Wellingborough Homes hold Annual Star Awards. At the annual staff away day, there is the Star Awards ceremony. Which is where staff can nominate their colleagues for awards that are chosen by Senior Managers. Some examples of the awards are: Rookie of The Year, Best Team Player and First Responder. All nominees receive a certificate and a congratulations from the leadership team, and the employee with the most nominations within each category, receives a prize at the ceremony during the away day and a photo with the Chief Executive, just like real award ceremonies! This is particularly effective because team member employees as well as managers, can nominate anyone within the Organisation. Plus, having the Executive Management Team presenting the awards at the away day, then shows the most recognition in front of all staff.

Wellingborough Homes hold Annual Star Awards. At the annual staff away day, there is the Star Awards ceremony. Which is where staff can nominate their colleagues for awards that are chosen by Senior Managers. Some examples of the awards are: Rookie of The Year, Best Team Player and First Responder. All nominees receive a certificate and a congratulations from the leadership team, and the employee with the most nominations within each category, receives a prize at the ceremony during the away day and a photo with the Chief Executive, just like real award ceremonies! This is particularly effective because team member employees as well as managers, can nominate anyone within the Organisation. Plus, having the Executive Management Team presenting the awards at the away day, then shows the most recognition in front of all staff.

Weber Shandwick have provided a comprehensive learning and development program via a blended learning approach comprising classroom instruction, webinars and online delivery, self-directed learning, on-the-job training and external development support. As an integral part of their Employee Value Proposition, they are providing a variety of training in more flexible ways to meet the unique needs of employees, with 24/7 availability. This year Weber Shandwick launched the Digital University – where Digital experts host training, with curriculums to teach employees at all levels community management skills, content development, social crisis management etc. In addition, weekly updates keep employees up to date with trends and developments in the Digital arena, whilst weekly picks from the company's e-learning platform advises their people on pertinent up-to-the minute training ideas. In addition, the company host fortnightly talks. Weber Shandwick also launched podcasts with inspirational speakers from well-known digital leading companies. In addition, there are workshops on pitching, creativity, digital, strategy, analytics and communications, along with the company's rolling ‘key skills' training covering subjects such as line management, negotiation and writing skills, project management and a suite of finance/commercial skills courses, open to all employees.

All new joiners at Weber Shandwick are invited to attend a bi-monthly CEO breakfast which provides a full overview on the company including its history, details on the vision, mission and values, the company future goals, leadership team, clients and global network. The CEO gives all attendees the opportunity to ask any questions they wish. There is a company induction too, where HR take all new joiners through the company's approach to people encompassing Weber Shandwick's learning and development ethos and programmes, appraisals, career paths and how to get career support.

The company has participation in the Global Corporate Challenge with www.gettheworldmoving.com. Teams of seven from companies globally participate in the 16-week programme. GCC focuses on encouraging people to increase their daily step count from 3,000 steps a day to 10,000 steps per day. There was a marked increase in lunch time walks, weekend hikes and cycling to work over the summer. They have implemented a technology suite which enables extremely easy home working. Employees have a full range of telephony and video conferencing tools (UCOffice, Skype for Business) and webinar facilities (GoToMeeting) to enable them to work together remotely. Their remote access facilities are second to none, with no tokens/cards required, laptops simply link to employees' broadband with a direct link through to Version 1. Microsoft OneDrive and SharePoint tools allow them to share and work together on documents and proposals seamlessly. All of these tools mean that whether an employee is working from home, from a different office or from a hotel, they have the same easy Version 1 technology experience. This considerably reduces stress and time overheads.

The Version 1 Profit Share is paid quarterly to all eligible employees. This is dependent on them achieving quarterly targets on all three sides of the triangle, namely customer satisfaction, profitability and employee engagement. Maintaining the focus and momentum on these quarterly targets has been a key driver of their success. On average 95% of employees meet the eligibility criteria and payments translate into between 20% - 25% of net profit being shared with employees. The profit share scheme remains one of their biggest ways of saying thank you as each employee receives a letter outlining their quarterly profit share and the total for the year to date. In addition, each letter is personally signed by their COO includes some personalised messages. In 2014, they introduced the Version 1 Growth Share Scheme. This is a share scheme which allows managers to share in the company's growth and for them to become real shareholders. This provided them with extra meaning and connection and has led to 25 additional people actively engaged. In addition to paying for employee referrals, they also offer cinema nights, restaurant vouchers and concert tickets to those who refer someone who is interviewed (even if they don't result in a new hire).

The company are approached on a regular basis for overnight stays/dinners for charity raffles & prizes. In the past year, they have supported Hospitality Action, Action Against Hunger, Amar International, NSPCC, CRY, Great Ormond Street, UNICEF and The Royal Hospital for Neuro Disability to name but a few. They currently work with Street Smart at Grain Store and Sleep Smart at the hotels; they add £1 to every bill, which in turns goes to the charity. A MacMillan Cancer Day was held at one of the local hairdressers, they happily provided the cocktails and team to serve them! They work with Global Generation at Grain Store and purchase all the edible plants & herbs through them, this is in line with their sustainability policy.

The company are approached on a regular basis for overnight stays/dinners for charity raffles & prizes. In the past year, they have supported Hospitality Action, Action Against Hunger, Amar International, NSPCC, CRY, Great Ormond Street, UNICEF and The Royal Hospital for Neuro Disability to name but a few. They currently work with Street Smart at Grain Store and Sleep Smart at the hotels; they add £1 to every bill, which in turns goes to the charity. A MacMillan Cancer Day was held at one of the local hairdressers, they happily provided the cocktails and team to serve them! They work with Global Generation at Grain Store and purchase all the edible plants & herbs through them, this is in line with their sustainability policy.

Earlier this year, every team in the company took part in a team building training session called 'Building Incredible Relationships'. The sessions explored team members preferred styles through Myers Briggs profiles in order to help them better understand themselves, others in their teams and how they worked. With a view to helping people better manage their stress levels and maintain optimal personal performance, the sessions also explored which behaviours, situations or interactions might provoke positive and negative responses in people. It encouraged people to share these with colleagues and helped them identify strategies for maintaining positive personal performance. The sessions also introduced a common language for people to use to help colleagues understand and support colleagues when they responded negatively to behaviour, situations or interactions with others.

UKTV's Management Academy is now in its fourth successful year. This is the company's bespoke 12 month programme for colleagues new to people management that gives them the skills, tools and confidence to be great people managers. This extensive programme covers topics such as coaching & feedback, employment law, diversity and developing teams. All participants have a 360 feedback process at the beginning and end of the programme which gives them the chance to reflect on their own progress during the year. There are 14 participants this year, which is the most yet, and the programme has gained real kudos across the company with people very keen to nominate themselves. Each year they celebrate the achievements of the participants with a 'Graduation Ceremony' at all staff meetings where they receive their certificates and a bottle of fizz!

Senior management are required to adhere to TotalMobile's core 'People Values'. These are 6 behaviours that were identified as being core to the success of the business. The company recognise that while skills are important to the organisation, so too are the behaviours and attitudes that their people exhibit, in every position. The company refer to these as the ‘HOW' in terms of how they achieve their objectives, not just ‘WHAT' they achieve. The 6 values include how: They need smart people with the right attitude, they are all committed to continuous learning and improvement, and they support their people through the performance culture. Reward people for excellence and are socially responsible To reinforce the importance of the values, the Top Team of senior managers took part in a video which promoted the values and explained their importance. Senior managers and staff are measured against adherence to these through the performance review process. Where there are not being exhibited, then an action plan is agreed to address the shortcoming. In addition to this all managers must exhibit separate 'management and leadership values which include: I support staff and manage their performance, I make decisions effectively, I empower staff to come up with solutions to problems, I behave with integrity and treat people fairly and consistently, I treat people with respect and with empathy, I am approachable. Again, these are reviewed during performance reviews and remedial action taken where necessary.

Senior management are required to adhere to TotalMobile's core 'People Values'. These are 6 behaviours that were identified as being core to the success of the business. The company recognise that while skills are important to the organisation, so too are the behaviours and attitudes that their people exhibit, in every position. The company refer to these as the ‘HOW' in terms of how they achieve their objectives, not just ‘WHAT' they achieve. The 6 values include how: They need smart people with the right attitude, they are all committed to continuous learning and improvement, and they support their people through the performance culture. Reward people for excellence and are socially responsible To reinforce the importance of the values, the Top Team of senior managers took part in a video which promoted the values and explained their importance. Senior managers and staff are measured against adherence to these through the performance review process. Where there are not being exhibited, then an action plan is agreed to address the shortcoming. In addition to this all managers must exhibit separate 'management and leadership values which include: I support staff and manage their performance, I make decisions effectively, I empower staff to come up with solutions to problems, I behave with integrity and treat people fairly and consistently, I treat people with respect and with empathy, I am approachable. Again, these are reviewed during performance reviews and remedial action taken where necessary.

The company invest in external training and ensure they have the tools needed to drive sales and get the most from their teams. Managers have regular reviews and clear objectives to ensure clarity and success day to day. The company celebrate all successes within their brand.

The company offer site massages for staff and more flexible working options including more home working when needed.

At Thomas, they practice what they preach, they are in the business of developing people, and this is also our number one focus with employees. The people development programme, My Thomas Development, uses assessments to support the development of their employees, and ensures that managers are consistently holding 1-1 meetings and reviews. The company offer secondments with other departments or international partners, fund external training, and runt their own internal training courses, which are created in response to development needs. A whopping 25 of the 118 employees have been promoted this year alone, which is testament to the quality of the development programme.

The company values were created through an exercise at the company-wide conference at the beginning of 2014. The company elicited from staff personal values that were common to the majority of employees and used those as a basis for re-writing their company values. Through inclusion and clear communication, our staff are now able to live the Thomas values through their work. These values formed the basis of the company awards categories, and have been introduced to all performance review templates. The company recently held a 2 day strategy meeting to plan their strategy moving forwards. They have significantly increased their ambitions for the future, changing their target from £50 million to £250 million.

The company don't do anything innovative but the general level the of support they provide their employees with is fairly unique for the sector.

The company work with their Senior Associates each year who are the talent for the future and each year they decide upon and run a project within the firm which is linked to strategic objectives. It is a great way to develop their leadership and project skills whilst delivering on important employee engagement initiatives. For example in 2013/2014 they ran a campaign called your voice where they held lunch time sessions with the staff without management present and gathered feedback and ideas for improving recognition. These results were presented to the leadership team and many of those ideas have been implemented in 2014/2015.

The company run regular "off sites" for teams in the business. For example, once a quarter the Internal Comms team organises an IT team offsite. This will involve all 100+ members of staff from IT. The event usually takes place in the purpose built auditorium and in the staff restaurant and takes a full afternoon. Typically it includes: Information share - members of various team or project groups will present short updates on their project and share learnings. The company survey staff before the event and ask them to put forward topics that they would like to know more about. They also have non IT speakers, such as the MDs of the business units, who will come and talk about their plans for their business. Ideas generation - the teams will split into groups to brainstorm a particular topic and will then present back Team building - usually some sort of game-based team. The company deliberately engineer the teams to bring together people who don't work together day-to-day. Social, each event ends with beer / wine and pizza being served in the staff restaurant. At the end there is a follow up with another survey to assess the event.

For many years Think Money Group has been a Platinum payroll giving provider. However, this year the company decided to move away from Charities Aid Foundation to a new scheme administrator, Give All. There are three main advantages: Give All doesn't charge a fee so all donations make it to the charities; Give All operates entirely online and staff can administer their own accounts and, finally, Give All distributes money to charity with 48 hours rather than weeks. To make the move the company have to get staff to sign up to Give All. The company automatically set up their accounts with Give All - all they needed to do is to login, confirm their charities and confirm their donation amounts. 82% of staff did just that - matching the number that donated on the old system. In fact the company asked staff to increase their donations and many did - so they now give more than ever each month. After many years of supporting Seashell Trust in Manchester staff voted for a new local charity this year - Cash For Kids. Through Cash For Kids the company can support deprived children across Greater Manchester.