What are companies doing with regards to 'My Team'

This is Ashford Borough Council's second year of choosing a local charity to support. In 2015/16 the organisation supported Pilgrim's Hospice and this year they are supporting Retreat Animal Rescue. ABC's main fundraising event is their annual staff quiz night, where teams pay to join in and local companies donate prizes for the raffle. Last year the organisation raised £600 and this year £700 on this night alone. Staff donate when participating in fun staff events, such as their bubble football tournament. The organisation also participates in the Christmas tree recycling project that Pilgrim's Hospice run every year. ABC's volunteering policy enables staff to take one day per year to work with a local organisation of their choice. The organisation employs a member of staff to run a Job Club every Monday and will support any resident that is actively looking for work through this. They provide advice on interview skills and techniques, courses and training, support with job searching, voluntary work and job applications, plus careers advice and CV workshops. ABC also work closely with a local charity called Porchlight and fund a part time dedicated member of staff to work with and assist homeless people in Ashford (often including ex-offenders and those recovering from addiction). This year ABC has contributed £30k towards this.

This is Ashford Borough Council's second year of choosing a local charity to support. In 2015/16 the organisation supported Pilgrim's Hospice and this year they are supporting Retreat Animal Rescue. ABC's main fundraising event is their annual staff quiz night, where teams pay to join in and local companies donate prizes for the raffle. Last year the organisation raised £600 and this year £700 on this night alone. Staff donate when participating in fun staff events, such as their bubble football tournament. The organisation also participates in the Christmas tree recycling project that Pilgrim's Hospice run every year. ABC's volunteering policy enables staff to take one day per year to work with a local organisation of their choice. The organisation employs a member of staff to run a Job Club every Monday and will support any resident that is actively looking for work through this. They provide advice on interview skills and techniques, courses and training, support with job searching, voluntary work and job applications, plus careers advice and CV workshops. ABC also work closely with a local charity called Porchlight and fund a part time dedicated member of staff to work with and assist homeless people in Ashford (often including ex-offenders and those recovering from addiction). This year ABC has contributed £30k towards this.

Arthouse support the local Rossendale Hospice charity and regularly hold Friends and Family days whereby they post letters to the local residents and business to encourage their attendance to the Arthouse showroom onsite where they can purchase products that were previously samples or gold mark items. All proceeds are then given to the Hospice. The company support the local college and are working with them to help their students develop their skills by providing materials for their studies. They hold open days for local university students and invite market players for them to meet and develop relationships with.

Arthouse use various mechanisms to ensure that their messages are communicated throughout the business. They have many projects running at any one time and ensure that they include various areas of expertise to run the project in order to bring both a different skill set but also help people to learn about more areas of the business. They feel that this helps to reinforce their messages of communication and growth/development as Arthouse are constantly testing people to learn different things and instilling in them the nature of their business. Arthouse operate a top down communication chain whereby they proliferate key messages from Board to Management Team Meeting to Wider Management Team Meeting to Team Meeting to 1:2:1's to Individual Projects/Individuals. Twice a month, they run briefings whereby the whole business is presented to from one/a couple employees. Arthouse task each of these presenters with sharing knowledge about the business and the area they work within and thus underpinning the culture of open communication that they have here in the business. They have very keen on encouraging activity within the Social side of the business. Using mechanisms such as Yammer they have been able to embrace the social scene even more and encourage the fun in the workplace. Arthouse run a quarterly company newsletter which they fill with messages from all parts of the business and from all of their principles. They operate approximately 16 away days per year across the whole company where staff are offsite completely for focussed workshops.

The company runs an 'Aquila School' every Friday, which lasts for one hour or sometimes more if the topic is larger. All employees Skype into a learning session, which is run by a different member each week. Not only does this help with their presentation and communication skills but it also helps with their internal networking and profile within the organisation by showing their area of expertise. They also run an Aquila Orators session, which is similar to Toastmasters International. They have a different Toastmaster each week. This is a fun but comfortable environment for more junior employees to improve their communication and presentation skills. Within the industry there is continuous learning due to new and advanced techniques and tools. Aquila like their employees to be at the front of this learning so encourage them to write blogs too. They also encourage employees to share their knowledge and experience with local Universities and schools, thereby helping people get into employment in the Industry. Furthermore Aquila also encourage and support employees as 'thought Leaders' to talk at industry events.

Aquila offer the flexibility to work from home and travel to other offices to work more closely with colleagues. Each year all employees get together in one of Aquila's locations. They also have international food days where different nationalities teach employees about their nationalities and bring in a selection of different food and drinks. They also have free fruit available in each office at all times. The office bike to work scheme is highly subscribed and well used and employees often arrange out of work biking events together, which shows how effective this scheme is. Aquila have a quiet room where employees can go and work in a quiet area so they can focus without interruption, as they understand that not everyone likes working in an open plan environment. They have multiple breakout areas with couches so teams' individuals can get together and meet. They also encourage off site meetings, for example popping to a cafe for a meeting and a change of scenery. Finally every office uses Sonos provided to listen to music, which employees find creates an effective stress free atmosphere.

Anchor's Leadership Development Programme is well embedded. The organisation also offers tailored leadership solutions consisting of bespoke training. Based on training needs analysis this includes a review of the people profiler, performance management data and conversations with Senior Leadership Team members and business partners. Performance management is based on formal reviews twice a year which are supported with monthly updates. Anchor have also developed simple and fit for purpose tools and processes for Care, Housing and Support Services. Talent review is currently focused in the Leadership Team and Support Service roles including district, home and care Managers. Calibration activity in functional teams has been led by HR to help increase consistency in performance rating application and to identify potential stars and/or successors for the future.

Anchor's Leadership Development Programme is well embedded. The organisation also offers tailored leadership solutions consisting of bespoke training. Based on training needs analysis this includes a review of the people profiler, performance management data and conversations with Senior Leadership Team members and business partners. Performance management is based on formal reviews twice a year which are supported with monthly updates. Anchor have also developed simple and fit for purpose tools and processes for Care, Housing and Support Services. Talent review is currently focused in the Leadership Team and Support Service roles including district, home and care Managers. Calibration activity in functional teams has been led by HR to help increase consistency in performance rating application and to identify potential stars and/or successors for the future.

All employees are financially linked to their department's Return on Sales. This provides a pool of cash for each individual that can then be increased based on other factors, such as Customer Service and Health and Safety. These elements are broken down into smaller measurements, which are then reported to the employees so they can see areas for improvement as a group or individually. There is also comparative information between depots and departments. The scheme actively encourages development of individuals and teams, as well as interdepartmental discussions on developing improvement strategies. Acting safely and responsibly is an integral element of the AFI philosophy and the company will continually seek to improve and revise their processes in order to deliver a safe working environment. They want the families of their employees to know that their family member is safe at work and will arrive home that evening. As a result of this AFI have been accredited with the ROSPA Gold Award for commitment to the health and safety of team members and customers.

AFI invest approximately £200,000 per year into training to ensure that their employees work safely and can develop their careers. The company are averaging over four training days per employee each year and have also introduced a series of e-learning modules so that employees can learn at a time, a place and a pace that suits their needs. AFI have also developed a comprehensive induction programme to prepare new members of staff for working in the industry. Health and safety is a key part of AFI's induction process, so they have added the IOSH Managing Safely programme into their induction as a mandatory requirement for all Senior Managers. This has played a major role in significantly reducing AFI's Accident Frequency Rate, as their accident frequency rate is currently 1.57 per 10,000 working hours, which is industry leading for a "blue collar" industry. The jewel in AFI's crown for employee development is their Training Plus scheme, which supports employees for non-job related training. The focus is on personal development, for example football coaching, foreign languages, skiing, clay pigeon shooting lessons and bible studies. The most common request is driving lessons and the company support about five employees per year with financial assistance for these.

The CEO delivers a session on the Adviza Vision and Values at all inductions for new staff. She also telephones five staff each week to find out how they are getting on in their job and listens to any feedback about the organisation. She even sends emails, cards and notes to thank staff for excellent work that demonstrates the organisational values. The CEO and Chair did a roadshow for staff to launch the Adviza five Year Strategic Plan. Other senior staff ensure that they are visible and accessible to all staff. They are very approachable and staff feel able to contact them directly at any time. The CEO and Senior Managers also have a positive relationship with the relevant Trades Union, working with them informally to identify particular issues and consulting through the appropriate committee structure when appropriate.

The CEO delivers a session on the Adviza Vision and Values at all inductions for new staff. She also telephones five staff each week to find out how they are getting on in their job and listens to any feedback about the organisation. She even sends emails, cards and notes to thank staff for excellent work that demonstrates the organisational values. The CEO and Chair did a roadshow for staff to launch the Adviza five Year Strategic Plan. Other senior staff ensure that they are visible and accessible to all staff. They are very approachable and staff feel able to contact them directly at any time. The CEO and Senior Managers also have a positive relationship with the relevant Trades Union, working with them informally to identify particular issues and consulting through the appropriate committee structure when appropriate.

Adactus has been awarded the Workplace Wellbeing Charter, which was carried out independently by Health@Work and is endorsed by Public Health England. The company holds an annual Health and Wellbeing week, where employees are given the opportunity to attend events such as an Alcohol Awareness Bar, where each employee receives a free ‘mocktail' and is able to sample a selection of non-alcoholic beers and wines, all whilst learning about alcohol consumption. 14% of employees attended the last round of sessions. Developing Resilience Training is recommended for all employees, stress awareness is available for Managers to ensure they appreciate what the triggers and signs of stress might be and even Mental Health awareness training. Yoga courses have been arranged at main offices for all employees to attend, along with Chair Yoga sessions being promoted within work time. Gyms have been installed in the three main offices for all employees to use. Adactus have also introduced a Healthy Living Fund, which gives people the opportunity to apply for funding towards healthy living activities up to a maximum of £100 per annum. These activities might include things like a fishing licence, tennis lessons, gym membership, diet club subscription fees etc. In addition, an Annual Personal Performance Review process and one to one meetings are held regularly so employees can speak to their manager about any areas of concern and also eliminate stress where possible, further emphasising Adactus's commitment to employee wellbeing.

The Breathe Team are responsible for the Social Investment Fund 'breathe investment grants', or ‘BIG's', where funding is available to small scale community projects across all the neighbourhoods up to a maximum of £2000. Since the fund was introduced Adactus have supported over 750 community projects, totalling in excess of £800,000. This year the company has £225,000 available to bid for across the Adactus Group. Each project must demonstrate how it supports a specific theme and the applications are judged by Adactus residents through the Adactus500. The company's Environmental Budgets support a number of community projects, such as community gardens, allotments and biodiversity projects such as Bee Keeping. Adactus hold different dress down days within the company to support a range of charities. They have completed food bank collections and sponsored sporting events, such as the Wigan 10K and Born Survivor to raise money for an Employee's son who required a sports wheelchair. The company's giving nature is uncapped, with 30 packs being made up for a local school to deliver to another school in Sowetto and 300 shoeboxes being delivered to a Manchester homeless charity. Adactus's employability programme ‘Step Forward' is to support residents and their families into training, employment and learning. The company is engaged in a range of programmes to tackle worklessness both internally and with other providers for their general needs housing stock, hostels and supported housing. The Adactus Young Unemployed Persons Project, jobs clubs, gradate schemes, apprenticeships and a work experience programme all add to Adactus's continued commitment to getting people into employment, with the team taking referrals directly from residents and also from other departments.

Last year saw the introduction of a free healthy breakfast bar three days a week, where staff can consume juices, smoothies, fruit and even healthy breakfasts. Throughout the year on the remaining two days 4com offer a salad and noodle bar in the Summer and a soup bar in the colder months. These are free of charge to employees and all healthy options. The company also have had a masseur in the office to relieve back and neck problems and improve posture, as well as free flu jabs for office staff and flu jab vouchers for remote workers. More recently, as part of their annual '4Com's Biggest Loser' campaign, they have linked voluntary staff weight loss with money donated to the Foundation. They regularly invite a nutrition and weight loss coach to provide dietary advice to staff members. The latest initiative they have at 4Com is the introduction of a 'Chill Out' area away from the hustle and bustle of the business, where staff can relax in a quiet environment away from the canteen or pool table areas. They are flexible with break times and maintain an open-door management policy to promote communication at all levels. The staff healthcare package includes confidential counselling as required. As a first this year, the telesales staff have received emotional intelligence training from an external specialist to enable them to control their own mind set and resilience more effectively.

4Com plc's Senior Management Team have been part of the organisation for many years and still like to promote a family feel, despite a continuous increase in its staff base. There is a constant commitment to engagement at all levels and rewarding staff for the contribution towards the success of the business. The business has a culture of 'Excellence at Everything' and there is always the investment of funding or other resource-support for training, research and development, as well as any infrastructure required to do the very best they can. The Best Companies survey acts as a benchmark regarding engagement and wellbeing of staff is at the forefront of everything 4com do. The monthly 'Free Food Friday', company update and staff awards engage staff at all levels and the lunch that follows gives them exposure to senior management. The Chairman and MD Daron Hutt was present at Tough Mudder South West to witness 41 members of his staff tackle the gruelling course for charity, seeing first-hand the camaraderie and all-round effort required to be successful. Every three months a video card is produced and posted to employees and their families detailing the company's achievements over the last quarter, what the next quarter holds and any charity/community updates. This is particularly useful for those remote workers who rarely get the opportunity to attend the 'Free Food Fridays'.

ZPG's Leadership Team are heavily involved in the induction process for new starters. The CFO attends the company's Sales Conference and helps the remote teams understand the values, focus and mission of the business. The Leadership team also run, "An audience with..." sessions, which help provide those who are interested with a greater understanding of, and insight into, other areas of the business and is great way for those within the Leadership team to share their knowledge. The HR Team, including the Group HR Director, have designed and run a first day induction to help staff understand the company's culture, values and ways of working so they can quickly integrate into the company. To ensure they hire people who fit their culture and values and develop onward through their career they utilise a psychometric tool, which provides us with indepth profiling and interview questions.

The regular All Hands meetings encourage adoption and alignment of the company's mission, vision, values and purpose. Together with teams working on these areas specifically relating to the work they do.

Annual salary review is linked to individual performance as assessed by appraisal process. The have introduced a comprehensive industry-leading benefits package, and give managers considerable flexibility to celebrate success and recognise staff efforts. They have Payday Friday – a simple but highly effective monthly initiative. On the last Friday of each month, they close the office two hours early, gather the whole company in the meeting space and crack open the beers (and wine) for an informal round-up of agency news. They welcome new starters, toast product launches and bid farewell to people who are moving on. Staff are then free to start the weekend early or to socialise together – which often means over 100 people descending on a local bar or outside space.

Zone encourages a collaborative culture, where open conversation is at the heart of what they do. As a result of growth over the last 12 months they have placed a huge emphasis on making office space as dynamic as possible. A newly acquired state-of-the-art office for the Bristol team has provided a fun, open-plan space which has helped shape the Bristol team's identity and boost morale. They have redesigned the London office to create more breakout spaces and informal meeting spaces. In both locations, a large kitchen space and numerous meeting spaces have encouraged more regular informal interaction between teams. This year they also launched an internal instant messaging portal, powered by Slack, which all employees have signed up to and are encouraged to use across teams and locations to encourage constant knowledge sharing and team interaction.