In the UK Appsense hosted their kick off in July which was attended by the majority of the UK employees and the EMEA/ROW staff. It was a great day despite the rain - a very competitive afternoon of their own version of the Olympics followed by a wild west night and the first ever presentation of long service awards to staff with 10 years service. It was an emotional and highly motivating event.

Appsense hold fortnightly round ups - in person in the UK office - where between 3-6 people will stand up and give a brief 'round up' of key news/activities/thanks etc. to all staff. After this the company expect and get feedback, questions and suggestions from staff on what could be done better either fed back directly to the people standing up or through the senior management team.

AmicusHorizon launched their new talent management programme – ‘Shooting Stars'. The scheme is designed to develop and challenge the organisation's best performing and high potential staff. They put the applicants through their paces at a high energy, challenging assessment centre and recruited the best performers to join the programme. Their Shooting Stars have access to a fantastic range of development activities, networking opportunities, and resources. They get an external coach and an internal mentor from the Executive Management Team. The Shooting Stars get priority on the organisation's Professional Qualification scheme, if there's a certificated programme they want to do. They also get a personal development allowance of £1000 to spend on training events, seminars or conferences of their choice. As if that isn't enough, they're involved in an organisation-wide and/or strategic project! This has exposed them to other areas of the business and more strategic thinking.

AmicusHorizon state their people constantly challenge them as an organisation to rise to the occasion – and what better occasion to rise to than the London 2012 Olympics? Claire, a Customer Service Team Leader at the time, pitched ambitiously that the organisation should hold their very own AmicusHorizon Games. With her appointed panel, Claire raised internal and external funding to make her vision to life. And so the weekend of July 7/8 was a weekend of sporting highlights - the British Grand Prix, the Wimbledon finals, and their very own AmicusHorizon games! Everyone got into the spirit of the day, proving they've got healthy hearts and minds. The AmicusHorizon band provided the entertainment and BBQ refreshments kept everyone's strength up! Thanks went to everyone who attended the AH games and made it such a success – especially Claire. And incidentally, they have now promoted Claire to Customer Services Manager!

Alongside the introduction of a resource library which contains textbooks on a variety of subjects which all employees can utilise to take ownership of their ongoing professional development. As a business the company long since focussed on the growing from within and ensuring that junior employees receive the support and coaching they require to succeed. However, the senior managers may have been slightly overlooked and as such the Management Training Programme was developed to ensure that they too receive ongoing professional development opportunities.

Alongside the introduction of a resource library which contains textbooks on a variety of subjects which all employees can utilise to take ownership of their ongoing professional development. As a business the company long since focussed on the growing from within and ensuring that junior employees receive the support and coaching they require to succeed. However, the senior managers may have been slightly overlooked and as such the Management Training Programme was developed to ensure that they too receive ongoing professional development opportunities.

Adecco Scotland contingent hold an awards night each year, this year marking a social event to build team spirit. As well as being a fantastic team building morale night with 95% attendance of the region the team were able to share success with the event being talked about for weeks after. The awards are a mixture of serious and fun events. This was paid for by the company with a budget of £1000 given to each zone.

Adecco Scotland contingent hold an awards night each year, this year marking a social event to build team spirit. As well as being a fantastic team building morale night with 95% attendance of the region the team were able to share success with the event being talked about for weeks after. The awards are a mixture of serious and fun events. This was paid for by the company with a budget of £1000 given to each zone.

Add People have various social events throughout the year. One memorable event was in November 2011 a team went Paint Balling. Ideas for the various social events are fed back via consultation with the employee reps committee. It was extremely enjoyable as most of the group had never taken part in paint balling previously, and again working in two teams which were mixed from all the different business areas, it allowed individuals to put a name to a face and get to know others from other departments, which ultimately breaks down barriers and aids communication within the business.

Add People now have HR in place through various initiatives and they are now improving their employee wellbeing. Intiatives e.g. fruit trial to encourage staff to eat more fruit. Money donated for the fruit was given to the nominated charity CAFT. Offering advice on giving up smoking, communications,, Cycle To Work Scheme, enhanced company Sick Pay Policy.

At ACPO Criminal Records Office, when staff return after a long period of sickness, they refer them to Occupational Health. For any staff who disclose they have problems at home that may impact their work, the organisation offers them the assistance of the Employee Support Line. Where necessary, they also make reasonable adjustments to enable them to work effectively.

The organisation allows all employees to take 2 days per annum to volunteer for local community projects. ACPO has assisted the local school with their reading and core skills programme, they have cleared areas of scrubland and have worked in nature reserves and planted trees. This is an extremely valuable experience for staff and ensures that the organisation gives back to their local community.

Acclaim Housing Group state that due to the dispersed nature of their workforce, often social events are combined with work events. Last year during the Olympics, a number of sport themed events were held, one example being a Family Fun Day in Harborough and Lutterworth. Members of the team took part in traditional sports day activities such as family tug of war, football and sack races. Colleagues really enjoyed spending time together and as this event was combined with a customer event, they valued the opportunity to meet and talk with customers. The organisation's customer services team, who often are at the end of the phone but don't meet customers face to face, really found the experience to be valuable.

Acclaim Housing Group state that due to the dispersed nature of their workforce, often social events are combined with work events. Last year during the Olympics, a number of sport themed events were held, one example being a Family Fun Day in Harborough and Lutterworth. Members of the team took part in traditional sports day activities such as family tug of war, football and sack races. Colleagues really enjoyed spending time together and as this event was combined with a customer event, they valued the opportunity to meet and talk with customers. The organisation's customer services team, who often are at the end of the phone but don't meet customers face to face, really found the experience to be valuable.

Sally Hutfield, Director of Operations, was invited to do a 'back to the floor' shift in one of their Direct Access Hostels. Although Sally has 'worked her way up' through the ranks, it's been some time since she's done a night shift as a support worker. When she was invited to 'give it a go' however, she jumped at the chance, booked herself in and rolled up her sleeves. In the end it proved to be a challenging night but a valuable one. Working with vulnerable young people at night in a homeless hostel presents any number of stories and scenarios but Sally rose to the occasion and used the chance to link in with staff there to hear what their issues were, ideas they had and to talk about how things were going or what the wider organisation was doing. Sally keeps a blog on the staff intranet and used the opportunity to write about what she'd been up to. It was brilliantly received and people loved the fact that people 'at the top' were prepared to roll up their sleeves and 'give it a go'. It showed that the senior managers were far from out of touch, knew what challenges were being faced by support staff and still had the skills and understanding to do the shop floor work. It had quite a significant impact on staff as they were able to read about and comment on Sally's experiences.

This year, they have invested hugely in introducing e-learning across the organisation. 15 packages have been launched since May 2011 and since then, 898 modules have been passed. Feedback has been complimentary and positive and has allowed for a more flexible approach to learning allowing a dispersed and busy workforce to access specialist training at a time and place that suits them. This has had the advantage of reducing their costs whilst ensuring staff are engaged and motivated as well as being 'up to date' on training. The content of these packages are very interactive, fun and informative. An example of the difference this makes is that one service even has a learning competition which sees staff competing for the best scores and most modules successfully completed. This has really seen a transformation where staff see learning as a fun and essential part of their role.

The staff Winter Celebration Event is held each year in December which combines the Trust's staff awards and a Christmas party. 250 employees attend the event which is a mixture of information about the Trust, a celebration of the year and the awarding of staff awards. Staff take part in organising the event and some staff take part in the event such as singing and games. All staff who attend receive free transport to and from the event, vouchers for drinks, a meal and a day off.

The Trust has launched the Willow Futures Academy which provides training and work opportunities for local school leavers and unemployed people. This was set up in response to the withdrawal of the Future Job Funds programme and an organisational need for succession planning especially within the Property Services Department. The academy provides trainee ships, apprenticeships and work opportunities. The Trust with its partners Parkway Green Housing Trust and Job Centre plus provides opportunities for unemployed local people to increase their skills and experience, offer entry to a talent pool whereby they can apply for the work opportunities and placements within the organisation. The Trust has funded this by savings elsewhere in the organisation.