My Manager - How employees feel about and communicate with their direct manager
The quality of direct line management really impacts engagement, after all the latest stats suggest that 7 out of 10 people leave their manager and not their organisation.
Great managers should be selling the direction and vision of the organisation, helping others see how their role impacts the bigger picture, ultimately influencing the factor My Company. Good Managers recognise the importance of growing and developing their people, which means the My Manager factor also has a significant impact on the factor Personal Growth.
When it comes to My Team, great managers build great teams, but world class managers also focus on connecting teams throughout the organisation. Managers can heavily influence the Wellbeing factor by helping to positively restore a work/life balance, managing employee workload and recognising that employees have a life outside of work
The company issue certificates at awards ceremonies for the completion of both internal and external professional development. Teams are taken for meals in recognition of outstanding performance. Hospitality is provided to all staff on the occasion of significant achievement. All staff are thanked publicly in all staff briefings in recognition of successful outcomes and hard work. Letters of recognition are sent to individual employees and to whole teams when there is high performance. The company hold Termly Star Awards according to various categories nominated by staff and students. Professional standards payments are available to teachers who meet the criteria.
The organisation have run work discussion groups with a consultant psychotherapist who meets managers so that they can talk outside of line management structures about work problems. The aim is to encourage collaborative working, shared values and the sharing of experience and best practice. 3 development programmes are run: one for senior leaders, one for middle managers and one for aspiring leaders. A leadership survey is carried out annually between middle and senior managers.
Managers are supported by a variety of resources which are available on intranets and other electronic media and wide range of internal courses. They are able to receive support towards external management qualifications such as MBAs, CII/CIB and ILM qualifications. To further their development managers also have the opportunity to be considered for roles outside of the UK.
There are many social events for employees to attend such as the FIL annual dinner dance and the RIAS Christmas parties. They also see the importance of team building and hold events more than five times a year. For example, Fortis UK held a senior management conference at the end of February. Over eighty managers from all the UK businesses attended the two day event. Under the banner "Together we're stronger", the managers were put into cross business groups who attended a series of business specific presentations and insurance market presentations. There were also workshop sessions designed to generate ideas, build teamwork and develop networking opportunities.
The CEO is incredibly approachable and welcomes comments and feedback from all levels of staff. He interacts with employees and takes part in team events. All of the directors have an open door policy and employees of all levels are welcome to approach them. They all walk the office floor and interact with employees on a daily basis. The CEO holds regular 'Have Your Say' sessions where employees have the opportunity to get their questions answered. At their company conference in April 09, the employees were able to ask the board of directors any questions and they provided immediate answers.
Wynnwith hold a number of internal development sessions for managers covering employment law, attracting talent, managing performance, managing difficult people situations and absence management. These have a practical theme with real life scenarios so the manager can apply what they have learnt to the workplace. They hold development sessions which provide an opportunity for managers to network with other managers in different areas of the business. Guides are available on the intranet for managers on how to complete management activities such as recruitment.
As staff progress they are given the opportunity to take on more management responsibility where appropriate with support from their head of department and HR. They are encouraged to assist in making departmental decisions and supervise less experienced staff and conduct their appraisals. Wollaston's do not have a formal mentoring scheme however new joiners are assigned a buddy and less experienced staff will sit next to more experienced staff to support them and develop their knowledge.
An annual memo is sent individually to each staff member detailing their salary and benefits package. Through the appraisal process Wollaston's identify opportunities for development and where a member of staff has performed well they are given the opportunity to increase their responsibility. Where teams or individuals work additional hours on specific projects they may be given extra time off above their holiday entitlement. Employees are rewarded for their efforts with a Christmas bonus and bottles of wine. Team and individual successes are highlighted on the intranet and the senior partner emails employees to highlight and congratulate them on their achievements.
Various topics related to wellbeing can be found on the intranet. They have assisted smokers with a 6 stage programme designed to support quitting and have a relaxation CD library where employees can loan CD's on stress relief and sleep. 'Positive Improvements through positive attitude' workshops have been arranged and they have also set up one-on-one stress management consultations where required. Their sabbatical policy enables staff to take a break of 2 weeks to 3 months on partial salary over and above their annual leave entitlement.
All employees are recruited locally and local suppliers are used wherever possible and practical. As well as having an environmental policy, championed by a director, they created The WEXAS Travel Foundation, through which staff and customers are brought together to make a real difference to communities around the world. They have progressively reduced the amount of paper and marketing materials used by the company through greater thought on who needs what. All literature is printed on a wood free matt which is recyclable and environmentally friendly. Staff are encouraged to nominate a charity which will benefit from the donations from monthly dress down Fridays and other fundraising activities.
Unum have a comprehensive salary management policy to regulate how individual salaries are determined and managed on a consistent and equitable basis. They also have a comprehensive reward and recognition framework in place and they monitor the effectiveness of these policies and practices via specific questions in their annual employee opinion survey. They reward and celebrate achievements and exceptional work in a number of ways including quarterly and annual awards, thank you events, where top performers are recognised, and loyalty awards.
Employees have access to wide range of material to help them achieve a healthy and active work/life balance. They have an employee assistance programme which assists employees with matters including help to quit smoking. Unum also hold health and wellbeing fairs that are attended by external providers and practioners and offer advice on a range of topics such as eating healthy, stress, mental health issues and exercise.
Employees take part in a range of training activities including Health and Safety, group workshops to understand others behaviour and IT system training. The organisation supports employees undertaking relevant professional qualifications by providing funding for exams and materials. Staff are also able to take study days when needed to allow them to complete coursework and take exams. Employees are encouraged to share knowledge with the rest of the company in team meetings.
The Private Health Partnership offer employees a range of benefits including an employee assistance programme, a serious illness advisory service and free private health care. To promote a healthier lifestyle employees benefit from free gym memberships. PHP also recognises that employees have a life outside of work and as such actively encourage a balance between work and home life, making every effort to accommodate requests from staff when they need time-off or to work more flexible hours. Employees are often able to invite family and friends to a number of social events.
Total Reward Statements are available to all staff electronically, via the Bank's "Scotia-Kit" online portal. Their TRS are constantly updated to reflect any benefit elections, such as the firms Denplan cover or other benefits such as Childcare Vouchers. Furthermore, employees have the option to instantaneously access an online valuation of their pension pot, so as to gauge the performance of any individual fund. Going forward, the Bank will also be introducing an online portal to aid employees to instantaneously manage their company shares, via the Bank's Share Incentive Plan (SIP). Reward and recognition are important motivational tools to ensure that employees feel that they are rewarded for their efforts, incentive payments are awarded to employees proportionally to their performance level and employees who perform well and who want to develop are also supported, ensuring their performance appraisal reflects their efforts and that there is scope for development and progression.
Total Reward Statements are available to all staff electronically, via the Bank's "Scotia-Kit" online portal. Their TRS are constantly updated to reflect any benefit elections, such as the firms Denplan cover or other benefits such as Childcare Vouchers. Furthermore, employees have the option to instantaneously access an online valuation of their pension pot, so as to gauge the performance of any individual fund. Going forward, the Bank will also be introducing an online portal to aid employees to instantaneously manage their company shares, via the Bank's Share Incentive Plan (SIP). Reward and recognition are important motivational tools to ensure that employees feel that they are rewarded for their efforts, incentive payments are awarded to employees proportionally to their performance level and employees who perform well and who want to develop are also supported, ensuring their performance appraisal reflects their efforts and that there is scope for development and progression.
Their in-house training programme, Text Life is open to all Text 100 staff. Local Text Life Ambassadors in each of the global offices are accountable for developing a training calendar tailored to the local office needs, tapping into the company's library of courses, white papers and external presenters.
Their in-house training programme, Text Life is open to all Text 100 staff. Local Text Life Ambassadors in each of the global offices are accountable for developing a training calendar tailored to the local office needs, tapping into the company's library of courses, white papers and external presenters.
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