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
Employees identified with potential are given the opportunity to take on additional responsibilities and roles to help them achieve the next level. A range of training activities are on offer including skills courses in food hygiene and additional qualifications including NVQ's and degrees. Kid Ease support employees in obtaining formal qualifications through time off and funding. Any employee who has completed a course will pass any information to the rest of the team through staff meetings.
Many of the skills are learned 'on the job' so there is a buddy system in place for any new managers and a lot of skills are transferred via internal coaching. Support is given to all people managers as they move up the career ladder and they are provided with toolkits on sickness and absence, performance management and recruitment. Managers looking to pursue external qualifications are financially supported by the company and attend twice yearly management meetings to share knowledge.
Through the company's sports and social foundation, they offer a range of activities that staff and their families can participate in. Some examples of activities that have been organised are a trip to Colchester Zoo, spooky night and a pamper evening. There are also specific team events to recognise team work such as ten pin bowling, Go-Karting and meals in restaurants. There are also formal team building events held a couple of times of year. For example, last year there was the consolidation of the RVI and NDT product groups and as a result, a team building event brought together the respective product and sales management groups, where an evening of competitive go-karting was arranged at a venue local to Southend. After six hotly contested heats, the top ten drivers entered a ten lap final all aiming for the ultimate position on the top of the winner's podium. With trophies awarded, the teams departed. There was only one winner on the night - the newly combined and fully integrated and committed sales team.
Through the company's sports and social foundation, they offer a range of activities that staff and their families can participate in. Some examples of activities that have been organised are a trip to Colchester Zoo, spooky night and a pamper evening. There are also specific team events to recognise team work such as ten pin bowling, Go-Karting and meals in restaurants. There are also formal team building events held a couple of times of year. For example, last year there was the consolidation of the RVI and NDT product groups and as a result, a team building event brought together the respective product and sales management groups, where an evening of competitive go-karting was arranged at a venue local to Southend. After six hotly contested heats, the top ten drivers entered a ten lap final all aiming for the ultimate position on the top of the winner's podium. With trophies awarded, the teams departed. There was only one winner on the night - the newly combined and fully integrated and committed sales team.
The Leader of the organisation, Justin, commits a huge amount of his time to communicating and engaging with colleagues. From the face-to-face events that he does every month and his weekly store visits to the regular 'all colleague letters, responses to the Tell Justin suggestions and filming the monthly briefing and column in the Journal. The impact that this has is tangible as colleagues show huge warmth and respect for him and clearly find him very approachable. Every member of the board holds a ‘Start the day with' session every month. These are breakfast listening groups held with a colleague from every store in a region. With no set topic these are a chance for colleagues to say what is on their minds and to ask questions raised by themselves or their colleagues back in store. The operating board and directors tend to spend most Friday's visiting stores or depots to spend time face to face with colleagues and customers to hear first hand what is working well and where the opportunities are to improve the way they work or the way they implement new ideas for their customers.
The Leader of the organisation, Justin, commits a huge amount of his time to communicating and engaging with colleagues. From the face-to-face events that he does every month and his weekly store visits to the regular 'all colleague letters, responses to the Tell Justin suggestions and filming the monthly briefing and column in the Journal. The impact that this has is tangible as colleagues show huge warmth and respect for him and clearly find him very approachable. Every member of the board holds a ‘Start the day with' session every month. These are breakfast listening groups held with a colleague from every store in a region. With no set topic these are a chance for colleagues to say what is on their minds and to ask questions raised by themselves or their colleagues back in store. The operating board and directors tend to spend most Friday's visiting stores or depots to spend time face to face with colleagues and customers to hear first hand what is working well and where the opportunities are to improve the way they work or the way they implement new ideas for their customers.
Hyndurn Borough Council recognise and reward high performance teams and individuals in various ways such as Local Heroes in their newsletter, the Great Big Thank You event, Hyndsight, personal letters of congratulation from the Managing Director and token payments in recognition of staff who go the extra mile. Job evaluations are conducted regularly to ensure that salaries are paid equally for jobs across the organisation.
Over the last few years HBC has introduced many actions to reduce CO2 emissions and related environmental impacts from its operations. Some highlights of this include innovation in the vehicle fleet including environmentally friendly mayoral car and caretakers vans, measures to encourage staff to purchase more fuel efficient vehicles and efficient use of computer equipment with a central energy management system. More recently, the energy performance of 10 of the main buildings has been audited and they are committed to considering how to bring forward improvements to the energy efficiency of those buildings. To help with this, they created a Property Services post with an increased emphasis on energy management.
Teams are rewarded and recognised in many ways. These include Bar3 events, which are themed events designed for all employees to come together, relax and have fun. There are Christmas party's held in Maidenhead and Glasgow and all employees are invited. For the employees working in retail stores and unable to attend, they provide £30 per head for local arrangements to be made. Individual teams also run annual events which are about connecting as a group as well as focussed on work. There are also team celebrations, for example, the retail team has monthly store team incentives to celebrate successes in different campaigns and successful teams are rewarded and recognised via their 3 Cheers scheme, where they will receive both a thank you and voucher or points to be spent in the online prize store. Formal team building also takes place. For example, they recently ran a two day event for an HR team. It started off with an icebreaker and a session from the manager describing her view of the challenges the business and the team faced. There were development exercises focused on being more influential in the business and with each other as well as how to make effective requests and commitments in this team.
Most of the management and leadership development is about how to manage relationships with others. They have a micro-site that supports managers on the Fearless programme which contains pre and post course materials as well as discussion boards and additional content. They also provide a managers tool kit to support managers with the performance management process. They have internal management and leadership programmes, Aspire and Inspire, which includes coaching and a 360 degree feedback element. Should managers wish to take external qualifications they offer sponsorship, funding of fees, contribution towards the costs of core texts and materials, travel costs and they also provide study leave and time off for exams.
There are various events organised to ensure that teams spend time together outside of the workplace including the annual dinner and dance, educationals and theme park visits. There is also a fund in place which can be used at the team's discretion to arrange such events. Formal teambuilding events are also held several times a year. The most recent involved the senior management team and directors spending an away day brainstorming new ideas and discussing the progress of the company in the future. This ended with a social meal.
There are various events organised to ensure that teams spend time together outside of the workplace including the annual dinner and dance, educationals and theme park visits. There is also a fund in place which can be used at the team's discretion to arrange such events. Formal teambuilding events are also held several times a year. The most recent involved the senior management team and directors spending an away day brainstorming new ideas and discussing the progress of the company in the future. This ended with a social meal.
Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council provide dedicated sessions for people who want to quit smoking. They have a health improvement officer who promotes healthy lifestyles to staff. They help to manage stress within the workforce by working with a union to provide 1-2-1 sessions and they support paid OCC health counselling for stress and other mental health issues. The company also hold staff walks and yoga sessions.
Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council provide dedicated sessions for people who want to quit smoking. They have a health improvement officer who promotes healthy lifestyles to staff. They help to manage stress within the workforce by working with a union to provide 1-2-1 sessions and they support paid OCC health counselling for stress and other mental health issues. The company also hold staff walks and yoga sessions.
Managers receive leadership and supervisory skills training, coaching and mentoring. There is also a buddy system for new employees to give them additional support. Those wishing to undertake external qualifications, such as the MBA or MA receive pay and support. Managers are encouraged to mix with their teams, for example by having lunch with employees to develop better relationships.
Managers receive leadership and supervisory skills training, coaching and mentoring. There is also a buddy system for new employees to give them additional support. Those wishing to undertake external qualifications, such as the MBA or MA receive pay and support. Managers are encouraged to mix with their teams, for example by having lunch with employees to develop better relationships.
Hays unique culture and environment utilises the strength of teams as a way of delivering excellence in recruitment and customer service to their clients, temporary workers and applicants. All teams are encouraged to meet together weekly to cascade messages, share issues and build knowledge. Managers are encouraged to manage teams as well as individuals and to ensure team events occur on a regular basis in order to strengthen the bond; this often includes a social element as well as business focussed activity. Office based incentives promote the strength of the team and awards enable the team to celebrate together both in a social context and on sports and experience events for example a paintballing day. Management conferences seek to encourage team building across specialist business functions and areas. These events often feature team events and utilise teams to solve problems and generate ideas and discussion.
The senior management team provide constant support and feedback internally to staff via established communications channels. There is sometimes a need to go outside of these and the senior management team in difficult times will often be seen floor walking to engage and re-energise the workforce. The Managing Director has his office on the same floor as consultants and it is not unusual for him to ‘hot-desk' when visiting other offices around the business and other senior managers will move around the business as much as possible. Both the Chief Executive and Managing Director give regular “blogs” that can be responded to with transparency online enabling them to be upfront and honest with their employees.
Futures Housing have a strategy and various policies and procedures to support their commitment to the environment. They monitor energy usage and waste and have recycling points at all offices and sites. They have also have introduced video and telephone conferencing to reduce car travel and promote car sharing, cycling to work, providing secure bicycle bins and shower facilities. They do a great deal for their communities including holding yearly community events and providing financial support to local sports teams and music groups. They raise money for a wide variety of charities throughout the year, including Comic Relief, Wear it Pink Day for Breast Cancer and Children in Need and annually board directors match monies raised by team members up to limit.
They provide a competitive range of benefits which include flexible working, personal development opportunities and career breaks. In addition to these they also offer concessionary days off at Christmas and time is given for teams to enjoy a Christmas lunch together. They are hoping to introduce a reward strategy to offer other flexible benefits.
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