What are companies doing with regards to 'My Team'

The organisation work with a company called Lifetime Training, to offer their employees NVQ equivalent training in management and catering roles. This is available to anyone without prior higher education qualifications, and who has lived in the European Union for the last three years. There are strong opportunities for employees to grow and develop with The Good Eating Company. When recruiting they look for general assistants with the potential to become supervisors, supervisors with the potential to become managers and managers with the potential to become operations managers. Many of their most successful employees started work with them at a junior level. Their Head of Operations, and the three Operations Managers all started working for the company as general café assistants.

The organisation work with a company called Lifetime Training, to offer their employees NVQ equivalent training in management and catering roles. This is available to anyone without prior higher education qualifications, and who has lived in the European Union for the last three years. There are strong opportunities for employees to grow and develop with The Good Eating Company. When recruiting they look for general assistants with the potential to become supervisors, supervisors with the potential to become managers and managers with the potential to become operations managers. Many of their most successful employees started work with them at a junior level. Their Head of Operations, and the three Operations Managers all started working for the company as general café assistants.

The BIO Agency has an office dog called Philip. Research has shown that having a dog in the workplace reduces stress and this is certainly the case at The BIO Agency. Philip is a well-loved member of the team and provides an opportunity to de-stress during times of pressure. They offer some really nice perks, like a gourmet breakfast delivery once a week for the whole agency and personalised Hummingbird Bakery cakes on birthdays. After work the breakout space turns into a cocktail bar with one of the employees mixing a menu of freshly made cocktails. This boosts interaction and is a positive and rewarding way to end the working week.

The BIO Agency has an office dog called Philip. Research has shown that having a dog in the workplace reduces stress and this is certainly the case at The BIO Agency. Philip is a well-loved member of the team and provides an opportunity to de-stress during times of pressure. They offer some really nice perks, like a gourmet breakfast delivery once a week for the whole agency and personalised Hummingbird Bakery cakes on birthdays. After work the breakout space turns into a cocktail bar with one of the employees mixing a menu of freshly made cocktails. This boosts interaction and is a positive and rewarding way to end the working week.

At Texthelp they believe it is desirable to have rounded individuals who have an active and interesting life outside work. The personal development policy feeds into that by encouraging the development of new non-work related skills and talents. The company have two kitchens which are stocked with fresh healthy food twice per week. This is provided free of charge by Texthelp and is available to all staff. Staff are encouraged to eat healthily and live an active life. Additionally each year Texthelp works with a pharmacy to provide free health checks for all staff along with an option to receive the flu vaccination.

As a mission driven company, the wider social issues of literacy improvement, digital inclusion and accessibility are key drivers for the company's overall activities, and they promote and champion these ‘causes' as part of their daily business. In terms of charitable fundraising, Texthelp have supported several charities including Camara, Northern Ireland Children's Hospice and Mencap. There have also been collections organised for local food banks and both the Calais and Kos appeal's. Fundraisers include Pub Quizzes to raffles and Bake Off's/Cakes Sales to Car Boot Sales. There was also a Valentine's Day party, silent auction, secret santa, scary face competition and Christmas dress up. Staff have taken part in zip lines, abseiling, marathons and various fun runs including Race for Life and Colour Run which support local charities.

Regular individual Manager/Director meetings. Review of Business unit performance. Analysis of relative strengths and weaknesses, review of additional resource and training needs identified to enhance management skills. Ongoing review of Managers immediate and long term aspirations and identification of a pathway to ensure that these are attainable within the business model.

Essentially to convey the message that they are a unique company, large enough to provide opportunities for future career development yet small enough to recognise and care about the wellbeing and success of every team member.

It is not necessarily innovative but the company's CEO lives and breathes the core values and leads by example in his interactions with all employees. There is a giant poster in their office displaying the values and the company send a postcard of the same design to all new starters before they join.

The company take time to recruit employees who they feel will thrive in their fast-paced business and gain many benefits from it. In return, they devolve responsibility very quickly and support employee's development as they grow in their roles and take on new tasks. The company have taken a decision as a business not to follow a formal development process. Instead they coach employees day-to-day and allow them to move around the business taking on different roles to expand their skillsets and flourish in areas they enjoy. There is an internship programme through which the company found some of their most long-standing employees, including the very first! The company also run an entrepreneur programme for employees who want to go on to develop an area of the business. Examples include an employee who has created and launched their very first made-to-order sofa business; another who is in the process of launching a mattress offering in partnership with boutique hotel brand Mr and Mrs Smith; and an employee who joined to set up a Designer Platform which allows the company to support up and coming designers. There is also a Training and Development budget available for employee-directed learning. Examples of where this has been used include language lessons for employees working abroad and support enabling the CEO and CFO to join the LSE's Elite Programme.

The company provide English language classes for the Housekeeping department.

The company's Senior Management team operate an open door approach and very visible within the organisation.

The senior management team sit within the main office, this makes them approachable and engaging both on a personal and professional level. As a team they are constantly looking at new ideas and innovations to help move the business forward. They have recently been experimenting with Google Glass. The team regularly communicate their thoughts and ideas in a clear and none jargon fashion and encourage feedback and suggestions on these. They will regularly arrange lunches and dinners with the teams across the business and use this as an opportunity to engage personally and professionally.

They have offered CIPD support for their Learning and Development advisor; this was funded along with time away given to attend the course and to work on assignments. The company has also provided support to members of the finance team with their ACCA and AAT qualifications, affording them time off for study and funding. 23 people are working through an NVQ to achieve Cert CII which is supported with time within work being allocated to revision time, study text and support with exam funding. An employee-driven track called Level Up organise regular sessions which are delivered by employees who possess knowledge, skills and talents that they want to share with the whole business. These sessions range from product design, UX, Pensions and Investments, how insurance pricing works, building a robot, magic for beginners, creating phone apps, how the organisational contact centre works, what the CEO does in his job, to name a few. This is supported by making sure that people have the time to pursue their own development, they engage staff by encouraging them to share their skills. It makes the culture collaborative and allows people to pursue areas of interest as well as understand each other's job roles.

The company have two 5-a-side football teams and a netball team that are free for all staff to join. They also offer discounted memberships at Virgin Active and Fitness First Gyms which is available to all staff. SilverDoor provides on-site shower facilities that staff are able to use after attending the gym or cycling into work. Employees can join the cycle to work scheme which allows them to purchase a bike using a company interest free loan which they are then able to pay back monthly over the following year.

The company have two 5-a-side football teams and a netball team that are free for all staff to join. They also offer discounted memberships at Virgin Active and Fitness First Gyms which is available to all staff. SilverDoor provides on-site shower facilities that staff are able to use after attending the gym or cycling into work. Employees can join the cycle to work scheme which allows them to purchase a bike using a company interest free loan which they are then able to pay back monthly over the following year.

In 5 years' time the company aim to be twice as big and twice as profitable with both existing and new products, and intend to double the amount of staff they currently have. Helping you make a difference™ is about using the values that they have listed through demonstrating their behaviours by behaving in a way that demonstrates the belief in the 8 values. The company's mission is to adapting our behaviours to match our beliefs.

The company recently created a new breakout area for all staff to use. ‘Our House' incorporating ‘The Lounge' is a space for everyone to relax and unwind during their lunch break. It is a relaxed and inviting area, with the opportunity to catch up on some daytime TV or to share a game of pool or table tennis with their colleagues. This room can also be used as an informal relaxed meeting room. This is something that the company have introduced to help enhance the wellbeing of their employees. They have also installed subsidised vending machines containing healthy snacks along with better coffee machines. The company offer subsidised eye tests for all staff and free hearing tests for those employees who are exposed to a noisy working environment. They try to accommodate flexible working hours where possible and have offered for some office based employees the option to work from home. The company offer a fully expensed company car for the sales executives, which includes funding fuel for both work and personal use.