Centrica support their managers and leaders to set the standard and expectations and role model behaviours, to help develop their people to make Centrica Storage a great place to work. There is an online recognition scheme called RecogniseMe in place. Tools are provided for the managers to take ownership for delivering and supporting their people's development. Coaching for managers at all levels.

Centrica support their managers and leaders to set the standard and expectations and role model behaviours, to help develop their people to make Centrica Storage a great place to work. There is an online recognition scheme called RecogniseMe in place. Tools are provided for the managers to take ownership for delivering and supporting their people's development. Coaching for managers at all levels.

Chris is a natural leader as Cadwyn's previous Best Companies results have shown. As the leader of the organisation she operates in an open, fair and honest way and is hard working and focused on doing the right thing for tenants and employees. She adapts her leadership style to meet the needs of those she works with, providing intellectual stimulation and encouragement for people to develop. She uses a mentoring and coaching approach to empower people to make decisions and take responsibility for their decisions and actions. She has the ability to inspire people to want to make a difference and exceed customer expectations. This is important in the environment and climate Cadwyn are currently working in as resources are more limited and the business is relying on employees to do more with less. Chris has high energy levels and a drive for new projects and is willing to take risks and be accountable when things go wrong and she is not afraid to hold her hand up and say when they do. Chris encourages and maintains a no blame culture by reinforcing this in her language and behaviours. She is passionate about people, improving the lives of the people and has strong values which permeates the culture of the organisation. People enjoy working for Chris as she is truly inspirational, she never complains, is interested in employees and their lives and shares with employees the importance of what they do as an organisation.

Chris is a natural leader as Cadwyn's previous Best Companies results have shown. As the leader of the organisation she operates in an open, fair and honest way and is hard working and focused on doing the right thing for tenants and employees. She adapts her leadership style to meet the needs of those she works with, providing intellectual stimulation and encouragement for people to develop. She uses a mentoring and coaching approach to empower people to make decisions and take responsibility for their decisions and actions. She has the ability to inspire people to want to make a difference and exceed customer expectations. This is important in the environment and climate Cadwyn are currently working in as resources are more limited and the business is relying on employees to do more with less. Chris has high energy levels and a drive for new projects and is willing to take risks and be accountable when things go wrong and she is not afraid to hold her hand up and say when they do. Chris encourages and maintains a no blame culture by reinforcing this in her language and behaviours. She is passionate about people, improving the lives of the people and has strong values which permeates the culture of the organisation. People enjoy working for Chris as she is truly inspirational, she never complains, is interested in employees and their lives and shares with employees the importance of what they do as an organisation.

However busy Cabot's people are, in whatever role they have they actively provide opportunities for employees to take a break from their work and do something positive that will enhance their overall wellbeing. ‘Know your Numbers', is a free service for employees who go along and have their BMI, cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure and cardiovascular risk factors assessed. They receive personal, confidential feedback and advice on their numbers and information on lifestyle changes that may help to improve their health. We receive great employee feedback from people who have already taken active steps to improve their health and wellbeing based on the advice they received during their sessions. “My weight has been an "issue" for over a decade.........I have now finally changed my eating habits in a sustainable way and increased my activity levels - already lost half a stone and feel so much better!” This year, the Company has also offered free on site back and neck energising massages and a 6 week stop smoking clinic during working hours which have also made a positive difference to many of Cabot's employees wellbeing as illustrated by the following quotes: “Personally, I can categorically say that I would not have quit smoking if had not gone to the Stop Smoking Clinic, so thank you.” “The Well Being Massage is a pleasant experience that leaves me in a positive mood. I find it very therapeutic and relaxing hence helping to concentrate better on my daily tasks”

Cabot Credit Management launched a game called Skills 4 Bills. Skills 4 Bills is a financial learning game that is targeted towards students within the Year 6 age bracket. The game teaches children the importance of money and how to successfully budget. The game was originally launched to the local communities in Stratford upon Avon and West Malling. The employees are able to volunteer to attend the schools to play the game and as a business they offer each employee one day per year to attend this or another community activity. To enable Cabot to launch the game to the wider community and become easily accessible, they have obtained the PFEG accreditation and have launched the Skills 4 Bills website - skills-4-bill.co.uk. This website allows schools and businesses to download a free version of Skills 4 Bills or purchase a hard copy of the game at cost price. Cabot have been working with their clients - high street banks, to support them rolling out the game within their local communities. They have attended Cabot's Skills 4 Bills sessions and have then purchased the game to enable them to engage their employees with community activities. This initiative is managed by the Community POD who are a group of employees who have volunteered to dedicate part of their working lives to ensure that the game happens within the local community and also to offer their support to other organisations wishing to run the game within their local communities.

It is testament to Tom's leadership skills that the values created by Byron's people embody his own personal style. As the founder of the business, he hasn't had to dictate or compromise on his beliefs; instead through osmosis everyone knew what the values were before they did the work around articulating them. He spends 95% of his time in the restaurants; however has implicit trust in his teams and is always available for anyone in the business to speak to him, contact him on Twitter, email or give him a ring on his mobile. Tom will also, any time he passes a Byron restaurant, pop in to say hello to the team and then leave. Tom is a people focused CEO, making sure he knows his people, from Alfredo their oldest kitchen porter through to Fenwick their newest general manager. He is extremely engaging as well as empathetic; putting himself in each individual's shoes to make sure he can articulate and understand what doing it properly means to that person. Inspiring, thanks to his drive, unrelenting energy, slightly strange sense of humour, irreverence and his ability to empower people to do what they want to do. His direct team are encouraged to challenge him and naturally imitate his leadership style with their own personality.

Secret squirrel is Byron's monthly mystery guest programme and to make this competitive they introduced the ‘Squirrel Cup'. This pits restaurants against each other to strive for the best customer satisfaction scores across the year. At the end of the financial year, scores are averaged out and everyone from the winning restaurant is taken out for the day to a secret location where they take part in different fun activities. For example ,we've been go karting, punted up the river in Oxford and even had our CEO, Tom, dress as a squirrel. We think he will do this on a regular basis – he seemed to like it!! This has proven to be huge success, with Byron's mystery guest scores rising by 2% across the business as a whole. It's the talk of the restaurants and even covered in their employee magazine on a leader board. This year they took the winning restaurant out for the day Go-Karting and then for a long lunch and then out into the early hours of the morning!

Sponsoring beehives is among the more unusual environmental initiatives at Brookwood. The company has a Planet Matters Team of people who discuss and implement new initiatives, running vegetable and herb plots, using local suppliers, fairly traded products and refillable water bottles. There's a Waste Less programme to reduce and monitor food wastage and last year the firm had a Planet Matters Day. Every single one of its catering operations in schools – all 96 of them – took part, planning a day to raise awareness that the planet matters to it, its schools, and pupils who eat in its restaurants. They helped pupils grow herbs and vegetables for the kitchens, and encouraged them to reduce food waste and drink tap water in reusable, not plastic bottles. People say it genuinely cares about the environment. More than a third of employees got involved with charitable activities in work time last year, and the firm supports the charities Build Africa, Magic Breakfast and Springboard. It encourages people to do their bit.

Sponsoring beehives is among the more unusual environmental initiatives at Brookwood. The company has a Planet Matters Team of people who discuss and implement new initiatives, running vegetable and herb plots, using local suppliers, fairly traded products and refillable water bottles. There's a Waste Less programme to reduce and monitor food wastage and last year the firm had a Planet Matters Day. Every single one of its catering operations in schools – all 96 of them – took part, planning a day to raise awareness that the planet matters to it, its schools, and pupils who eat in its restaurants. They helped pupils grow herbs and vegetables for the kitchens, and encouraged them to reduce food waste and drink tap water in reusable, not plastic bottles. People say it genuinely cares about the environment. More than a third of employees got involved with charitable activities in work time last year, and the firm supports the charities Build Africa, Magic Breakfast and Springboard. It encourages people to do their bit.

Managers ensure each staff member has an accurate up to date personal development plan and monitor this on a regular basis. Have regular support and supervision structures with each staff member individually at least every six weeks. Proactively respond to queries from staff.

Managers ensure each staff member has an accurate up to date personal development plan and monitor this on a regular basis. Have regular support and supervision structures with each staff member individually at least every six weeks. Proactively respond to queries from staff.

Brandwidth appreciate that Engagement surveys can drive change that leads to business improvement. They will use the results of this survey to make informed changes within the organisation. It will enable them to regroup, refine and reenergise the company because when employees see that their suggestions are acted upon, their engagement increases.Increased engagement leads to better performance and decreased turnover. Organisations that keep engagement data can combine it with other data to create predictive analytics that can lead to sophisticated workforce planning and pre-emptive interventions

Brandwidth appreciate that Engagement surveys can drive change that leads to business improvement. They will use the results of this survey to make informed changes within the organisation. It will enable them to regroup, refine and reenergise the company because when employees see that their suggestions are acted upon, their engagement increases.Increased engagement leads to better performance and decreased turnover. Organisations that keep engagement data can combine it with other data to create predictive analytics that can lead to sophisticated workforce planning and pre-emptive interventions

Brammer aligns a scheduled programme of training and development directly to its business strategy, in order that employees can better execute the demands of their customers. It is the programme as a whole that makes the difference. The programmes are defined by business function and job role, to ensure absolute relevance, so that nobody attends a training course, which isn't related to their needs. The training is carefully designed to address business critical objectives for both Brammer and its customers, and it addresses the individual needs of the employees. As examples, Brammer has operated a number of training programmes to support the manufacturing need to reduce costs and increase productivity, and has done this in close collaboration with its supply partners. A recent example of this has been a structured programme to help UK manufacturers reduce their energy costs, and working in partnership with Siemens, Brammer employees have acquired the right knowledge and education to drive customer energy cost savings. The programme has already added real benefits, and is receiving acclaim from customers and industry sources. On a more individual basis, Brammer has an ongoing programme of management development training, which suits the individual needs of those wanting to progress their careers within the organisation. Packaged together, the Brammer employee training programme demonstrates absolute commitment to the growth and development of its employees.

Whilst Brammer do not have any formal systems or processes in place for managers to ‘formally recognise' that what they are asking staff is realistic and achievable, the Performance and Wellbeing results in their internal opinion survey would suggest that this is intrinsic. The organisation sets realistic performance targets, involving operational managers in their formation. Within this the appraisal process enables managers to set individual objectives which are agreed by employees and revised as appropriate. Brammer is committed to celebrating success and acknowledging a ‘job well done' whether this is through formal, documented recognition or through their culture of simply saying thank you. Brammer recognises that ensuring their employees have enough information available to them to do their job well, is essential in successfully attaining targets. The Group infrastructure and systems allow ease of working and information sharing. The Brammer Awards recognise exceptional performance in a number of categories across the business in the UK and on a Group wide basis across Europe, The organisation also seeks to reward a job well done and invites various nominated employees as ‘VIP Guests' to their exclusive ‘UK Manufacturng Forum & Awards' event. The prestigious thought leadership event, now in its seventh year, is attended by executive level senior management from our largest customers. This privileged opportunity recognises the outstanding contribution these individuals have made to the success of the business.

Boston College are an effective and innovative community leader in advancing equality, diversity and inclusion. They regularly hold and attend meetings and participate with a range of statutory, community and voluntary organisations to help improve social cohesion within their increasingly diverse town. Through their business networks and strong links with local employers, they have been able to extend their influence to the workplace. Their ‘Employers Open for Business' project worked with ten employers of varying size and scale to help them avoid the legal pitfalls and realise the business and social gains that can be had from taking a pro-active approach to equality and diversity. In total the employers, which included a national construction company, residential care home and hair salon, received 60 hours of free training and consultancy support tailored to meet their individual needs, benefitting over 100 employees many of them apprentices and work-based learners. Boston College also took 60 delegates to the Holocaust Centre, Newark for a 1-day thought provoking educational programme on the dangers when prejudice, discrimination and intolerance go unchecked in society. The project has been showcased at three national dissemination events across the country. A film of the project has been widely disseminated, together with a good practice guide to equality and diversity in the workplace. Their work in advancing equality, diversity and inclusion continues and has been sustained through their employer contacts and business network meetings that they regularly host and deliver, as well as more directly through work with their learners and other stakeholders.

Managers have been provided with training to the extent that over 50% of middle ranking managers have attended at least a level 5 qualification management course. This equips managers with the skills to optimise staff workloads within achievable levels and understand recognition and reward for their staff. The guidance of the management framework encourages managers to recognise and value their staff. This is reinforced through regular meetings, coaching and mentoring and team meetings. The staff survey showed a 6 point increase to the question 'My line manager makes me feel valued' to 70% and a 5 point increase to the question 'Often thanked by my line manager for my efforts' to 67%.

In 2014 Blue Cross will be introducing 'well doneness' awards where their people will be awarded a certificate for doing something which is outstanding and they want to recognise, then people will be entered into an end of year award process with organisation-wide recognition.

Blue Cross run a psychometric called ‘insights' and using this for a full day's event. They have also had two off-site full team days looking at their directorate and their business issues. Executive team have had two full day events and a long weekend team building intervention. The team building weekend for the executive team was an exceptional event. People were put in several scenarios which meant they were under huge pressure and out of their comfort zones entirely. It has made everyone a tighter team, more respectful and caring to each other, as well as focussed everyone more on their relationships with each other rather than simply getting the job done!