climbing Club and the FreshMinds netball team to name a few. In the last twelve months they have organised free gym trials and free month long boot camp training trials, as well as arranging a refit of the basement to provide bike storage and showers. They also offer free eye care vouchers and their flexible benefits include private medical and optional dental cover. On birthdays they offer an hour lie-in and the employee receives a card and a cake/cheese/plant or other gift. FreshMinds provides fresh fruit every morning and breakfast every Friday as well as drinks at the end of the day on Friday.

Managers and team leaders are responsible for conducting 6 monthly reviews with their individual team. Depending on the various job roles within the business, managers or team leaders will provide evidence to support what they are discussing with the employee, for example, in the sales department they are able to produce KPI figures for each employee, these are in turn rewarded with bonus payments based on their achievements. Performance reviews set out achievable and realistic goals and objectives for the next 6 months, and both the manager and employee set agreed timescales to achieve these in. There are many opportunities for more informal feedback, both face to face, via announcements in meetings and via whole-company or departmental emails.

To use it as part of EducationCity's journey towards continuous improvement, together with other sources of information and feedback. They believe it will be particularly helpful to have access to the benchmarking data that will be provided after the survey has been completed. They have worked extremely hard in the last 2-3 years to become an employer of choice and apply the same excellence they use on their product, to the way they treat and develop their employees. EducationCity have won two local business awards this year, including SME of the Year for Stamford and Rutland. EducationCity view the feedback they will gain through participating in the survey as essential in helping them on the next part of their journey. They are already evaluating Investors In People as the next possible step but wish to build on what they learn through this process first. Any action taken will be set within a framework of meeting strategic need and cultural and ethical fit, together with the smart use of resources available to them.

Best Companies! Duplo International are unique in their industry in striving to achieve this award year on year. They anaylse the results and feedback the results which leads to improvements and changes within their business.

Duplo's building has sun scoops, air scoops, solar panels and heat pumps. Duplo International are a founder member of the Two Sides organisation. It shows that the print and paper industry is one of the only truly sustainable industries that exists.

The Chairman, MD and General Manager visit branches on a very regular basis at least weekly and make a point of talking to all staff, retail and workshop, not just the manager about a wide range of topics, seeking feedback and ideas on: how to improve the customer experience; views on product range; marketing materials and sales opportunities. Each member of staff is personally known and this helps to establish a good dialogue and opportunity to raise any issues or concerns that they may have. As a small company with many employees having long service - average service is almost 11 years, there has developed an extended family culture with a strong ethos of doing the right thing: for customers and each other.

The Chairman, MD and General Manager visit branches on a very regular basis at least weekly and make a point of talking to all staff, retail and workshop, not just the manager about a wide range of topics, seeking feedback and ideas on: how to improve the customer experience; views on product range; marketing materials and sales opportunities. Each member of staff is personally known and this helps to establish a good dialogue and opportunity to raise any issues or concerns that they may have. As a small company with many employees having long service - average service is almost 11 years, there has developed an extended family culture with a strong ethos of doing the right thing: for customers and each other.

Byron recognise that wellbeing motivates their people, especially after receiving the results from last year's survey. Whilst they believe their flexible working approach is one of the best in the industry, they have invested time in reviewing their wellbeing offering and making sure their programme is great for their people. Byron give their people free access to the food on their menus, therefore it's important they communicate the benefits of healthy eating. All Byron's food is produced and cooked in the most nutritious and healthy way possible. They also offer free fruit and water and have set up Byron United – their football team which all employees can be a part of through inter-restaurant matches. They also provide an occupational health programme which they talk about in their Meat magazine and enable their GMs to promote the benefits of this to their people. This has encouraged a number of their employees to use the service and receive the benefits it provides. By the end of 2013 they will have fully rolled out an online benefits scheme which includes wellbeing services such as subsidised gym membership, health insurance and a cycle to work scheme. Byron's people can also access experts who help them quit smoking or lose weight, for example. By making sure thei people have these benefits they will create a workforce of happy, healthy and engaged people which will positively impact productivity and their growth.

Secret squirrel is Byron's monthly mystery guest programme and to make this competitive they introduced the ‘Squirrel Cup'. This pits restaurants against each other to strive for the best customer satisfaction scores across the year. At the end of the financial year, scores are averaged out and everyone from the winning restaurant is taken out for the day to a secret location where they take part in different fun activities. For example ,we've been go karting, punted up the river in Oxford and even had our CEO, Tom, dress as a squirrel. We think he will do this on a regular basis – he seemed to like it!! This has proven to be huge success, with Byron's mystery guest scores rising by 2% across the business as a whole. It's the talk of the restaurants and even covered in their employee magazine on a leader board. This year they took the winning restaurant out for the day Go-Karting and then for a long lunch and then out into the early hours of the morning!

Sponsoring beehives is among the more unusual environmental initiatives at Brookwood. The company has a Planet Matters Team of people who discuss and implement new initiatives, running vegetable and herb plots, using local suppliers, fairly traded products and refillable water bottles. There's a Waste Less programme to reduce and monitor food wastage and last year the firm had a Planet Matters Day. Every single one of its catering operations in schools – all 96 of them – took part, planning a day to raise awareness that the planet matters to it, its schools, and pupils who eat in its restaurants. They helped pupils grow herbs and vegetables for the kitchens, and encouraged them to reduce food waste and drink tap water in reusable, not plastic bottles. People say it genuinely cares about the environment. More than a third of employees got involved with charitable activities in work time last year, and the firm supports the charities Build Africa, Magic Breakfast and Springboard. It encourages people to do their bit.

Brookwood offers term time only contracts to a high proportion of employees, and this ensures they have a good work/life balance, particularly helping parents work. People say it really does help them find the right balance and stops the job interfering with responsibilities at home. Managers get private health care, and senior managers also have psychiatric cover to mitigate the risk of stress. People don't feel their health is suffering because of work or believe they are under too much pressure to perform well. It probably helps that there's a defined school dinner time, because employees say work deadlines are realistic too.

The leader of BRE his highly visible, he takes time to get to know his employees. His messages are consistent on the strategy and direction for the organisation and he builds upon their successes. The Senior Management team have brought together the different parts of the business and the directors and their staff now work across business areas.

The leader of BRE his highly visible, he takes time to get to know his employees. His messages are consistent on the strategy and direction for the organisation and he builds upon their successes. The Senior Management team have brought together the different parts of the business and the directors and their staff now work across business areas.

Brammer aligns a scheduled programme of training and development directly to its business strategy, in order that employees can better execute the demands of their customers. It is the programme as a whole that makes the difference. The programmes are defined by business function and job role, to ensure absolute relevance, so that nobody attends a training course, which isn't related to their needs. The training is carefully designed to address business critical objectives for both Brammer and its customers, and it addresses the individual needs of the employees. As examples, Brammer has operated a number of training programmes to support the manufacturing need to reduce costs and increase productivity, and has done this in close collaboration with its supply partners. A recent example of this has been a structured programme to help UK manufacturers reduce their energy costs, and working in partnership with Siemens, Brammer employees have acquired the right knowledge and education to drive customer energy cost savings. The programme has already added real benefits, and is receiving acclaim from customers and industry sources. On a more individual basis, Brammer has an ongoing programme of management development training, which suits the individual needs of those wanting to progress their careers within the organisation. Packaged together, the Brammer employee training programme demonstrates absolute commitment to the growth and development of its employees.

Brammer aligns a scheduled programme of training and development directly to its business strategy, in order that employees can better execute the demands of their customers. It is the programme as a whole that makes the difference. The programmes are defined by business function and job role, to ensure absolute relevance, so that nobody attends a training course, which isn't related to their needs. The training is carefully designed to address business critical objectives for both Brammer and its customers, and it addresses the individual needs of the employees. As examples, Brammer has operated a number of training programmes to support the manufacturing need to reduce costs and increase productivity, and has done this in close collaboration with its supply partners. A recent example of this has been a structured programme to help UK manufacturers reduce their energy costs, and working in partnership with Siemens, Brammer employees have acquired the right knowledge and education to drive customer energy cost savings. The programme has already added real benefits, and is receiving acclaim from customers and industry sources. On a more individual basis, Brammer has an ongoing programme of management development training, which suits the individual needs of those wanting to progress their careers within the organisation. Packaged together, the Brammer employee training programme demonstrates absolute commitment to the growth and development of its employees.