What are companies doing with regards to 'My Manager'

The hours of work are 8:45 - 16:45 which enables them to miss a lot of rush hour traffic to get valuable time at home. They also provide hot drinks, cold drinks, biscuits, fruit, occasional lunches, salad dressings, and small things to offer a home from home environment. They have recently had a large office refurbishment which has enabled them to create an environment which allows people a better work environment. There are several areas for privacy, relaxing and thinking to encourage people time away from their desks.

Every Friday morning they have an all agency meeting. It's an opportunity to share what's going on in the agency, welcome new joiners, allow teams to share the work they're doing for clients and a forum for parish notices. All accompanied by a free bacon / egg sandwich and a hot cup of tea! It's great for encouraging inter-department relationships and is just a great way to end the week. The last Thursday before payday is 'Thirsty Thursday' when a member of the management team chooses a venue and invites the agency out for a few drinks. It's timely because many people are short of funds and it's a good opportunity for people to socialise and unwind together. 'What's going on?' is an email summary contributed to by anyone in the team, a weekly snapshot of the culture, successes, people and news at the agency. Normally compiled by the CEO or another member of the management team it's sent to everyone at the end of the week so if you've been away or busy on a project you can keep in touch with all the goings on.

The business has recently launched the My Resilience Assessment and Toolkit which has had a 65% uptake so far. The My Resilience Assessment provides an awareness of how resilient you really are. The report generate is unique for each employee and highlights the key areas they may wish to focus on to bolster their resilience.

Krispy Kreme likes to support all of their employees. They are currently creating a catalogue of development courses/opportunities that will be available for their store managers. They have started specific development with their senior managers

At the beginning of all team meetings at every level, each attendee, shares what has brought them joy over the past week. Or they may choose to focus on a company value and people can share examples of where they have seen a good example of behaviour around this value . It often really transforms the atmosphere at the start of the meeting and creates a positive energy . The company have also created a monthly newsletter called The Cake that goes to all team members. This is backed up by a daily communication called The Slice which also goes out to all team members . It's printed out by managers and discussed in shop /production meetings every day . They also have a company team Facebook page for team members to communicate with each other.

By not providing a covered smoking area anywhere on or near their site and offering a financial incentive of £100 after 6 months of being cigarette free and another £100 6 months later, the company believe they do as much as possible to deter their employees from smoking and the aim is to provide a positive and supportive environment to do this in. In a similar vein Kelly's Self Storage removed all their vending machines and replaced them with free, fresh fruit deliveries and equipped a full kitchen with ovens, hobs, pans, pots, knives, aprons, chopping boards - the works! - so that staff were able to prepare fresh food from scratch should they wish. Their staff offer each other their training abilities and support when undertaking any of their Charity events. From helping someone who hadn't been on a bike since they were 12 to undertake a 45 mile to running a marathon, their employees have buddied up and supported each other all the way. A sporting theme runs through most things they do at Kelly's so even their family fun days are full of (very competitive) volleyball games, extreme rounders, tugs of war and football bulldog. The company recently brought physios and masseurs in house for all of their staff. The company encourage an active, healthy lifestyle as part of their culture and it is self-perpetuating because they then attract people who are looking to or already pursue this type of lifestyle.

The company offer Training programmes, mentoring, shadowing and workshops.

In addition to EAP, and discounted gym membership available via the company's private medical insurance, they also offer membership to all employees of the Edenred voucher scheme. This allows employees to buy discounted vouchers for shopping and leisure activities including meals and entertainment, holidays and spa activities.

The Teleworking Scheme has enhanced work life balance and welfare of staff, giving them greater flexibility in how they organise their working lives and balance the demands of their career with their domestic responsibilities and personal wellbeing. Staff take part in the annual 'Step Challenge' each year and have to achieve 10,000 steps a day. This is a lot of walking/running to do. If you don't achieve 10,000 steps each day you forfeit £1. Total forfeits are donated towards our charity.

They have recently provided new training initiatives for managers on performance management and have invested in a training scheme called Speed of Trust. They have regular 1-1's with Managers to ensure they are supported in managing their teams.