Team Cohesion = Performance

Building the leadership capacity and capability within the organisation. This has been a key priority for the last two years. The organisation is in the process of developing a leadership competency framework for managers and this will be used to assess all managers to identify key strengths and development areas. Each manager will then receive a development plan for the next 12 months. Directors will be working closely with managers to ensure that development activities are undertaken.

The leader of the organisation attends each directorates team meeting to talk about the delivery plan. The leader has an open door policy. The leader attends all Corporate Induction Training sessions to talk about the key objectives of the organisation. The leaders meets with all new staff individually for half an hour. The leader takes a keen interest in staff and presents certificates to staff who have undertaken training or achieved a qualification, and most recently presented the winners of the fitness challenge. The leader delivers breakfast briefings.

The last Friday of every month is a dress down day for charity when all staff donate £1 to that month's nominated charity. Employees are able to make nominations for a charity of their choice. The Group match whatever money is raised across each of the Group's locations. No upper limit has been placed on this initiative. The Group have also matched money being raised by individuals for various charities of their choice outside of work.

The senior management team actively look for ways to embrace and show their dedication and commitment to the staff and Group as a whole. The Executive Team have an open door policy and many chose to regularly work out in the open plan space so they are visible and approachable to staff. Further the Executive Team meet monthly to discuss the business and the current big topics, following these meetings the Executive communicate to all staff via e-newsletter and in team meetings on what was discussed, celebrating the successes as well as advising any actions being taken to address issues. Further, the Executive supports the Best Companies initiatives by getting involved/participating in the desk hops, email free days and meeting free week. Recently a ‘Meet the Directors' induction day took place in October. All new entrants who joined the Group this financial year were invited to the all-day event in Head Office. The initiative was hosted by the CEO and involved a number of presentations by the Directors and Executive Team. The aim of the day was for the Directors to meet the new entrants and for the new starters to gain more information about the different Director's roles and responsibilities and the parts of the business that they are responsible for. It is an initiative that the Group are keen to undertake twice a year so that new starters get the opportunity to let the Directors know what it feels like to be a new entrant.

Arrow Global has a multi-tiered learning and development framework, which starts at core skill training, progresses through tailored training and top talent development, and peaks with executive development. In addition, internal knowledge sharing is key, the company runs a series of lunchtime master classes where leaders from different teams across the business give an overview of their area of responsibility to employees from other areas. The free lunch provided is a bonus. They also offer team specific breakfasts, mini master classes where technical skills/best practice is shared.

On the company's recent floatation on the London Stock Exchange, all employees received a grant of free shares in the company, giving them a vested interest in the future success of the organisation.

With 2,300 employees across 60 sites in the UK, Europe, the USA and Asia getting employees physically together is a challenge Arqiva believe is worth taking on. They increasingly think of their employees as belonging to a series of communities looking for ways for employees to develop their knowledge and understanding as well as great working relationships within those communities. Three specific companywide team building events designed around distinct communities in the last 12 months are: Annual leadership conference for 450 employees from first line leaders up to their Management Board. Each has one or more direct reports or contributes to the development of leadership capability across Arqiva. This is a critical event as Arqiva strongly believe that great leadership is a fundamental component of being a Great Place to Work. Annual Sales and Account Management conference for 150 employees from around the world, each of whom supports or develops the relationships with their customers. This included commercial line management up to their Management Board. This key event focuses on inspiring great customer care, collaborative working, maximising opportunities to help customers prosper and succeed, and development of their people through sharing best practice. Safety, health and environment conference with over 100 employees attending from across all levels of the business from field engineers to senior management. This provides an overview of important safety, health and environmental topics related to their SHE strategy. Safety, health and environment is a key element of being a great place to work.

Arqiva believe that each employee should be regularly recognised for their individual contribution and that effective recognition is a key ingredient in creating a great place to work and increasing engagement. They have a range of recognition programmes to help with this including excellence awards and exceptional bonuses - over 20% of the company received at least one of these in the past 12 months, a generous long service award programme. Arqiva recognised 270 employees and 4,455 years of service during the past year and, most recently, introduced a Thank You scheme. They have already advised their employees of their FY15 bonus schemes so they are aware of the targets that they need to meet. The Thank You scheme is an intranet based tool which provides a fun and easy way for all employees and managers to send a personalised electronic thank you card to a colleague - a copy is also sent to the recipient's manager. The scheme has proved extremely successful with over 3,500 Thank Yous being sent in the first 6 months and this rate of usage continues. Arqiva have seen an increase over 14% in their Gallup score on recognition which increased by over 14% between 2013 and 2014 and they continue to look for opportunities to recognise their employees in ways that are meaningful to them.

As a direct result of feedback from staff that they wanted an area where they could go and sit and eat away from their desks and also to take breaks, AKA have invested in additional floor space and turned one of the floors into a 'Diner' where staff can go to prepare lunch, eat and socialise. As a result of staff feedback they have undertaken a significant redecoration operation of the entire office and in some departments have involved a staff committee to lead and make suggestions for the design and feel of their department.

AKA have a full company meeting on a monthly basis where Adam the Group Chief Executive addresses all the staff with updates on new and existing business and also progress on key business objectives and information sharing. At their Annual Management presentation to the full company there is a Q&A session with Adam. Questions are submitted anonymously and asked of him sight unseen, as well as taking questions from the floor. They have an open plan office and Adam frequently walks around the full company, as well as operating an open door policy. Every 3 moths they have a drinks reception for all new staff which is hosted by Adam, where he and the board meet new starters

Adjust Your Set held a company away day which involved all staff spending the day away from the office. People were seated at tables which mixed up different teams and departments and each table worked together on a number of tasks and challenges throughout the day. The company also took part in a Tough Mudder event. It was open to all employees and a team of 14 participated and a similar number coming along to spectate and support the team.

Adjust Your Set have put together a collection of exercises called Deskercise that employees can incorporate into their working day and do at their desk and around the office. They also offer a Stretch and Tone class one lunchtime each week run by one of their employees to allow staff to exercise during their lunch break. They have introduced a couple of standing workstations to encourage standing meetings or to allow employees to work standing up as much of their jobs are very sedentary.

Actavis have an employee reward & recognition scheme that promotes recognition through demonstration of the values and rewards employees with vouchers. Employees can be nominated by colleagues or managers.

Actavis have an employee reward & recognition scheme that promotes recognition through demonstration of the values and rewards employees with vouchers. Employees can be nominated by colleagues or managers.

The senior management team in Academy Insurance Services are empowered to make decisions and lead the company with the support but minimum guidance from the directors, so decisions are made quickly cutting out a lot of red tape.

Academy Insurance Services offer health insurance to all employees and a cycle to work scheme

The organisation has a number of processes in place that allows colleagues to feedback their ideas and suggestions. Firstly, the organisation makes use of the intranet, Sharepoint and social media, Yammer, as tools for knowledge and idea sharing. All employees have access to these sites. A suggestion facility allows employees to share and feedback any ideas and suggestions they may have on any area of the business. This is a straightforward and effective process to allow all employees to be heard. The organisation also holds regular ‘town hall' meetings, which all employees can attend. In these meetings, a brief executive report is made about the current status of the business. Employees will then have the opportunity to ask any questions they have, discuss any emerging issues, voice their concerns and feedback on any ideas and suggestions they may have. The meeting is usually fairly informal, allowing the employees to take the lead and discuss the topics they feel are necessary. Abellio also aims to gain feedback from employees by conducting yearly engagement surveys. A gap analysis is used to understand areas for development and the feasible measures necessary to close the gap.

The organisation has a number of processes in place that allows colleagues to feedback their ideas and suggestions. Firstly, the organisation makes use of the intranet, Sharepoint and social media, Yammer, as tools for knowledge and idea sharing. All employees have access to these sites. A suggestion facility allows employees to share and feedback any ideas and suggestions they may have on any area of the business. This is a straightforward and effective process to allow all employees to be heard. The organisation also holds regular ‘town hall' meetings, which all employees can attend. In these meetings, a brief executive report is made about the current status of the business. Employees will then have the opportunity to ask any questions they have, discuss any emerging issues, voice their concerns and feedback on any ideas and suggestions they may have. The meeting is usually fairly informal, allowing the employees to take the lead and discuss the topics they feel are necessary. Abellio also aims to gain feedback from employees by conducting yearly engagement surveys. A gap analysis is used to understand areas for development and the feasible measures necessary to close the gap.

Allowing the people of AMV to have a voice, is embedded in the company's culture. They have several processes in place to enable people to feedback ideas and suggestions. One example is the Account Management department suggestion box, in which everyone within that department is encouraged to post suggestions for improvements. The box is regularly checked and all suggestions are considered. Secondly, all employees at AMV have a free voice. It is engrained in their culture and everyone is supported and encouraged to share their ideas, thoughts and feedback to members of the management team. Thirdly, AMV use Survey Monkey surveys to conduct reviews of particular AMV offerings, which provides everyone with the opportunity to share anonymous feedback and insights and to share their thoughts on possible improvements.

Allowing the people of AMV to have a voice, is embedded in the company's culture. They have several processes in place to enable people to feedback ideas and suggestions. One example is the Account Management department suggestion box, in which everyone within that department is encouraged to post suggestions for improvements. The box is regularly checked and all suggestions are considered. Secondly, all employees at AMV have a free voice. It is engrained in their culture and everyone is supported and encouraged to share their ideas, thoughts and feedback to members of the management team. Thirdly, AMV use Survey Monkey surveys to conduct reviews of particular AMV offerings, which provides everyone with the opportunity to share anonymous feedback and insights and to share their thoughts on possible improvements.

He listens and acts! He is also very accessible to every employee at every level, and insists on meeting every new starter.

The organisation celebrate Thanks giving, Christmas, Eid and Divali.

They have monthly awards for staff who have demonstrated the behaviours which fall in line with their values, passion, integrity and partnership (PIP). The Managing Director presents the winner with an award and they promote it through their news magazine, News at the Core, and the monthly company up date held for staff members. They have mugs, stress balls, stickers and posters all promoting the values.

They have monthly awards for staff who have demonstrated the behaviours which fall in line with their values, passion, integrity and partnership (PIP). The Managing Director presents the winner with an award and they promote it through their news magazine, News at the Core, and the monthly company up date held for staff members. They have mugs, stress balls, stickers and posters all promoting the values.

Walsall Housing Group have a recognition scheme called Going the Extra Mile (GEM). “Going the Extra Mile” is defined as activities that have a positive impact on WHG's customers, colleagues or both. The recognition is not for ‘doing the day job' but for activities that are seen to be above and beyond what would normally be expected. GEM in the Community is a colleague recognition scheme that promotes community benefits and rewards positive, community-minded behaviour. The scheme is based on colleagues' voluntary involvement in groups or activities outside working hours. The Emerald GEM recognises teams who go the extra mile to protect and improve the environment by minimising the impact of the company's activities, promoting sustainability initiatives, or suggesting innovative ways for them to become a greener organisation. Colleagues can be nominated by anyone within the business and, if approved by the individual's line manager, their achievements are shared their ‘outstanding colleagues' wall in the main office. They also receive a prize, tailored to the team or the individual and have included restaurant meals, gift vouchers, flowers and days out.

Colleagues took a break from their day jobs to help create a community garden just minutes from Walsall town centre. WHG leased a plot of land to Caldmore Village Festival Group to create an outdoor space for use by the whole community. In time, it will be used by local residents for growing fruit, vegetables and plants, outdoor education and recreation. Work to transform the site received a boost when WHG announced it would hold a community benefit day to support the venture on the ground. Colleagues from across the organisation turned out in force to do their bit, despite the wet and windy conditions. They rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in by digging, weeding, laying paths, clearing and tidying, trimming and pruning. Mohammed Arif, Vice-Chairman of Caldmore Village Festival Group, stopped off at the community garden during the event and said: “The WHG volunteers had turned up on a rain soaked day and impressed me with their dedication and commitment. On behalf of the group, I wish to thank WHG colleagues and sub-contractors who assisted them once again to make their community garden a reality. All the partners in this project have stood tall and really contributed; I have nothing but admiration for everyone. “

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.

Graeme is an approachable leader who leads by example. He is often seen chatting with all members of staff asking about their work and also about their personal lives. He has an open door policy and all staff feel comfortable in approaching him. Graeme's relaxed leadership style influences how the Senior Management team support him in leading the organisation, ensuring that staff are supported and encouraged to be creative and innovative within their work. Staff are encouraged to bring new ideas on how they can deliver better services to their customers. Graeme has been recognised for his strengths in leading Five Lamps by being awarded the North East VCS awards for his outstanding leadership and more recently was the winner in the North as Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Also during their recent IIP Assessment the assessor stated 'It was interesting to note that some of the descriptions of top managers chimed with the recognised features of inspirational leadership. Inspirational leadership is a quality attributed to leaders who are able to create a culture of motivation and commitment. Investors in People UK defines inspirational leaders as those “who create an environment of trust in which people can be creative and motivated to fulfil their potential. They tend to: Have passion, Have a sense of purpose, Be honest and trustworthy, Encourage others to share their vision, Inspire others to achieve their potential.”

The wellbeing of all Five Lamps staff and Volunteers is critical to its ability to deliver services. Five Lamps is committed to providing a working environment and management practices which promote employee wellbeing and good health. Staff were asked to contribute their ideas and ways in which they could enhance their current Wellbeing approach and these are a few of the things they have done so far and have been very successful: Free Financial Health checks for all staff, provided by our Financial Inclusion Team. This helped staff who may be experiencing issues with debt or are struggling financially. It also helped members of staff who just needed advice about what to do with their savings and any investments etc. Staff were asked to contribute a plant to their office to reduce stress levels and make their own office a healthier place to work. Free healthy Heart checks, carried out by the NHS on site. Staff also have the option to attend the smoking cessation at one their community venues and seek advice on alternatives such as patches and gums. Five Lamps asked staff to contribute their ideas on a monthly theme i.e. July 'Summer ideas'.

Managers monitor the hours that employees work and ensure that workloads are manageable. Managers accommodate requests to work flexibly where possible. Managers participate in preparing the business plan. A job evaluation scheme has been introduced.

The clinical team have recently been given the opportunity to take part in a facilitated event which enabled them to explore what affect their actions and behaviours had on each other in a safe environment. It was agreed what sort of team they wanted to be and they created a list of actions and behaviours that would enable them to achieve this.

Managers set realistic personal objectives at appraisal and review these periodically during 121 meetings. Every 121 meeeting to to include time for mutual expectations – for the line manager to express how they want their reports to behave and for the line report to express what they want and need from their manager.

Although Rosie had been with London Youth since 2005, upon her appointment to the Chief Executive role in April 2012, she took six months to meet every employee, Trustee, a cross section of young people, members, funders and external stakeholders. Her purpose was to understand how each person viewed London Youth, what they do, their challenges and priorities for the future – what they thought they did well and what they should be developing further. With this feedback Rosie considered and re-articulated the Vision, Mission and Principles cascading these through the planning process in 2013. In this way all employees had a part of the new Vision, Mission and Principles and can connect with either a word, phrase or expressed intention of these. Rosie empowers others to lead, manage and deliver the organisational aims. She creates a shared responsibility for what London Youth is and does. Simple acknowledgements – either personally or through organisation-wide communications – can impact on individuals' sense of achievement, contribution and commitment.

They have for some years run a working group of staff as a forum to raise and discuss ideas and act as a sounding board for management decisions. Since the new Chief Executive started in April they have introduced monthly “exchange sessions”, which any member of staff or volunteer can attend to raise any questions or issues with him. These have been very well attended and have not only enhanced the sense of senior management visibility and engagement amongst staff, but also given the Chief Executive vital insight into the feelings of a wide range of our people. Their ability to engage with their people will be greatly improved in the new year when the new intranet comes into force. As a charity they have not previously had the resources to invest in a comprehensive intranet, but they were recently very fortunate to be donated the development of an intranet pro bono by Interact, a leading developer. They are very excited by the opportunities the new intranet will provide for engaging and communicating with their people.

With over 500 staff and a child-friendly ethos, there are often memorable social events. Recently the staff of one of the residential children's houses climbed to the roof of London's O2 as a teambuilding and fundraising exercise. When the Chief Executive heard about the day he asked if he could come along too! The annual summer barbecue for staff and volunteers is always well attended and gives people from across the organisation a chance to mingle with colleagues from other parts of the charity who they might not see regularly. An excellent big band played at the event and staff were served their lunch by members of the senior management team. More recently, Halloween provided an opportunity for every department to host a spooky, multisensory experience which was enjoyed not only by the children and young people staying with them, but was also their staff.

The central ‘Learning and Development Bursary' Fund – a commitment of between £10 and £15k is made annually by the Trustees to support professional development and the acquisition of qualifications by employees. Application is open to all, and an independent panel sits to assess applications.

The central ‘Learning and Development Bursary' Fund – a commitment of between £10 and £15k is made annually by the Trustees to support professional development and the acquisition of qualifications by employees. Application is open to all, and an independent panel sits to assess applications.

They are fortunate enough that they have two opportunities a year where the entire organisation comes together in London. Although they have increased their staff force by a large amount in the past year, the leaders still value the importance of spending time as a whole organisation. This year in April was the 4th anniversary and they held an event to celebrate. The event began in the afternoon with all staff being split into groups and rotating round a carousel of different sessions. Each session was led by a different group of staff. Each local leadership team led a fun and interactive session, such as a quiz or a treasure hunt, around how their office works and their local area. They also had a session with the senior leaders with the opportunity to ask them any questions staff wanted answered. Another enjoyable session was a ‘getting to know you' game to mix all staff together and find out some interesting things about people they didn't know before. This all lead up to the social in the evening where they all came back together for some food and drinks and opportunity to just relax. They had some entertainment provided by some of the local choirs who sang beautifully and even wrote their own Challenge Network version of a Les Miserable classic. They ended the evening with karaoke and dancing at a local bar which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Any issues or trends that come out of the survey results will be taken very seriously and meetings with Senior Leaders and Local Leaders of all zones will be held to discuss them. Depending on the results they may set up working groups to look into how they could make this better next time. The Challenge is very flexible and is not afraid of change. The staff's well being and happiness is more important to them than anything else.

In September 2013, TSL held a summer party at Kensington Roof Gardens to thank everyone for their incredible hard work. This party was fully paid for by TSL and included a sit down meal, a free bar as well as a live band and a video booth which gave people the opportunity have their 5 mins of fame! The feedback was brilliant and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

TSL are very conscious about the well being of thier employees particularly as they have such a high growth company. They offer the usual well being initiatives such as paid for private healthcare benefit, employee assistance programme and a cycle to work scheme. However their private healthcare benefit is exceptional, their cover includes pre-exisiting conditions. It is great when they are able to offer colleagues with an ongoing health complaint excellent medical cover. This helps remove some of the stress of dealing with the medical condition. Following the feedback from their last years survey they have engaged EnergiseYou to run monthy seminars on a variety of different topics such as nutrition, sleep and how to achieve high energy. They are also looking at other topics such as worklife balance so they can extend this across the year. The new seminars have been well received by colleagues. They also provide free fruit, drinks and smoothies to give colleagues and added boost during the week. They also offer an annual free flu vaccination.

TBG Digital's 6 monthly Staff Happiness Surveys, which are totally anonymous, have been particularly effective. They always receive constructive comments and suggestions and many beneficial suggestions to improve life at TBG have been received and implemented.

This year the company has organised and paid for: Go-Karting, Cocktail making and most recently Silly-Sports day on the Hampstead Heath and they also hold regular monthly ping-pong tournaments. Earlier this year TBG Digital held a Macmillan coffee morning. Everyone was encouraged to bring in a home baked cake or biscuits. The response rate was excellent and the winner of the best home baked entry won a small prize. The office was decorated in Macmillan green. The donations from the staff were generous and the coffee morning was a huge hit, it generated a real buzz in the office and of course, there was lots of recipe swapping going on.

Sweatshop believes running is a force for good. They know that they are able to help provide support for runners of all abilities. If you have never run before but want to start, or run but have no one to do it with, they can help by giving people a place to come to, free of charge, where you will have a chance to go running with supportive and friendly staff at Sweatshop plus other runners to share this experience, with a real community feel. They have created the Sweatshop Running Community, the SRC. It's an entry level running group within every store and runners are incentivised for regular participation. The Running Community doesn't just stop at this entry level running group with many stores offering a variety of running groups for all abilities. With over 20000 registered members in 3 years and over 2000 people running with them every week, they are the largest (and probably most inclusive) running group in the country. The community is growing as is the recognition and appreciation from their runners for providing this free community group. For many it has transformed their lives, enhancing healthier lifestyles with both mental and physical benefits.

Last year Sweatshop launched a staff development programme called 'achieve'. This was in response to staff feedback and with a view to helping internal development of new managers. The company invited applications from staff and had over 20 applications and have had 6 people who started have already been promoted and a large part of this is down to the training and opportunities provided within the programme. They also have 10 people who will be starting Achieve going forward. After the great response to Achieve, they have developed a high performing manager's programme which will aspire those on it to achieve outstanding success. Those on the scheme have the unique opportunity to work closely with senior managers and the board of directors. The most successful managers will be given HPM mentor status and become an integral part in successive managers' development.

A large proportion of Swanswell's executive team have previously worked in front line roles so they are clear about the expectations and pressures on front line team members. The organisation encourages team members to shadow others, especially at induction stage, to ensure a shared understanding of what everyone does, this is especially used for support and head office team members who may not have worked in this arena before. In addition, the corporate induction day is a really important opportunity for team members to learn about what others do and for the senior team and organisation as a whole to learn. All new team members attend these events. Swanswell offers a number of routes for support to understand the pressures and workloads team members have. Flexi time is offered for team members to work when pre-arranged with an executive team member. Occupational health and wellbeing support is available for all team members with a regular occupational health service and a confidential employee assistance programme. Access to a specialist stress management consultant for confidential support is also available within the organisation and Swanswell's give monthly clinical supervision for front line team members and regular performance reviews with line managers for all team members.

A large proportion of Swanswell's executive team have previously worked in front line roles so they are clear about the expectations and pressures on front line team members. The organisation encourages team members to shadow others, especially at induction stage, to ensure a shared understanding of what everyone does, this is especially used for support and head office team members who may not have worked in this arena before. In addition, the corporate induction day is a really important opportunity for team members to learn about what others do and for the senior team and organisation as a whole to learn. All new team members attend these events. Swanswell offers a number of routes for support to understand the pressures and workloads team members have. Flexi time is offered for team members to work when pre-arranged with an executive team member. Occupational health and wellbeing support is available for all team members with a regular occupational health service and a confidential employee assistance programme. Access to a specialist stress management consultant for confidential support is also available within the organisation and Swanswell's give monthly clinical supervision for front line team members and regular performance reviews with line managers for all team members.

Sutton Housing Partnership offers all staff and their family members the ability to access a free employee assistance service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is a confidential service offering advice, counselling and support to staff and/or their family members. SHP has recently introduced a healthcare cash plan whereby staff can reclaim costs of a range of health care activities from optical and dental appointments/treatment to physiotherapy, health screening and scans. Staff membership of the plan is fully funded by SHP.

The senior management team at Sutton Housing Partnership has taken on board feedback that they are not sufficiently visible to staff and have made a conscious effort to become more visibly involved in the business through spending a day working in a particular area of the business. Their chief executive recently spent a day answering phones in their customer care team. They are also working more closely with the heads of function to enable them to become more involved in the strategic planning process, which in turn supports succession planning.

St Anne's have recently re-invested in a new EAP, which provides day one stress intervention and serious illness/accident support. This has been effective in returning people to work and supporting them through periods of depression and anxiety.

St Anne's have recently re-invested in a new EAP, which provides day one stress intervention and serious illness/accident support. This has been effective in returning people to work and supporting them through periods of depression and anxiety.

Spirit Pub Company offers “employee care”, an employee assistance programme, provided by First Assist. It's a confidential service where employees have access to a website and a helpline providing advice and support on all aspects of their lives from financial concerns through to quitting smoking. The helpline is available 24 hours a day 365 days a year and is completely free of charge. There is also a telephone counselling service and face to face counselling service available. They also offer employees at the support centre a discounted gym membership at a local golf and country club in Burton where employees can receive a corporate rate peak membership of £49 per month with no joining fee, compared to their usual rate of £65.50 with a £199 joining fee. Memberships can be extended to golf at a special rate too.

Spirit Pub Company offers “employee care”, an employee assistance programme, provided by First Assist. It's a confidential service where employees have access to a website and a helpline providing advice and support on all aspects of their lives from financial concerns through to quitting smoking. The helpline is available 24 hours a day 365 days a year and is completely free of charge. There is also a telephone counselling service and face to face counselling service available. They also offer employees at the support centre a discounted gym membership at a local golf and country club in Burton where employees can receive a corporate rate peak membership of £49 per month with no joining fee, compared to their usual rate of £65.50 with a £199 joining fee. Memberships can be extended to golf at a special rate too.

Shopzilla have a monthly charity budget, that determines the level of contributions to individuals/team who are raising money for their chosen charity partner. Currently their monthly guide is £500, but they are always willing to review this.

Shopzilla run wellbeing awareness weeks, offer subsidised gym memebrship and other activities such as yoga and football. They also give quarterly massages.

Although Seymour House scored quite well in this category last year, it is an area that as a company they are looking to improve on. They are currently building a team section within their intranet which will incorporate links to health campaigns, healthy eating and wellbeing initiatives.

Although Seymour House scored quite well in this category last year, it is an area that as a company they are looking to improve on. They are currently building a team section within their intranet which will incorporate links to health campaigns, healthy eating and wellbeing initiatives.

The business at Saville has several initiatives in place to support the wellbeing of employees. The single greatest impact has been the move from a small, crowded office to a larger office space which includes: - Onsite access to a gym which any employee can use free of charge - 9 hole pitch and putt - Swimming pool - Tennis court - Subsidised restaurant - Easy access to public transport. This working environment encourages employees to take a proper lunch break where they are able to eat healthy food and sit and chat with colleagues in a convivial environment. The emphasis on space and the ability to take part in sport and exercise during the week has made a big difference.

The Saville Consulting Social Club organises an annual Sports day and BBQ. It is a highlight of the social calendar and sees cross functional teams competing intensively for the overall team winner's prize. Events include Cheerleading, Tug of War, Relay, Ultimate Frisbee, Softball, Dress the Cowboy and Fishing.

Earlier in the year Save Britain Money's CEO challenged a member of staff to organise a memorable event in a brewery. The night was superb with over 80 members of staff attending and some of their in-house DJs were on hand to provide the entertainment. With beer on tap, plenty of food and the token karaoke machine, the night was a great success.

Save Britain Money have strong relationships with local schools which involves fundraising and the invitation for classes to join them to experience a day in the life of their business. They are also sponsors of their local rugby team and as part of their partnership they are sponsors of the RWE community programme. This programme is available to all schools in the Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot and Bridgend area and is used to develop their oracy, literacy and numeracy skills through investigating various aspects of rugby activities. Off the back of this pupils learn about them as sponsors and spend time visiting their offices where they let them experience key areas of their business, meet the staff and take part in 'new starter' sessions.

Managers at Retail Human Resources encourage team members to put forward ideas for social events that they are interested and run with them. One example is what has now become known as "RHR Theatre Club".

A comprehensive induction programme, followed up by weekly training sessions, development workshops and ongoing e-learning ensures that Retail Human Resources's people are continually developing, learning new skills and staying ahead of the game in the recruitment industry. The fact that many of their people are approached by their clients to work for them and that in fact around 30% of their client contacts are ex-employees is testament to how skilled our people are when they leave them, usually having joined with no recruitment industry experience whatsoever.

ResourceBank have recently established a colleague forum which is made up of five representatives from across the business. The group meets up with Richard every quarter for a relaxed discussion over a working lunch whereby any issues can be brought up and discussed openly. It is not a decision making forum but ideas are brought to it for consideration and many go on to be implemented. So far the forum has successfully suggested improvements to the induction programme, appraisals, clarity over home working and recognition for long serving colleagues.

ResourceBank have recently established a colleague forum which is made up of five representatives from across the business. The group meets up with Richard every quarter for a relaxed discussion over a working lunch whereby any issues can be brought up and discussed openly. It is not a decision making forum but ideas are brought to it for consideration and many go on to be implemented. So far the forum has successfully suggested improvements to the induction programme, appraisals, clarity over home working and recognition for long serving colleagues.

In April 2013, Redcats announced to all employees that they wanted to ‘make a difference to employees' and to ‘thank them' for their hard work so they developed a challenge. If they could beat last years turnover in sales (between April and June 2013) they would close the business for one day and take every employee to Alton Towers for a day out. The finance team developed a dashboard so everyone could track business progress as well as weekly verbal updates by line managers. Employees got involved and excitement grew as the weeks got nearer the provisional date in July. Two weeks prior to the provisional date they were able to announce they had reached the target and were able to have a day off work to have a treat and go to Alton Towers for the day. The fun team got on with organising the details of the day. Transport was organised via coaches, bingo games were held and football cards (monies raised for company charity) on the bus as well provided bacon or egg butties. When they reached their destination they received ‘fast track' tickets so no queuing on certain rides. Everyone could have a go on any ride they wished or do whatever they they wanted during the day. A private markee was arranged for lunch where there was an extensive buffet with hot and cold food. The weather was kind to them so sitting outside in the sun was a great option. The feedback was fantastic, everyone had a great day out, thoroughly enjoyed it all and didn't spend a penny!

In April 2013, Redcats announced to all employees that they wanted to ‘make a difference to employees' and to ‘thank them' for their hard work so they developed a challenge. If they could beat last years turnover in sales (between April and June 2013) they would close the business for one day and take every employee to Alton Towers for a day out. The finance team developed a dashboard so everyone could track business progress as well as weekly verbal updates by line managers. Employees got involved and excitement grew as the weeks got nearer the provisional date in July. Two weeks prior to the provisional date they were able to announce they had reached the target and were able to have a day off work to have a treat and go to Alton Towers for the day. The fun team got on with organising the details of the day. Transport was organised via coaches, bingo games were held and football cards (monies raised for company charity) on the bus as well provided bacon or egg butties. When they reached their destination they received ‘fast track' tickets so no queuing on certain rides. Everyone could have a go on any ride they wished or do whatever they they wanted during the day. A private markee was arranged for lunch where there was an extensive buffet with hot and cold food. The weather was kind to them so sitting outside in the sun was a great option. The feedback was fantastic, everyone had a great day out, thoroughly enjoyed it all and didn't spend a penny!

Reaseheath College have found the annual staff survey to be a very helpful way of listening to employees and to seek their opinion on all matters relating to the College. In particular, staff felt the staff partnership forum was, in its previous guise, not as effective as it could be. This being the consensus highlighted by the survey a project was undertaken to review the structure and purpose of the Forum. The staff partnership forum is now a more formal channel for employees to give their views, raise concerns and share ideas with senior management. The results of the survey and the actions from it are shared with staff in a “You Said, We Did” format allowing staff to see how their views have been heard and acted upon.

Reaseheath College have found the annual staff survey to be a very helpful way of listening to employees and to seek their opinion on all matters relating to the College. In particular, staff felt the staff partnership forum was, in its previous guise, not as effective as it could be. This being the consensus highlighted by the survey a project was undertaken to review the structure and purpose of the Forum. The staff partnership forum is now a more formal channel for employees to give their views, raise concerns and share ideas with senior management. The results of the survey and the actions from it are shared with staff in a “You Said, We Did” format allowing staff to see how their views have been heard and acted upon.

ReachLocal have regular speakers who come in and talk to their employees, most recently they had a speech on perception and how that influences the way they work. They like to encourage employees to look at how they can do things differently so that they can continue to achieve within the business.

The family fun day provides a platform for all ReachLocal UK employees to spend a day with each other and bring along family members, where they can get to know each other on a more personal level. This promotes trust between each other and stronger working relationships and it's also a way for the company to thank the nearest and dearest of their employees from who they take so much time.

Randstad consultants are most inspired and engagement when they can work in partnership with the leadership team; both putting their ideas forward and learning from their role models. The high performance camps channelled this, inviting feedback and acting as ambassadors for consultants. Employees' invitation to a two-day event had already created interest and heightened project awareness and engagement levels. To maximise engagement, the event was attended by Randstad UK's CEO and Randstad business support's managing director. In their employees' eyes, this really added value to the event. Firstly, it actively demonstrated how important the event was. Secondly, it gave employees direct access to senior team members in an informal, fun and inspirational environment. Mark Bull and Ruth Jacobs were actively involved in physical and mental challenges. Their people enjoyed ‘getting their hands dirty' in the team-building events alongside some of Randstad's most senior leaders.

Randstad consultants are most inspired and engagement when they can work in partnership with the leadership team; both putting their ideas forward and learning from their role models. The high performance camps channelled this, inviting feedback and acting as ambassadors for consultants. Employees' invitation to a two-day event had already created interest and heightened project awareness and engagement levels. To maximise engagement, the event was attended by Randstad UK's CEO and Randstad business support's managing director. In their employees' eyes, this really added value to the event. Firstly, it actively demonstrated how important the event was. Secondly, it gave employees direct access to senior team members in an informal, fun and inspirational environment. Mark Bull and Ruth Jacobs were actively involved in physical and mental challenges. Their people enjoyed ‘getting their hands dirty' in the team-building events alongside some of Randstad's most senior leaders.

Over the past year, Raglan have introduced new benefits including holiday trading and cycle to work, which help staff to make the most of their free time and work life balance. A series of workshops in all the offices have publicised the many wellbeing services available from their employee assistance providers, including an online health and wellbeing portal called Vitality. Their occupational health providers give them access to a vast range of online health information. The new intranet features 4 pages dedicated to staff's wellbeing which are regularly updated. They recently spent the first day of a 2 day conference for their top 45 managers focusing on wellbeing and resilience issues and will be discussing with them how they cascase this down to team level. They are also currently offering free flu jabs for all staff.

In Spring 2013, Raglan introduced a new staff recognition scheme. Devised by a focus group of staff representatives, it comprised 5 elements. These are: Thank you cards (online and paper) for staff to use a public recognition forum on the intranet for staff to acknowledge other's contributions a suggestion box on the intranet for good ideas, innovations, money-saving suggestions, etc. A staff awards scheme with the postings on the recognition forum and the suggestion box forming the nominations managers' budgets for recognition, to be spend on team lunches, coffee and cake, small gifts, etc. The scheme has been really well received by staff and the managers' budgets in particular are having an impact on staff perception of how their efforts are recognised and the confidence of managers to acknowledge a good job well done. They will be formally assessing the impact of the scheme after the first 6 months and the first staff awards at Christmas 2013.

An action from Posturite's summer 2013 conference was to hold a series of workshops hosted by their sales director Geoff Thompson. These workshops helped them in the development of a new business strategy. They have learnt how to talk to the right people at the right level, expand existing accounts and get to the stage where they are in an enviable position of being able to more or less hand pick their new customers. They are obviously helped by the fact that they are clear market leaders and they have a strong level of brand awareness but the process helped them to focus – this entire process was stimulated and driven by their summer sales conference which the whole company attended.

At Posturite, they practice what they preach. Every single one of their employees is given thorough training on DSE regulations and the benefits of using ergonomics in their everyday lives – it's what they do. They are all positively encouraged to test and sample the products they sell – it helps all staff to have an understanding of what they do and why they do it. This is the case for both office and home based staff. Every member of staff is equipped with a sit /stand desk and a variety of the very best ergonomic equipment helping them understand musculoskeletal disorders. Every single member of their staff understands what they do and why they do it. A large proportion (60%+)of their staff are either sports science graduates or healthcare professionals (e.g. Physiotherapists) – they advise companies on how to care for the health and wellbeing of their employees and this has a knock on effect on them too. Posturite encourage participation in sports too – they were the winners of the 2012 corporate Football World Cup – they beat Google in the final at Anfield! Additionally, they support grass roots cricket in Sussex, the home county of Posturite by sponsoring the youth teams in the east area cricket league.

A shift in PhotoBox's marketing mix during 2013 has seen the PhotoBox brand advertise on TV for the first time. While clearly aligned with their objective of engaging customers and driving sales this change has contributed enormously to the sense of significance, pride and engagement of employees. There's no doubting the positive effect this has had on their business internally, providing evidence that included in the mix of levers of engagement is a belief in the vision/brand of their company.

PhotoBox are constantly trying to improve the working environment for their people. Office moves, soft areas for rest and play during the working day and improved canteen facilities have been made in the last 12 months all as a result of feedback. Free fruit is always available and valued by everyone.

The company has recruited an HR manager to help managers with employee engagement.

The company has recruited an HR manager to help managers with employee engagement.

All staff are invited, twice a year, to a fun day – in which they join with a random selection of their colleagues (numbering 25-30) in a half day fun event of their own design. The emphasis is on team building and networking in a fun (usually competitive!) environment. Recent examples have included: go-carting, Crystal Maze-type challenges, cocktail and pizza making, walking history tours, table football/ping pong competitions, pub quizzes, attending greyhound racing, crazy bingo, a murder mystery, and amateur magician classes. In addition, they have a company-wide team building and fun event that takes place around midsummer's day, each year. Previous examples include a company values-themed fashion show (swapping a donation to Age Concern for a variety of vintage clothing as base materials!) and this year all staff went to Pineapple Dance Studios where they were separated in to random teams, paired with professional choreographers and entered in to a team dance-off, on stage at the Lyric Theatre in London's West End. Each team is invited to host a monthly drinks and social party of their own theming. A budget is provided to cover the cost of drinks, food and entertainment props. Recent examples include a “Casino Royale” evening, a kids-themed party (e.g. with pass-the-parcel and musical chairs), a US-style “Frat” party complete with party games, and a New Zealand wine-tasting evening.

All staff are invited, twice a year, to a fun day – in which they join with a random selection of their colleagues (numbering 25-30) in a half day fun event of their own design. The emphasis is on team building and networking in a fun (usually competitive!) environment. Recent examples have included: go-carting, Crystal Maze-type challenges, cocktail and pizza making, walking history tours, table football/ping pong competitions, pub quizzes, attending greyhound racing, crazy bingo, a murder mystery, and amateur magician classes. In addition, they have a company-wide team building and fun event that takes place around midsummer's day, each year. Previous examples include a company values-themed fashion show (swapping a donation to Age Concern for a variety of vintage clothing as base materials!) and this year all staff went to Pineapple Dance Studios where they were separated in to random teams, paired with professional choreographers and entered in to a team dance-off, on stage at the Lyric Theatre in London's West End. Each team is invited to host a monthly drinks and social party of their own theming. A budget is provided to cover the cost of drinks, food and entertainment props. Recent examples include a “Casino Royale” evening, a kids-themed party (e.g. with pass-the-parcel and musical chairs), a US-style “Frat” party complete with party games, and a New Zealand wine-tasting evening.

Ochre House has nurtured a culture of personal accountability and empowerement. They encourage their people to ‘ask for forgiveness rather than permission' and in turn they ask all of their people to manage their own career journey. As such the organisation places much emphasis on personal brand. Sue Brooks, Managing Director, is a recognised thought leader in the industry and is widely hailed as an innovative and expert thinker by professionals beyond the confines of Ochre House. As such her own personal brand is very powerful and she is both an inspiration and a role model to all Ochre House colleagues, truly leading by example.

The very nature of Ochre House means an environment of mobility and communication. As new clients are won it is vital to the health of the business that the best possible account teams are put together. Whilst this may mean some external recruitment and in some cases a TOP transfer of existing client teams, the organisation seeks to promote internal opportunity as a necessity. Quick fixes don't work – the right people must be in the right place and only by understanding people's individual; ambitions and goals can this be done effectively and to mutual benefit. In 2013 Ochre House formally appointed an Occupational Health partner to advise on employee health and welfare. In response to survey outputs and with their partner's guidance, the organisation have implemented onsite massage and wellness clinic sessions.

Over the past year North Highlands have launched a programme for High Performing and High Potential people, called HP2. Its main objective is to support and retain high-performing individuals and develop them as future leaders of the business. HP2 is a two way programme, where the organisation commits to additional focus on the group through targeted interventions to stretch and develop them, with a commitment from them to embrace the opportunities provided. The business has invested a significant amount into the individuals on HP2 - by providing 1-2-1 monthly coaching sessions from the People Team (working through an action plan); prioritising people and ring-fencing them for challenging project roles; external career coaching from a professional coach (including action based learning group coaching); additional time with their Directors, and sending them on external training and conferences eg - London Business Forum events. The programme is highly transparent to the rest of the business because they wanted it to be something everyone can aspire to be on. The organisation have communicated the names of the individuals on the programme so that people can see what ‘good' looks like and learn from them. Part of the criteria to be on HP2 is people showing personal alignment to North Highlands cultural values, being a role model and having exceptional client and team feedback on leadership behaviours. By being open about the people who possess these skills and behaviours, they ensure that everyone benefits and develops from the programme, not just those on it.

Over the past year North Highlands have launched a programme for High Performing and High Potential people, called HP2. Its main objective is to support and retain high-performing individuals and develop them as future leaders of the business. HP2 is a two way programme, where the organisation commits to additional focus on the group through targeted interventions to stretch and develop them, with a commitment from them to embrace the opportunities provided. The business has invested a significant amount into the individuals on HP2 - by providing 1-2-1 monthly coaching sessions from the People Team (working through an action plan); prioritising people and ring-fencing them for challenging project roles; external career coaching from a professional coach (including action based learning group coaching); additional time with their Directors, and sending them on external training and conferences eg - London Business Forum events. The programme is highly transparent to the rest of the business because they wanted it to be something everyone can aspire to be on. The organisation have communicated the names of the individuals on the programme so that people can see what ‘good' looks like and learn from them. Part of the criteria to be on HP2 is people showing personal alignment to North Highlands cultural values, being a role model and having exceptional client and team feedback on leadership behaviours. By being open about the people who possess these skills and behaviours, they ensure that everyone benefits and develops from the programme, not just those on it.

Moo Print Ltd's last survey highlighted the desire and need for more training. As a result of this, they introduced a training budget of £100k and, using their employee development planners, identified training requirements based on individual needs. Employees and managers are empowered to decide what training providers, courses and conferences would be most beneficial to their development. These recommendations are put forward to, and approved, by the People Director. The process is quick and straightforward and they have seen in an uplift in engagement and enhanced skill sets as a result. Employees often share their training and conference experiences with the wider team via blog posts on their intranet.

Moo Print Ltd's last survey highlighted the desire and need for more training. As a result of this, they introduced a training budget of £100k and, using their employee development planners, identified training requirements based on individual needs. Employees and managers are empowered to decide what training providers, courses and conferences would be most beneficial to their development. These recommendations are put forward to, and approved, by the People Director. The process is quick and straightforward and they have seen in an uplift in engagement and enhanced skill sets as a result. Employees often share their training and conference experiences with the wider team via blog posts on their intranet.

Each year Moneysupermarket have a full well being programme as part of taking care of their employees health and well being. Each week, on a Wednesday, they have fresh fruit delivered to their offices which their employees can enjoy free of charge. Probably their most popular well being initiative is Lifestyle coaching, this is a free confidential service, they offer to their employees who are able to meet with the lifestyle coach when the feel they need a little help and support in their life. Moneysupermarket also offer employees 10 minute massages each month to help them distress.

Moneysupermarket.com encourage all teams to arrange team building events throughout the year. This year their marketing team (130 employees) took a day out for team building. Part of the day involved project updates and for the remainder of the day the team were able to enjoy dancing at a Salsa bar. Other team building events have included Go Ape and Go Karting.

When you consider that the stereotypical CEO of a fast growing, ambitious tech company are often aloof and sometimes downright scary, Peter Bauer strikes a very different note at Mimecast. Although the company now employs more than 500 employees globally, 253 staff in the UK and growing, Peter will know each staff member by name. Peter, together with his co-founder Neil Murray, continue to represent the DNA of the company, despite its rapid growth, and that creates a sense of togetherness and 'team' that makes the company feel small. Peter has a strong sense of personal responsibility for the future of both the company and the people he has hired to work in it. He is incredibly driven, works tirelessly, and expects the same commitment from Mimecast staff. It's not a place for a quiet life, but Peter has created an exciting, vibrant workplace where each employee feels they have a role to play in the company's future.

The Mimecast Eagles Club is an annual employee incentive program to reward Mimecasters who hit 105% of their annual sales quota. Thirty employees (and a guest) are invited to attend a three day learning and adventure experience held at a world class resort with their partners. They have annual bonus schemes and share option schemes to facilitate having variable pay and reward available for everyone. Mimecast reward milestones and behaviour in real time not just the result at the end of the year. We publicly recognise achievements in company communications so as to celebrate and perpetuate success. They have the facility for staff to openly “Recognise a Mimecaster” on their company intranet which gives employees the opportunity to give praise to their colleagues by awarding “badges” of recognition on their intranet profile. Mimecast hold regular social events for staff both formal and informal. Mimecast hosts a Summer Fun Day for all staff and their families, this year everyone attended a fun day at Chessington World of Adventures. Annual awards for outstanding achievements are aligned to their values and principles presented by Exec team to employees at the End of Year function in December.

Memex Technology Ltd believe that employees with good work-life balance are happier and healthier employees which is critical to the Company achieving its goals. In demonstrating their commitment to health and wellbeing they offer benefits that proactively encourage health and wellbeing, these are: £500 lifestyle benefit, which can be spent on enhancing any of the default benefits on offer or purchasing other benefits such as gym membership or dental cover. Should employees become unwell, they offer a free Employee Assistance Programme, which includes six free counselling sessions per year, free private medical insurance for employees with subsidised rates for dependant and family cover, life insurance, income protection and a 2nd medical opinion service through Best Doctors.

Memex Technology Ltd believe that employees with good work-life balance are happier and healthier employees which is critical to the Company achieving its goals. In demonstrating their commitment to health and wellbeing they offer benefits that proactively encourage health and wellbeing, these are: £500 lifestyle benefit, which can be spent on enhancing any of the default benefits on offer or purchasing other benefits such as gym membership or dental cover. Should employees become unwell, they offer a free Employee Assistance Programme, which includes six free counselling sessions per year, free private medical insurance for employees with subsidised rates for dependant and family cover, life insurance, income protection and a 2nd medical opinion service through Best Doctors.

Marlin Financial offer flu vaccinations and occupational health support.

Marlin Financial offer flu vaccinations and occupational health support.

At Magenta Living their unique, partnership approach brings positive benefits to the local and wider community as well as securing value for money. Through partnerships they are able to offer an extensive programme of resident training and capacity building, all of which is free to participants. Local organisations such as Wirral Met College, Lifelong Learning and Union learn work with them to provide training in a wide range of topics from dressmaking to computing to key skills such as english and maths. They are able to provide accredited training at their community properties which leads to qualifications assisting residents to become more able to access employment as well as building skills confidence and self worth. Accessing employment opportunities is important within the challenging environment many of their residents face. Their innovative partnership with Job Centre Plus through their Wow (Working on Wirral|) project sites an employment skills advisor within their team, again at no cost to residents accessing the service. Four residents have found jobs within the first month of this exciting pilot project. Their partnership with Partners Credit Union (also sited within their building) has enabled them to set up their Digital Deal scheme where they offer cheap, recycled computer equipment to residents with the option to access affordable credit. This is accomplished by budgeting training and IT qualifications to combat digital exclusion. Partnerships with social enterprises address local issues, put money into the local economy and assist in employing local people. They support a range of social enterprises including 14-19 Wirral which specialises in youth consultation. A member of Magenta Living's staff sits on its board.

At Magenta Living their unique, partnership approach brings positive benefits to the local and wider community as well as securing value for money. Through partnerships they are able to offer an extensive programme of resident training and capacity building, all of which is free to participants. Local organisations such as Wirral Met College, Lifelong Learning and Union learn work with them to provide training in a wide range of topics from dressmaking to computing to key skills such as english and maths. They are able to provide accredited training at their community properties which leads to qualifications assisting residents to become more able to access employment as well as building skills confidence and self worth. Accessing employment opportunities is important within the challenging environment many of their residents face. Their innovative partnership with Job Centre Plus through their Wow (Working on Wirral|) project sites an employment skills advisor within their team, again at no cost to residents accessing the service. Four residents have found jobs within the first month of this exciting pilot project. Their partnership with Partners Credit Union (also sited within their building) has enabled them to set up their Digital Deal scheme where they offer cheap, recycled computer equipment to residents with the option to access affordable credit. This is accomplished by budgeting training and IT qualifications to combat digital exclusion. Partnerships with social enterprises address local issues, put money into the local economy and assist in employing local people. They support a range of social enterprises including 14-19 Wirral which specialises in youth consultation. A member of Magenta Living's staff sits on its board.

Key Travel offer a very comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme which is highly confidential and enables employees to discuss health, financial, personal and family matters. They have also appointed an external occupational health partner who works with them to ensure anyone who is struggling in their role for health reasons is fully and appropriately supported. Finally they have partnered with a DSE assessment organisation to ensure that these assessments are undertaken by experts rather than them in house.

Key Travel have a charities policy which allows employees to ask for time off to volunteer, be that their own time which we will then match or work time. They also match funds raised by the employee for a charity. There is no upper cap but their charities policy requires employees to seek authorisation for time off and fund matching before an event to enable them to ensure any potential monies to be matched are within their budgets and each case is considered on its own merits. No case has been declined to date.

The organisation created the IHG Academy - a public:private partnership model, helping local people develop their skills and take a first step into employment. One model is sector based work academy that is delivered in partnership with JobCentrePlus and targeted towards those not in education, employment or training. The model includes a City & Guilds qualification, work experience in their hotels and an interview with the opportunity to secure employment and continued development. During 2013, 27% attendees of an IHG Academy have 'graduated' into employment in our hotels. The IHG Academy won business in the community work inspiration award for work on the academy programme across the UK&I, specifically in Leeds, for the excellent work the academy programme does in the local communities, providing learning and job opportunities. Graduates follow a robust training programme to develop their careers which is aligned to nationally recognised qualifications. Hence, the IHG Apprenticeship programme started where employees can gain an NVQ level 2 and be assessed by their line manager whilst completing daily tasks. IHG's apprenticeship scheme has been recognised at the National Apprenticeship Awards 2013. The company achieved ‘highly commended' in the ‘new employer' category for the Thames Valley Region because of their commitment to offering new apprentices and excellent career opportunities, with over 100 places offered to date. A video of candidate success stories has been produced to promote this initiative.

The organisation created the IHG Academy - a public:private partnership model, helping local people develop their skills and take a first step into employment. One model is sector based work academy that is delivered in partnership with JobCentrePlus and targeted towards those not in education, employment or training. The model includes a City & Guilds qualification, work experience in their hotels and an interview with the opportunity to secure employment and continued development. During 2013, 27% attendees of an IHG Academy have 'graduated' into employment in our hotels. The IHG Academy won business in the community work inspiration award for work on the academy programme across the UK&I, specifically in Leeds, for the excellent work the academy programme does in the local communities, providing learning and job opportunities. Graduates follow a robust training programme to develop their careers which is aligned to nationally recognised qualifications. Hence, the IHG Apprenticeship programme started where employees can gain an NVQ level 2 and be assessed by their line manager whilst completing daily tasks. IHG's apprenticeship scheme has been recognised at the National Apprenticeship Awards 2013. The company achieved ‘highly commended' in the ‘new employer' category for the Thames Valley Region because of their commitment to offering new apprentices and excellent career opportunities, with over 100 places offered to date. A video of candidate success stories has been produced to promote this initiative.

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.

FreshMinds offer many extra curricular actives within the company such as Bake Club, Running Club, Climbing Club and the FreshMinds netball team to name a few. In the last twelve months they have organised free gym trials and free month long boot camp training trials, as well as arranging a refit of the basement to provide bike storage and showers. They also offer free eye care vouchers and their flexible benefits include private medical and optional dental cover. On birthdays they offer an hour lie-in and the employee receives a card and a cake/cheese/plant or other gift. FreshMinds provides fresh fruit every morning and breakfast every Friday as well as drinks at the end of the day on Friday.

FreshMinds offer many extra curricular actives within the company such as Bake Club, Running Club, Climbing Club and the FreshMinds netball team to name a few. In the last twelve months they have organised free gym trials and free month long boot camp training trials, as well as arranging a refit of the basement to provide bike storage and showers. They also offer free eye care vouchers and their flexible benefits include private medical and optional dental cover. On birthdays they offer an hour lie-in and the employee receives a card and a cake/cheese/plant or other gift. FreshMinds provides fresh fruit every morning and breakfast every Friday as well as drinks at the end of the day on Friday.

A key element of Foot Anstey's strategy is to support the development of their lawyers as business advisors. This requires lawyers to develop broader skill sets alongside their pure technical capability to help them build effective business relationships and show insight with their clients. Foot Anstey have been working with their Partners and Associates on a varied and interactive programme of development activities to support this. The spirit has been to give their people an ‘exceptional' and different learning experience. Highlights have included: - Engaging with a major Business school to run facilitated group discussion sessions based on three ‘transformational change' case studies. This provoked discussion and debate as well as awareness of the impact of change. - Business Games scenario – the Associates worked in teams on a business board game scenario. Each group acted as ‘business owners' running a business with suppliers, customers, stock etc. and different scenarios based on the complete financial life cycle of running a business. There was healthy competition between the teams to see who could be most daring and entrepreneurial as well as successful in business and lots of practical learning too. Feedback from these activities has been very positive with high levels of engagement and participation. Foot Ansty are building on this further in 2014 by offering a one day MBA programme for Partners. All these activities have been using a different and interesting approach to developing key skills for the future and aligning these with the Firm's own strategy.

Senior Board members of Foot Anstey annually undertake a roadshow across all five offices. Even with sosphicated online communication methods, nothing works better than face to face communication; Foot Anstey's Managing Partner together with four Directors - HR, Finance, IT and Client Development, present to their staff the vision for the firm over the next year, with the opportunity to ask direct questions. As this style of discussion can be intimidating for some, staff were encouraged to write questions down anonymously after a few moments of relaxed conversation. The questions are collated and the HR Director puts the questions direct to the Managing Partner ‘live' in the room. This helps with the conversation and debate enormously and enables people across the firm to have a genuine voice and contribute. This has improved the interaction levels at the office presentations and the audience has seen potentially ‘sensitive' questions or suggestions asked and responded to. This has contributed to improved trust, engagement and communications at all levels. The questions and answers are then posted onto the Intranet under their Managing Partners blog, to ensure longevity and a maximum audience. Hosted in the morning with coffee and pastries, for a chance to talk, share and enthuse about the future – they are popular and productive for all and are now an ingrained part of the firm's culture.

They hold a quarterly Employee Forum whereby employees are asked their views and opinions on all aspects of the Company and from this have created focus groups so that employees are engaged in addressing some of the issues.

They hold a quarterly Employee Forum whereby employees are asked their views and opinions on all aspects of the Company and from this have created focus groups so that employees are engaged in addressing some of the issues.

Fesitval Housing run Modern Apprenticeship programmes taking young people from the age of 16+. They progress learners through to Level 3 qualifications. On completion they can continue to develop through undertaking Btec, NVQ, HNC, HND and Professional qualifications. Support is available for all staff to undertake a recognised Vocational, Professional or academic qualifications, 90 % of roles have a specific qualification linked to them e.g. Housing Officers relevant qualification is Chartered Institute of Housing Level 4. Such courses are supported 100% financially. Festival Housing currently offer professional traineeship in HR and Finance with a view to expand to other areas of the organisation. Qualifications are offered via day, block release at college and distance learning. They work closely with local University, other housing associations providing bespoke level 5 Leadership and Management qualifications. They offer development through the delivery of learning activities including e-learning, course attendance external, bespoke in house courses, reading, forums, workshops and conferences. In house courses run with a mix of external and internal trainers. Year 2012 to 2013 Festival carried 3196 training days. This equates to an average of 6.9 training days per member of staff. Vacancies which are identified as key roles can be offered as secondment opportunities of up to 1 year's duration. This allows staff to experience different roles within the organisation. Work experience is available to people looking to change careers or re-join the world place. They work closely with schools and colleges to offer students work experience opportunities.

Fesitval Housing run Modern Apprenticeship programmes taking young people from the age of 16+. They progress learners through to Level 3 qualifications. On completion they can continue to develop through undertaking Btec, NVQ, HNC, HND and Professional qualifications. Support is available for all staff to undertake a recognised Vocational, Professional or academic qualifications, 90 % of roles have a specific qualification linked to them e.g. Housing Officers relevant qualification is Chartered Institute of Housing Level 4. Such courses are supported 100% financially. Festival Housing currently offer professional traineeship in HR and Finance with a view to expand to other areas of the organisation. Qualifications are offered via day, block release at college and distance learning. They work closely with local University, other housing associations providing bespoke level 5 Leadership and Management qualifications. They offer development through the delivery of learning activities including e-learning, course attendance external, bespoke in house courses, reading, forums, workshops and conferences. In house courses run with a mix of external and internal trainers. Year 2012 to 2013 Festival carried 3196 training days. This equates to an average of 6.9 training days per member of staff. Vacancies which are identified as key roles can be offered as secondment opportunities of up to 1 year's duration. This allows staff to experience different roles within the organisation. Work experience is available to people looking to change careers or re-join the world place. They work closely with schools and colleges to offer students work experience opportunities.

Faststream are using MC3 this year and so will be using this tool to help their management team develop and improve engagement with their teams. They will prioritise improvement in their highest correlating factors and providing regular feedback and updates to the business on what they are doing to improve engagement in the business. They are creating a ‘Hub Page' on Internal Communication Portal -Yourstream, so that Best Companies and Engagement becomes an ongoing process, not just an annual event.

Faststream are using MC3 this year and so will be using this tool to help their management team develop and improve engagement with their teams. They will prioritise improvement in their highest correlating factors and providing regular feedback and updates to the business on what they are doing to improve engagement in the business. They are creating a ‘Hub Page' on Internal Communication Portal -Yourstream, so that Best Companies and Engagement becomes an ongoing process, not just an annual event.

The Leadership of Fairbanks is distinctive through its approachability and work ethic. Every member of the management team lead by example in all areas of their work and make time for employees should it be necessary on a work related or personal topic. Most members of management, at any level, attend and participate in company social events. From the Managing Directors down, all staff are known by name and made to feel valued and appreciated. The company has a ‘promote from within' attitude which motivates employees at all levels to work hard and demonstrate their dedication to the company as this will be noticed. Whilst not everyone can be promoted, events such as award dinners are offered to all staff, recognising that the company would not be what it is today without everyone playing their part.

The Leadership of Fairbanks is distinctive through its approachability and work ethic. Every member of the management team lead by example in all areas of their work and make time for employees should it be necessary on a work related or personal topic. Most members of management, at any level, attend and participate in company social events. From the Managing Directors down, all staff are known by name and made to feel valued and appreciated. The company has a ‘promote from within' attitude which motivates employees at all levels to work hard and demonstrate their dedication to the company as this will be noticed. Whilst not everyone can be promoted, events such as award dinners are offered to all staff, recognising that the company would not be what it is today without everyone playing their part.

The most important thing that the NextiraOne senior management team does in terms of employee engagement is to support the Company's culture and their people. All the senior management team display the values of the Company and are concerned for their team members and their development which is illustrated in the way they operate. The Managing Director's leadership style reflects the Company's vision, mission and values. He is an excellent example and role model of the Company values that he most certainly lives and breathes. He leads the business with respect, authenticity, honesty, compassion and humility. Such a leadership style has created a special culture and environment that is built on these characteristics; that in many ways feels like a family with high levels of trust, honesty and communications. The Managing Director is very organised and efficient in how he operates which creates a very calm atmosphere. He is a very influential figure, but he is totally undemonstrative and approachable to everyone. He also recognises the importance of people at all levels and he is extremely keen to develop the employees and support ‘home grown' talent.

The most important thing NextiraOne does in terms of giving something back to the community is to encourage all employees to create a culture that enables and supports the taking of time to give something back. NextiraOne employees are currently involved in various projects and activities both locally and nationally in their own time and within working hours. An example of this is where NextiraOne facilitated music lessons over a series of weeks for 'novice' musicians so they could learn to play a musical instrument. The music lessons were provided by one of their employees who is also a music teacher. Each 'novice' paid a tuition fee for these lessons and this fee was donated to a local special needs school. The Company matched the fees paid by the employees who donated via this programme amounting to a total donation of £480 to the school. The money is being used by the school in order to provide music education to the pupils.

The company have created a unique culture capable of supporting diverse talent. They call their collaborative way of working blending, and it's central to everything they do – allowing them to take ideas from strategy and concept to launch and evaluation as quickly and effectively as possible. Whether in a single room or across their 40 offices worldwide, blending lets them cast the right people for the challenge. Their approach embraces the creative tension between left brain and right brain. They believe that when they combine data and storytelling – when mathematicians and poets join forces – they get more powerful results. They have designed their offices to enable this collaborative way of working, with open-plan seating (no offices for senior management), flexible spaces, hot-desking and lots of informal areas for meetings.

The company have created a unique culture capable of supporting diverse talent. They call their collaborative way of working blending, and it's central to everything they do – allowing them to take ideas from strategy and concept to launch and evaluation as quickly and effectively as possible. Whether in a single room or across their 40 offices worldwide, blending lets them cast the right people for the challenge. Their approach embraces the creative tension between left brain and right brain. They believe that when they combine data and storytelling – when mathematicians and poets join forces – they get more powerful results. They have designed their offices to enable this collaborative way of working, with open-plan seating (no offices for senior management), flexible spaces, hot-desking and lots of informal areas for meetings.

Throughout the year delatre hold a number of company-wide and team specific relationship building events to maintain a high employee morale, strengthen the intra-company relationships and say thanks for all the hard work their dedicated staff put forth. deltatre financially supports a 5-a-side football team that plays weekly throughout the year. Moreover, they sponsor an industry-wide philanthropic football tournament as well as theme days like Football Shirt Friday in order to raise money for charity and give back to the community. On a team level, they support departmental team building sessions like the Go-Kart outing their video team recently organised to relieve tensions during the lead up to the launch of an important project. However, the highpoints of their team building activities are unquestionably their two company wide workshops. In the summer, delatre take to the outdoors and stage a light-hearted physical activity that is fun and inclusive. Earlier this year they recreated the retro hit TV show “It's a Knock-Out” complete with absurd games and large costumes. In the winter, they stage a glitzy Christmas party for all full and part-time employees and freelancers as well as their partners. Last year's Christmas festivities took on a masquerade theme and had masked guests enjoy a three course meal and trying their luck at the casino games.

Placing openness as one of delatre's 4 core values truly helps to encourage and facilitate open discussion and feedback at deltatre. They use the appraisal process to create the space for giving feedback to employees and the opportunity for them to do the same with their line managers in a safe environment. Their monthly functional board meetings allow staff to present the case for new ideas. However, their bi-annual workshops are truly a unique feature because it provides an opportunity for everyone in the company to share new ideas and receive feedback from the larger cross-departmental team.

DeepOcean is a member of Darlington Cares. Darlington Cares is a partnership of leading employers committed to making Darlington a better place. The project works by centrally coordinating the skills, expertise and volunteering power of members and matching these to community and charity projects where they can have the most impact. The Darlington Cares programme ranges from physical outdoor challenges through to utilising business expertise, all of which deliver tangible benefits for the local community, and workforce development opportunities for employers. DeepOcean's HR Director is on the board and fully supports both the initiative and involvement from employees. DeepOcean arranged a project to clear an area of wild vegetation at West Park Nature Reserve in Darlington, which coincided with World Environment Day in June. Meadow seed was then planted, which will grow into wild flowers for the local community to enjoy. During one of the companies busiest ever periods, DeepOcean was still able to send 12 volunteers for half a day during work time to support the project. All employees were given the opportunity to take part.

DeepOcean provides very competitive salaries for a company in the North East of England. DeepOcean also provides employees with teambuilding events and branded merchandise such as jackets and bags on an ongoing basis as a reward for their continued efforts. DeepOcean also has a bonus scheme, which is not awarded to all employees, but all employees can be selected to receive the bonus based on their performance.

The Chairman, MD and General Manager visit branches on a very regular basis at least weekly and make a point of talking to all staff, retail and workshop, not just the manager about a wide range of topics, seeking feedback and ideas on: how to improve the customer experience; views on product range; marketing materials and sales opportunities. Each member of staff is personally known and this helps to establish a good dialogue and opportunity to raise any issues or concerns that they may have. As a small company with many employees having long service - average service is almost 11 years, there has developed an extended family culture with a strong ethos of doing the right thing: for customers and each other.

The Chester showroom team recently went to London for an overnight stay which was primarily about team building and exposing them to the fine jewellery offering in the capital city. The evening was spent at a top London restaurant which was an excellent introduction into luxury living, a theme carried into the team meeting the following morning. Ideas for growing the Chester business and making the most of social media were explored. This was particularly important as the Chester location had lost a key watch account and was going to be focusing on the origins of DMR - fine diamond jewellery supported by two Master Goldsmiths based on site. The team then took the opportunity to conduct some mystery shopping after lunch including competitors' window displays, giving them ideas to bring back and implement within their own showroom.

Companion Care always try to ensure that all of their colleagues utilise all of their holiday entitlement along with taking time back for additional work they may do. They also actively promote regular rest breaks and none of their colleagues are contracted to work over 40 hours per week. They continue to monitor hours worked to ensure that they can spot any pressure points before they become an issue. Companion Care also offer Cycle2Work along with a number of other health related schemes.

All of the events Companion Care run are designed to bring their teams and functions together breaking down some of the barriers that can develop. Their Directors and board are always involved in their events to lead by example and show what a great team they are. Recently Companion Care expanded their Support Office into a new building and they ran competitions with the team to name the rooms, send pictures of their pets for the walls and their Directors held a free "Barn Warming" celebration with drinks, champagne and treats to welcome their colleagues and to present the "winners" with their prizes. Throughout the development of this expansion colleagues from different departments were involved to make sure areas such as the colleague rest area was designed how they would like it to be.

Phil encourages every employee to treat the business as if they were the owner and to do the right thing based on the company's values rather than follow a detailed rule book of do's and don'ts.

Each employee has a mentor who should have empathy with the key development challenges that the employee faces over the short and longer term. This person is not a line manager to the employee. They meet regularly to provide counsel and advice on short and long term development issues and will debate areas such as where best to invest the employee's personal training and development budget. Clearwater Corporate Finance spent roughly £16k on external training and also had a team strategy day, deal leaders day and intern induction days.

Feedback from their last annual staff survey told them that CSM needed to better engage with employees and their CEO reported at the last conference that this would be the focus for this year. An engagement strategy was developed and implemented and a range of activities have taken place. Examples are: forum sessions have been held with staff groups across the business, appreciative enquiry interviews were held with the Leadership Team, tenant focus groups have been held, regular updates have been given on engagement at departmental meetings and engagement is a standing item on team agendas, the senior management team has concentrated its efforts on being more visible, "walking the floor" and "going back to the floor" - the Director of Operations spends an afternoon a month in the call centre, they worked with their apprentices to develop a new and improved apprentice and trainee offer, their CEO held an interactive session with all operative staff to get their views on how the service could improve and feedback was given to all involved to inform them of actions taken and progress and this continues now on a regular basis.

The most innovative point of CSM's work which truly gives back to the local community is the sheer range and depth of the menu of opportunities CSM's present to local residents, and the fact that they work in partnership on that menu with local private and social businesses. Some examples of the range of this work include: The award winning and highly effective "Works" which they set up in Moss Side in partnership with local employers and which has already delivered over 1,000 residents into jobs or training. The wide range of training into jobs or setting up in your own business they are providing local residents in south Manchester. The launch of the newly opened Pod in Moss Side, which is a hub for start-up business and was set up by CSM in partnership with Bubble Enterprises and Mosscare Housing. The launch of the South Manchester Enterprise Network which brings together private and social SME's in this part of Manchester and has acted as a trail blazer for business working in the community. CSM set it up and administer the Network on line and on the ground. A CSM Youth Network which is highly active, growing fast and award winning. A unique range of cultural offers, including a major partnership with the quality Royal Exchange Theatre which has led to over 1,500 cultural offers being taken up in the community including back stage tours, meet the author and actors and performances of drama.

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!

The Company engages the services of an Occupational Health provider who offers a confidential helpline to staff. Additionally, there is Permanent Health Insurance cover for eligible staff and the premium includes a confidential staff helpline covering medical issues. BUPA cover is provided for certain categories of employee and the Company has, on a discretionary basis, paid for private medical treatment in circumstances where staff are in need of urgent treatment/appointments and do not have health insurance. There is a gym available in the fire station which all staff are eligible to use. The Company encourages staff to travel to work by bicycle through a bike purchase scheme. All staff have received training on Bullying and Harassment to ensure that everyone understands the need to respect others and act appropriately. Further ongoing training will be arranged for new employees.

Biggin Hills sponsor the Bromley and Blackheath Harriers athletic club. They give an annual financial contribution to the local residents' association. A range of events are hosted throughout the year which are of interest to their staff and the local community and, in some cases, are designed to raise money for charity. Recent events have been: October 2013 Heritage Hangar Open Day September 2013, Sit in a Spit - Spitfire experience, August 2013 Musical Salute to the Few. The MD is invited as a key local member of the Biggin Hill community to switch on the Christmas lights.