Managers hold monthly 1-2-1 meetings with their employees where learning and development is discussed. Employees are able to request financial support for training which will enhance their knowledge and skill set for their role. The company also offer in house training such as the company induction, email management and training specific to roles and divisions in which attendance is mandatory for all employees.

Managers hold monthly 1-2-1 meetings with their employees where learning and development is discussed. Employees are able to request financial support for training which will enhance their knowledge and skill set for their role. The company also offer in house training such as the company induction, email management and training specific to roles and divisions in which attendance is mandatory for all employees.

Location swapping between the Leeds, York and Harrogate offices is a very effective practice that the company undertake with their staff. Each month a selection of members from each sales team swap seats with a colleague in a different location for between a day and a week. This system of locations swapping has multiple benefits including; spreading best practice; increasing interaction between teams; challenging the ‘norms' that are created at each location by showing a different way to do something and creating meaningful relationships with colleagues that otherwise would only ever happen on email or at team gatherings. This practice also removes barriers of communication, because staff have worked alongside the people they are talking to, enabling a smoother flow of information. This practice also applies to managers, with members of the account management team working from each of the locations for at least one day per month. This allows the sales team to see/feel/hear what happens with the new customers that they bring on, as well as increasing the flow of feedback to and from the sales team and the account management team.

Business director Adam Walsh is responsible for developing and coaching managers via their personal ‘road maps'. He makes sure that those managing non-commercial departments fully understand how their work impacts on the wider business performance and in the achievement of the main business goal of £5m profit target by 2018. Adam is mentoring Nicholle Anderson and Steven Kershaw, customer service and credit manager respectively, with the aim of further developing their commercial awareness. To this end, they are involved in budget and profitability discussions and they also contribute to the development of the general business plan. TRFC is committed to investing in external training for their team and they collaborate with leading institutions. Three managers have been accredited this year as members of the Institute of Leadership and Management. The programme focuses on how coaching can improve an individual's performance and confidence by harnessing their own knowledge.

The Regatta Group prides itself on the level of internal promotions with the majority of management positions being from within the business. New and existing managers are able to go on a bespoke programme called Journey to Management Excellence. This has been specially designed to give managers (or refresh) the knowledge of certain tools that will help them manage their teams better. The programme has been positively received by all the managers that have been through it. Senior managers act as mentors for new and less experienced managers which has had positive results. The company also conduct internal training, topics so far this year have included managing change, having difficult conversations and setting objectives.

As well as the initiative details in section 5.5 the Company offers free fruit in logistics and head office, there are health checks available through local council gyms and we provide prostate and breast screening to employees in their 40s who would not qualify for NHS screening. Company walks are an opportunity for people to exercise in work time. The onsite restaurant cooks healthy meals every day with calorie count and fat content published so that people can make informed choices.

Team interaction and communication is very much an intrinsic part of day-to-day company life. The company have always recognised the importance of getting everyone together so have built a forum for this around Friday lunchtime. Every week free food and drink is provided for everyone in the reception area. As well as sharing lunch together they use this opportunity to update employees on news: To celebrate new business wins; to recognise those that have gone ‘Above&Beyond'; to share work. But most importantly to keep everyone updated. The company believe the best teams are built when there's total transparency. Communication is key to this whether to celebrate success or to ‘dig deep' and move on from a more challenging experience. In addition, training sessions will typically bring people from across the agency together. The company host fortnightly 'Well Red' sessions for the whole agency where industry professionals come in to share their areas of knowledge & expertise. Other training sessions vary from all company day sessions to smaller bits of training typically attended by between 3 and 10 employees. Less formally there are two company parties each year: The Summer Party and Christmas Party. The second would typically be expected, but the first is the company's opportunity to give something back.

We want to be recognised for our inventive and charitable contribution to the community-boosting the morale of employees, the pride of clients and the respect of peers. Since January 2014 we have raised £27,130, smashing our 2 year ambition of £20,000! Through our “80 Days To Change The World” initiative, we will have given 600 hours of our time by the end of the year to support young people faced with difficulties, to give them the best start in life. This has included creating advertising and PR campaigns for Whizz-Kidz and Asylum Aid as well as volunteering with “Hackney Pirates”, to develop young people's literacy skills and confidence within the local community. This year, we have continued to reduce the spend on our agency “Friday Fun” lunches, breakfasts and drinks by £1 per person, per week, helping to give an extra £60 a week to our nominated charities. Our agency Tuck Shop recently celebrated its first anniversary and since its launch in August 2014, we have chomped through 4000 chocolate bars, ice creams and packets of crisps to raise £1,000 for our chosen charity! On 11th October 2015, 8 employees took part in the Royal Parks Half Marathon in aid of Ambitious About Autism and are on target to raise over £5,000 for the charity. A silent auction and quiz has also been set up by employees to raise an additional £1,000 for the cause.

The whole reward and recognition package at Havebury includes a wide range of benefits. These are written up in an A-Z guide so that everyone is clear on what is provided. In addition to flexitime, these included: above average holiday allowance (26 days excluding Bank Holidays, with an additional 4 days for 5 years of service); the facility to buy or sell days holiday (up to 5 days per year) to enable more flexible management of time off work; cashback scheme through Havebury Saver within a wide range of stores, enabling staff to make savings of up to £1,000 per year and to maximise their income/salary; Simplyhealth health insurance scheme (which includes an employee assistance scheme, access to face to face counselling sessions and health screening); flu vaccinations available on a voluntary basis to all staff to reduce the risk/exposure to flu related absence; reduced membership to local gyms to encourage wellbeing and healthier living; lone worker scheme (through a pendant that dials a support number for employees while they're at work or carrying out work related duties); occupational health reviews as needed; social events fund; and 3-6 month sabbaticals after 5 years of service enabling staff to take a sabbatical.

In December 2014, Havebury was celebrating being awarded Investors in People Silver accreditation. The assessment demonstrated that Havebury met all the requirements for the Investors in People award. They achieved a silver accreditation after going beyond the required standard to meet an additional 87 indicators from the wider Investors in People framework. The assessor comments positively on the ongoing commitment to developing their employees skills and their focus on customer service. “There is a range of opportunities for everyone to develop leadership capabilities. Potential managers have access to management development activities and there are opportunities to act up in a role, lead on improvement projects and lead on a specialist area and share expertise with others, everyone is very committed and dedicated to Havebury's overall purpose and priorities and was keen to help in whatever way they could to support improvements. They are extremely proud to work here.”

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.