What are companies doing with regards to 'My Team'

Walker Prestons Solicitors offers an enjoyable and positive working environment with regular team-bonding and building exercises.

Walker Prestons Solicitors regularly rent out function halls and put on a party for all members of the organisation to help build morale and as an introduction for new staff to enjoy.

During the London Olympics and Paralympics 2012, the company's North West Victim Care Unit ran a programme of events focusing on team work and performance, showcasing the Olympic spirit. The units ran events for ‘best commissioned services' for victims of crime and ‘most commissioned services' by a Victim Care Officer to boost individual performance. The team event ‘The Olympic Race' included a competition which promoted increasing performance based on the number of referrals for support that each team made to their community branches. The number of referrals made by individuals was added together to create a team total and was updated daily on the ‘Olympic Race' track. At the end of the 14 day period the number of visits was totalled and the winning team were crowned Olympic champions. Each team also adopted an Olympic country. All team members worked together to represent their country in the most innovative and creative way. They decorated desks and the wider offices in line with the theme. At the closing ceremony each team represented their adopted country and one team from each site was judged ‘the winner'. The results for the competitions were announced and medals awarded to individuals and teams during a spectacular closing ceremony. The event focused on effective team working to support the aims and objectives of Victim Support and services that they provide. Another example saw the finance team undertake a number of events based on MBTI and increasing individual and team awareness to support the team working together.

In London locality Victim Support invited each of the divisions, the National Homicide Service, Locality Head Office, the Victim Care Unit and Supportline to nominate a member of their team to join a new communications working group. The purpose of the group is to act as a forum in which to engage with the London locality staff by acting as a channel of communication between senior management and staff regarding organisational concerns and issues; providing an opportunity for the participation and involvement of staff in developing an action plan in response to the findings of the employee engagement survey; discussing and agreeing actions to address areas for development identified through the survey and taking forward agreed actions with a view to seeking feedback from the respective teams. Meeting at least every two months, the communications group is popular within the locality. As a direct result of engagement with staff, the group have introduced several new initiatives including a work place shadowing scheme and a new London locality newsletter. Members of the group meet with their respective teams and divisions and provide a channel of two way communication whereby matters can be discussed and fed back to the group. Victim Support has also introduced monthly summaries of their senior management team meetings where staff are invited to raise any issues or concerns with their respective manager. Any matters raised are guaranteed to be discussed and considered at the next relevant senior management team meeting and are responded to accordingly.

Everyone within the Ultimate Finance Group contributes to their success. There are flexible working patterns with employees being able to flex their working hours subject to availability during core hours. The company find it difficult to explain the level of passion to deliver by every person within the organisation however, it is a truly united effort.

What works really well at the Ultimate Finance Group is the fact that there appears to be no political agenda by any member of staff. If people identify an opportunity the management will review and regularly support employees allowing them to deliver and drive their own personal development. The company seeks to promote from within allowing personnel to develop without leaving to a competitor or third party.

UKAR is committed to the development of their colleagues. Staff well-being is one of four elements which make up their corporate social responsibility charter, alongside their customers, their communities and the environment. They run numerous health and lifestyle initiatives including a comprehensive employee assistance programme; free financial planning advice; slimming groups; gym discounts; Zumba classes; Boxercise classes; and one aspect of colleague wellbeing they are particularly proud of is their close relationship with Heart Research UK. As a result of their focus upon healthy lifestyles , they were delighted when they were awarded Heart Research UK's bronze and silver award as part of the Healthy Heart Mark Employer programme, which was launched via Health Awareness days and almost 500 colleagues had lifestyle checks. They are proud to have received Gold Award accreditation from Heart Research UK following a recent assessment of their healthy lifestyle policies and initiatives. UKAR colleagues have also chosen Heart Research UK as their corporate charity of the year for 2013.

UKAR is committed to the development of their colleagues. Staff well-being is one of four elements which make up their corporate social responsibility charter, alongside their customers, their communities and the environment. They run numerous health and lifestyle initiatives including a comprehensive employee assistance programme; free financial planning advice; slimming groups; gym discounts; Zumba classes; Boxercise classes; and one aspect of colleague wellbeing they are particularly proud of is their close relationship with Heart Research UK. As a result of their focus upon healthy lifestyles , they were delighted when they were awarded Heart Research UK's bronze and silver award as part of the Healthy Heart Mark Employer programme, which was launched via Health Awareness days and almost 500 colleagues had lifestyle checks. They are proud to have received Gold Award accreditation from Heart Research UK following a recent assessment of their healthy lifestyle policies and initiatives. UKAR colleagues have also chosen Heart Research UK as their corporate charity of the year for 2013.

The combination of three actions seems to work exceptionally well at TRO. Firstly, their anonymous, online staff surveys allow the management to identify issues (good and less good) which staff want to raise. Secondly, in 2012 they initiated their ‘Time Out with Rob' sessions. These are opportunities for any member of staff to chat with Rob, their chairman, about any topic they wish to raise. The sessions are voluntary and can be conducted one-on-one, in pairs or larger groups and it is for members of staff to set the agenda, time and venue. Thirdly, as a result of combining the learning from the two above activities, TRO set up action groups to address the key issues and ideas arising. This process has given voice to a number of staff initiatives including their desire to look at further flexible working arrangements and broader job descriptions, to overcome the ‘summer spike' in work load, reshaping office layouts and relocating a client service team from one site to another.

Michael WB, TRO's managing director, joined TRO 18 years ago as a seasonal event executive. Everyone at TRO appreciates that Michael started at the bottom of the ladder and has worked his way up through a series of well-earned promotions to join the board and subsequently become the MD. Michael's style of operation, his decisions, actions and overall involvement in the business are hugely influenced by his organic development. Staff feel a great respect for his achievement; they have empathy for his views because he has been where they are and covered the ‘hard yards'. Furthermore, they are inspired by the thought that TRO is the kind of place where internal development is encouraged, as evidenced by Michael. It is because Michael knows his way around every single job within the business and because his natural style is open and accessible that TRO staff find him easy to deal with.

All employees have a strong focus on results and relationships. Through continuous development of their human resources they ensure good business performance and profitability for their customers. Teamwork and an independent mind-set are two qualities that they encourage. The company hold numerous events which enable employees to socialise outside of work. They held a summer party in August 2013 where they had a team sports day. There is usually a Christmas part too.

Managers recognise employees in various ways. Employees are praised within the team circle; there is an employee of the month and rewards are given such as dinner on the company and gift vouchers. They offer feedback in regular one-to-ones, through formal performance appraisals, personal development plans and training needs analysis. They provide flexible working hours, work/life balance and working from home on occasion under special circumstance. Managers set targets and lead by example, work with team rather than directing, think outside of the box and encourage new ideas.

The Real Adventure Marketing Communications Ltd have a local charity of the Year. This year it is a local, national or international charity nominated by and voted for by all their employees, which they will commit to champion throughout the year by supporting different fundrising events and they will match any funds raised up to £1,500. Their Charity of the Year runs from April to March, and in March 2013 they raised in total £4,000 for MNDA.

The Real Adventure Marketing Communications Ltd have a local charity of the Year. This year it is a local, national or international charity nominated by and voted for by all their employees, which they will commit to champion throughout the year by supporting different fundrising events and they will match any funds raised up to £1,500. Their Charity of the Year runs from April to March, and in March 2013 they raised in total £4,000 for MNDA.

At The Midcounties Co-operative, openness is one of their key values. They try to be transparent with each colleague about what benefits there are to being employed by Midcounties. One way they can see this is by logging onto their colleague portal and viewing their Total Reward Statement (TRS). Their TRS shows all their benefits over the year including salary, uniform, health benefits, service awards, training, discount savings and more. TRS were launched in 2013 and was supported by a huge communication campaign and is backed up by ongoing poster campaigns at sites. They've chosen Savvy Sam as the face of Your Benefits and created a brand to have consistency in their communications to colleagues. Sam is a friendly reminder of what is available to colleagues and where to find their benefits. Sam's website has been set up for each colleague to provide a place where they can get discounts with external businesses online, read about Society news, see what events are coming up, hear about new benefit schemes, enter monthly competitions and chat to other colleagues across all of the businesses on the forum.

In 2011 their colleagues elected Women's Aid as their two year charity partner. Selecting a domestic violence charity was a brave and unusual choice for a retail business; indeed it was a first for Women's Aid. As is usual, the partnership had a particular emphasis on raising funds. Soon into the partnership it became very clear that this was so much more than fundraising. This was an opportunity to help change behaviour and to raise awareness of the impact of domestic violence to their colleagues, members, customers and the wider community. It became about helping to break the cycle of two women dying each week as a result of domestic violence. When the partnership ended in February 2013 they had raised £345,000; given 22,741 hours of volunteering time (10,959 of these in the West Midlands area); changed their internal policies to recognise domestic violence and trained their HR team to support colleagues in need; supported a national Women's Aid campaign collecting 24,000 signatures helping Women's Aid to surpass their 2011 target of 10,000 signatures and created an educational toolkit for Women's Aid to use nationally in schools to break the cycle of abuse before it happens. Their work has helped Women's Aid to raise their profile nationally and their partnership has been recognised through the achievement of national awards.

The Glenmorangie Company off assistance to quit smoking which is provided with support through occupational health. There is a Healthy eating programme provided in the staff canteen. Losing weight is supported through occupational health. There is support for managing stress through self help and counselling available through the private medical help line. Support can also be prrovided by occupational health.

The Glenmorangie Heroes recognition programme allows for peer recognition where colleagues can recommend another employee for an award if they have supported them in some way or delivered for the business and/or customers. Employees receiving an award will be recognised in the Company newsletter and in their quarterly presentation to all employees.