What are companies doing with regards to 'My Team'

Inferno have a traditional ‘royal mail' post box which sits in the lobby and invites everyone to help themselves to an ‘I'd love it if' card on reception to post any suggestions or gripe, anonymously or not. They strongly believe that listening is the very basic method of being available and approachable. There is an informal and relaxed atmosphere within the open plan building and staff are encouraged to have opinions, which are heard and addressed. Company updates are held on the last Thursday of every month and are a relaxed forum over a beer or glass of wine (sometimes even champagne) for discussions to ensure staff can see that needs are being addressed. Regular departmental away-days provide an opportunity for ideas to be shared outside the office environment, in an inspiring setting to encourage new thinking and perspective. It is not usual for teams to come back from these with an entirely new and more effective approach for their departments.

Every last Friday of the month Inferno holds a social event called ‘Love What Could Be', which gives the chance to gather the entire agency, build morale and inspire collaborative working. These varied events are organised by their ‘Love What Could Be' committee and some are seasonal, some are festive and some are completely random. Alcohol and nibbles are always a prerequisite. In the past year, an example of these are: a summer picnic and games, a pumpkin carving competition, a cocktail making class and a “guess the baby” tea party. Though not quite a team building ‘event', a “buddy system” is introduced on an employee's first days where new staff are partnered with someone on their department who is not their line manager, who will introduce them to their new home and colleagues, beyond the initial HR tour. Inferno will also pay for the buddy to host a team lunch outside the agency. Departments also have regular ‘away days' to discuss new practices and strategy, this is held at a nice and inspiring venue (such as an art gallery meeting room) and include breakfast/lunch and down-time drinks when the day is through.

Managers are given simple to use performance setting template and guidelines to take their teams through. Each of the leadership team go through the business objectives at the start of the year to enable them to intergrate them into their planning for the year. Managers attend regular leadership away days to understand where the business is going and what is needed to get there. Each business area and region have their own deciaded HR teams that work with them through out the year to plan. Some departments have quartlerly people surveys to sense check where they are in terms of plans. With the help of the HR team managers are given guidelines and help to conduct team plans, including succession planning. The exec have set out their stall in terms of what they expect from their management team and have worked together to bring it to life.

Wellbeing in Homebase is part of their core beliefs system, they place high value on the work the wellbeing team do to ensure the golden thread of wellbeing continues through the business. Their dedicated wellbeing and support leadership group, focus on developing new and existing programmes to engage their colleagues, including free flu injections in the contact centre this winter. They also have working parties for charitable giving, volunteering and talent and skills in the community, as Homebase have recognised that involvement in activities across these three other areas has a significant impact on the wider wellbeing of colleagues, in addition to the practical financial and physical package of benefits they provide. Their approach therefore is to promote and communicate opportunities for colleagues to get involved in one or more of these areas. This kind of involvement helps colleagues develop personally, gives them a feeling of pride about working for Homebase. It also improves team morale and generally helps to create a better sense of wellbeing in the workplace and in their personal lives. The biggest goal is to recruit 30,000 Dementia Friends from across the business who will benefit from an awareness raising session to develop a better understanding of people with dementia, as part of their partnership with the Alzheimer's Society. Homebase know many of their colleagues have family members with Dementia and want as many of their colleagues to be able to support each other, but it will also be a valuable and transferable skill for their families futures.

Hifx provide incentive linked pay schemes to all employees regardless of job function. Management and support services staff are eligible for a quarterly bonus that is a % of their annual basic salary.Each employee is linked to the performance of the company (or their dept) financial results (top line and/or bottom line) as well as key customer metrics such as NPS (net promoter score - driving customer excellence). Employees are paid against a blend of company metrics dependant on their role. For some involved in IT/technology and payment processing this will be STP (straight-through processing) element of bonus pay (for driving automation and efficient payment services). They then pay some functions (e.g. sales, marketing and management) on customer conversions. Some of the senior management are paid against staff survey results (e.g. senior directors and HR director and HR team). They then pay an element of people's bonus pay linked to personal / team performance (e.g. progress against actions). By having a universal framework for how they pay bonuses, they ensure that everyone from board level to the post-room is aligned to the same objectives and focused on customer service excellence. In addition to bonus/incentive pay, they also recognise star performers (or those people that go beyond the call of duty) and regularly organise fun activities such as go-karting, nights out, trips to special places (e.g. Maclaren racing Head office). Hifx also provide high performers with awards known at HiFX as "ITNs" (interesting to note) with recognition awards given for exceptional behaviour.

The CEO at Hifx 'walks the floor' every day and takes time to speak to staff and understand how they are getting on within their roles and what challenges they may currently be facing. The CEO, personally leads each staff communciation presentation and takes sigificant time to prepare for these presentations. Their CEO presents in an open/honest manner that is not sugar coated in 'management speak'. He allows people to ask questions without fear and takes time to answer all questions raised, Ensuring any questions not answered in the meeting are answered ASAP after presentations.

Harrier LLC have over the past 2 years delivered a 95% reduction in landfill waste and whilst this has increased employment through the management of the project it has also saved the business over 100k and has been recognised in a recent national award by DS Smith .

Harrier created a voucher system for outstanding achievements; this includes the "Employee of the month awards" and is delivered with all staff in attendance on a monthly basis; this not only includes the EOM but any other voucher awards made for special one off acheivements. This is then presented on the notice boards, intranet and newsletter.

Hall & Partners invests in a variety of team building events throughout the year and quarterly company meetings for all. One of the most established events held each year is “Imagine Day”, a unique interactive forum for cross-company collaboration and the generation of new ideas to continue building our company strategy. Imagine Day provides a chance for everyone at Hall & Partners, no matter what their level or aspect of the business, to contribute their individual perspective. It represents the start of their planning process for each new year, helping them to identify otheir goals and priorities based on the hands-on experiences of their employees. This provides a strong focus as well as energy for developing initiatives which will support the continued success of Hall & Partners business and company culture. This year (2013), the purpose of Imagine Day was to leverage their digital expertise and encourage smarter digital thinking and behaviour across the company. The main goals of the day included: Enabling all employees to make a tangible contribution to how they develop their business around their digital offer, Working together to identify where they are now with the current scope of digital tools and behaviours, and where they want to be Prioritising their actions by plotting a road map to success By encouraging open exploration and debate both within and across teams, Imagine Day allows for the entire company to be fully immersed in the shaping and development of Hall & Partners' company vision.

Managers set clear, specific and tailored objectives for employees at yearly appraisal sessions, designed to measure and assess developmental progress. Outside of formal appraisal meetings, managers continue to monitor employee progress through regular meetings and informal catch ups. This allows managers and employees to work together closely throughout the year to further tailor objectives if required, and to set new objectives if progress allows. In line with this structure, praise and recognition are given when an employee excels in order to motivate and show appreciation for their efforts and dedication in his/her role. This can range from wider visible recognition (e.g. personal mention at company meeting) to more personal commendation (e.g. in smaller department team meeting).

Managers at GMCP have regular KITs with their staff, which involve reviewing performance. These meetings are also used to discuss any issues and to ensure that the expectations of both parties are consistent. To enable transparency and ease of use they have devised an easy performance monitoring system, based on traffic lights, which clearly show individual performance against targets. The Managers demonstrate understanding for individuals' workload and pressures in work. Respect employees' life outside of work: time for family, friends and outside interests/hobbies
GMCP managers ensure that all their staff are aware of and have access to flexible working arrangements. Managers also monitor staff hours to ensure that staff are not over working and that any accrued hours are taken.

At GMCP a staff Working Group has recently been established, to bring staff wellbeing issues to the fore, and create a culture where negative issues are identified, minimised and managed before they affect the health of staff. They are working with a small team of staff (20 volunteers) who are helping through: Attendance at meetings, focus groups in their own teams, highlighting triggers, making suggestions for reducing the negative impact of work, offering ideas and solutions to promote a greater sense of wellbeing and one that everyone enjoys… trying out different approaches to identify what works for them. They have a budget of £1,000 to test out ideas and make recommendations for a programme that will be rolled out by March 2014. Friday afternoon Reiki sessions at thier Head Office are booking up fast! In establishing the group, they were especially keen to include people who understand how work can add to stress levels, through personal experience. They also appealed for volunteers who rarely feel stressed or are more resilient to the pressures work – so that they can better promote a healthy work-life balance. Through this Project Team, thye are designing a programme of support that is relevant and accessible to all staff and helps them reduce the negative impact of work on their lives. They already have a free Medicash scheme, providing access to doctors, counselling / therapies but GMCP want to do more to tailor a bespoke package of support available on site, at the right times for their staff

They are always seeking ways to enhance their employee experience. Following feedback from the business, the company arranged bike storage for those cycling to work, built additional showers and a break out room for staff to relax in. Staff have access to a local gym with discounted membership rates, and they have a generous weekly fruit delivery for everyone to enjoy. They also have an employee forum which consists of a member from each function in the London office that acts as the voice of the employee population. They meet monthly to discuss how the office is doing and address any areas of concern.

This year they introduced a new recognition programme called the GROW Award, Getty Images recognition for outstanding work. This programme encourages anyone who has observed a colleague make exceptional achievements, help the company grow, are demonstrating either personal or professional growth or deserve to be recognised for their individual contribution to their collective success, to nominate that colleague for an award. All nominations are reviewed weekly by the CEO who determines the recipients and the cash award amount they will receive. They are really proud of this programme because it recognises both professional and personal growth, and it does so in real time – not just on an annual basis. It is also above and beyond a person's normal incentive plan. It reveals the great camaraderie their employees share as they have the opportunity to nominate each other and their CEO's inbox continues to be flooded with nominations. It also speaks to their global connectedness – it is not a location centric programme – everyone at all levels and in every location is included.

Their Managers work well with their team and understand that outisde business committments such as studies, family or holidays may require them to swap/change their shifts or need additional time away from work. They are extremely flexible in accommodating these requests and respect that their employees have other reponsibilites outside of work that are priority to them. They completely understand, as they all have families too and are able to accommodate the majority of requests when their staff want to make changes to their contracted shifts. Managers follow this culture that we demonstrate at a central support level and take time to carry out regular reviews with each member of staff, whether they work 4 or 40 hours a week, each member of their team is guaranteed this time with their Managers.

Employee of the month award. Long Service Awards, they award every member of staff a generous financial token to thank them for their length of service with Georges. Every year, after 5 years of service, each member of staff receives this incentive which believe contributes to the high level of employee retention that they have seen year after year. Birthday vouchers and birthday day off. They reward staff each year with a birthday voucher for them to spend at an oulet of their choice, together with a day off for their birthday. Even if their birthday falls during a weekend, they still allow them to take this time off on a Monday or Friday. Mystery shopper reports. When they receive their monthly shopper reports through they will always send a letter of thanks for the employee concenred for their efforts during that visit. They also reward them with a highstreet voucher if they have done exceptionally well duriing this mystery shopper visit.

They give their colleagues extra holidays over the Christmas period in addition to their allocation with plenty of prior notice so they have more time to spend with their families, this is a thank you for their hard work over what is a particularly busy time for their business from September - October. They have done this for the last 4 years. Feedback has shown them that this is very much appreciated.

They give their colleagues extra holidays over the Christmas period in addition to their allocation with plenty of prior notice so they have more time to spend with their families, this is a thank you for their hard work over what is a particularly busy time for their business from September - October. They have done this for the last 4 years. Feedback has shown them that this is very much appreciated.

Their Chief Executive, Andrew Morris, has demonstrated strong leadership for nearly a quarter of a century. One of Andrew's key drivers is an eternal desire to be the best and he inspires staff with his vision. His monthly staff briefings, which welcome all staff, are refreshingly honest and open forums where no question is off limits. Andrew's down-to-earth manner, humour and professionalism earn enormous respect from everyone at the Trust. Andrew is a visible presence throughout the estate and seems to know most staff by their first names – whether they work in catering, portering or surgical services. Andrew's leadership style has helped to develop a culture that some call the ‘Frimley family'. Above all Andrew advocates a focus on the patients as individuals and urges staff never to stop thinking about how they would like their mum, dad or loved one to be treated. Andrew recognises that needs and expectations are constantly evolving and helps Trust staff understand that however good they are they must constantly improve in order to provide the local population with the health services they expect and deserve. Andrew's tireless dedication is unquestioned and no-one at the Trust works more hours or with more focus. On a snowy day a couple of years ago he went to A&E first thing to see how staff were coping and ended up rolling up his sleeves to push trolleys until more staff made it in.

Quality Ward Walkabouts occur twice a month and are a way of gathering staff, as well as patient, feedback and comments about key issues in the ward. Walkabouts include an Executive Director, a Non-Executive Director, a Governor and a member of the Trust's Risk Team. Following the Walkabout, a template is populated with the key issues. Any negative feedback or comments are followed up and dealt with as appropriate. One example of something they have done is in response to stress levels reported in their NHS Staff Surveys. Where stress levels appear to be high, they have offered the use of an external stress audit approach. This involves a pre-survey staff briefing, a survey of staff in the area and then a follow-up focus group at which the survey results are reviewed and action is planned to reduce stress levels. 6 of these audits have been undertaken in the last year.