Team Cohesion = Performance

Managers at Pricoa Relocation hold regular team meetings where they encourage open discussions and conversations about how the team are doing and if there are any concerns or feedback that needs to be given. Management arrange ETM sessions where employees are trained on the system and outline their personal objectives. Positive Organisational Scholarship sessions were introduced to encourage positivity in the work place. Management have run Customer Service Training for all employees and introduced a customer service pledge with 9 main principles.

Pricoa Relocation has bought in ECO buttons - this means that computers switch themselves off and the amount of money saved on printing can be recorded. This was an initiative bought in by the EOC to be more environmentally friendly.

Precedent strongly believes in the idea of “soft rewards” – i.e. small rewards that are given regularly to recognise excellent work or performance. Rather than simple monetary bonuses which can often quickly be forgotten, these rewards tend to be something more individual, memorable and appropriate for the person. For example a meal for two at a nice restaurant, a weekend away or even simply iTunes vouchers. In addition to this, at the company's annual company meeting held every April, Precedent reward the most hard working and highest achievers. The excursion is, in itself, a sort of reward as it involves time out of the office, dinner and an element of socialising, but more crucially, Precedent hold nominations for the Best Newcomer and Best Overall Performer. These nominations are open to everyone across the company and everyone is invited to contribute. The winner is selected by the senior management based on the nominations received as well as on general performance throughout the year.

Precedent pride themselves on being a transparent organisation and ensures that all of their employees feel they can talk openly to the company as well as see what's going on within the company at all times. Precedent has an active open door policy and spacious open plan offices across the UK to encourage engagement at every level. The company holds bi-monthly 121 sessions, where each employee meets with their line manager to discuss progress over the previous two months and targets for the next. This is an opportunity for employees to voice any concerns and talk candidly with their line manager. Precedent also hold department days throughout the year where each department from across all the UK office teams meet to discuss working processes, highs and lows before engaging in more social activities like go-carting, dinner or simply a few drinks.

Managers at Plusnet Plc hold quarterly reviews of objectives on top of regular 121s to ensure business changes don't create issues for employees. Managers also encourage open forums, team meetings and open door policies.

Managers at Plusnet Plc hold quarterly reviews of objectives on top of regular 121s to ensure business changes don't create issues for employees. Managers also encourage open forums, team meetings and open door policies.

PPDG have a comprehensive internal communications strategy, that aims to inform and engage employees in a variety of ways, including: Workshops. Last year their Executive and People Development Directors embarked upon a companywide road show to canvass the opinions of employees regarding a range of key business areas, from IT systems to benefits/rewards. The outputs of all sessions were collated and feedback to operational and departmental heads who are taking direct action where necessary. The results of the exercise and actions taken will be communicated to all workshop participants & discussed at all PPDG site meetings. Executive Briefing: a re-vamped version of a previous communication tool, the Executive Briefing is a discussion document that shadows the Executive Board meeting, with key business updates/strategic issues released to all staff via their intranet system. All managers are encouraged to discuss its content as a standard action point within team meetings.

PPDG Group offers all employees the opportunity to nominate a colleague for a value of the month award. The award is used to identify those members of staff that are deemed to best embody their company values. PPDG operates very differently to competitors within the Welfare to Work industry; they do not have arbitrary targets for individuals and whilst operational performance is important, it is not the sole purpose of what the company seeks to achieve. The values awards highlight the other aspects in which employees are making a positive impact on the business and the wider communities the company serves. Each values winner is invited to a six monthly dinner at a top restaurant, where they meet other values winners and selected members of the Board of Directors. PPDG also take winners on a ‘seeing is believing' tour of some of the recipients of their GAYE payroll giving scheme; a central component of PPDG's values and beliefs.

Parklands has been an An Investor in People member since 1996 and has recently been reassessed in 2011. Using the tools setup in Investors in People, the management team supports employee development in every way possible. From a degree in Social Work, Diploma in Health Care and SVQs Level 2 and 3, the company actively encourages their people to be all they can be. The company contributes in most cases - for training and gives appropriate time off for study (paid). The mentoring and joint review sessions specifically target any training and evaluates its effectiveness.

There are frequent social events within Parklands, commemorating particular milestones in the calendar. This year, the Managing Director, Senior Managers and Receptionist decided to dress up and re-enact the wedding of William and Kate. This was taken extremely seriously with wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses being purchased, hairdresser appointed and make up expertly applied. Staff and relatives enjoyed the social event with a meal and further musical entertainment. The bridal party travelled between care homes to re-enact the occasion with relatives and staff enjoying a sing along, meal and further musical entertainment in the evening.

The Company also has a CSR strategy which focuses on Wellbeing, Charity, Schools and Colleges and the Environment. Outsourcery sponsor charity annually and encourage employees to take part in events such as the Sport Relief Mile, BUPA Great North Run and the Manchester to Blackpool Bike Ride. Entering a company team in these events helps both build relationships across the business as well as improve the health and wellbeing of their employees. Internal events such as the pedometer challenge were also conducted, encouraging employees to work together in groups of five to walk the equivalent distance between their Bury and London offices in one week. Outsourcery have also worked with organisations such as the NHS to introduce on site stop smoking and health works groups and offered a weekly on site GP service with annual flu jabs for all employees.

Managers regularly meet with employees, through 121s, team briefings and team events, encouraging them to speak openly and honestly, ask any questions they may have as well as raising any concerns or improvement ideas.

Orthoplastics reward efforts with bonuses and competence payments.

Orthoplastics offer private health to a manager group.

OPM give their staff time for community benefit, and freedom to use that time as they see fit. Staff members get six days a year for volunteering. This has led to a range of innovative and impactful volunteering - community groups in Camden, staff work with a centre in Somerstown. Support includes running a community café and classes for people with English as a second language. For the past eight years staff have worked with the Calthorpe Project a community garden and centre, keeping the site in fit repair. They've also been raising money and campaigning for the Project to continue - an unfortunate victim of council funding cuts, despite the local authority being one of OPM's biggest clients. In terms of support to the ‘wider world', OPM staff run monthly fundraising projects, including bake-offs, bring and buy sales and charity auctions. Staff have raised thousands of pounds for the Pakistan floods appeal, Sudan crisis and Japanese earthquake recovery.

OPM give their staff time for community benefit, and freedom to use that time as they see fit. Staff members get six days a year for volunteering. This has led to a range of innovative and impactful volunteering - community groups in Camden, staff work with a centre in Somerstown. Support includes running a community café and classes for people with English as a second language. For the past eight years staff have worked with the Calthorpe Project a community garden and centre, keeping the site in fit repair. They've also been raising money and campaigning for the Project to continue - an unfortunate victim of council funding cuts, despite the local authority being one of OPM's biggest clients. In terms of support to the ‘wider world', OPM staff run monthly fundraising projects, including bake-offs, bring and buy sales and charity auctions. Staff have raised thousands of pounds for the Pakistan floods appeal, Sudan crisis and Japanese earthquake recovery.

A particularly enjoyable social event was the team night out at Batchwood, St Albans in April.

During the last 12 months the Senior Management team have agreed their core values with their staff.

NDS Cool change initiative is a commitment made by the organisation to work towards being carbon neutral. The organisation has invested in reducing power consumption of Set Top Boxes and has installed an IT switch-it-off campaign in all offices. NDS has also invested heavily in high quality video conferencing rooms throughout the world which has dramatically reduced travel requirements between offices, therefore benefiting the reduction of carbon emissions. NDS continues to support various charities not only at a national level but also smaller local charities that are proposed by employees and agreed by the charities committee on an annual basis. Employees have utilised volunteering days to assist these charities and local schools with technical support such as website set up, painting and general maintenance and fundraising events. Employee fundraising is matched by the company whether undertaken at individual, team or organisational level.

NDS Cool change initiative is a commitment made by the organisation to work towards being carbon neutral. The organisation has invested in reducing power consumption of Set Top Boxes and has installed an IT switch-it-off campaign in all offices. NDS has also invested heavily in high quality video conferencing rooms throughout the world which has dramatically reduced travel requirements between offices, therefore benefiting the reduction of carbon emissions. NDS continues to support various charities not only at a national level but also smaller local charities that are proposed by employees and agreed by the charities committee on an annual basis. Employees have utilised volunteering days to assist these charities and local schools with technical support such as website set up, painting and general maintenance and fundraising events. Employee fundraising is matched by the company whether undertaken at individual, team or organisational level.

Mott MacDonald utilises two primary groups to listen to the views of employees. To promote professional excellence, a Young Professional Excellence (YPE) network exists across all of the company's business units. This network creates a learning culture among the company's younger staff. YPE promotes two way communications and ensures that the views of their young professionals are fed back to senior management. As the YPE networks are representative of Mott MacDonald's business units, the Groups can be targeted depending on the nature of the query on which the company is seeking views. The other channel which MacDonald uses is staff councils. These allow effective two-way communication between the company and staff at all levels. In doing so, they provide a forum in which company policy can be explained to staff. They are held on a quarterly basis and minutes are posted on the company's intranet to ensure all staff have access to on going discussions.

Mott MacDonald utilises two primary groups to listen to the views of employees. To promote professional excellence, a Young Professional Excellence (YPE) network exists across all of the company's business units. This network creates a learning culture among the company's younger staff. YPE promotes two way communications and ensures that the views of their young professionals are fed back to senior management. As the YPE networks are representative of Mott MacDonald's business units, the Groups can be targeted depending on the nature of the query on which the company is seeking views. The other channel which MacDonald uses is staff councils. These allow effective two-way communication between the company and staff at all levels. In doing so, they provide a forum in which company policy can be explained to staff. They are held on a quarterly basis and minutes are posted on the company's intranet to ensure all staff have access to on going discussions.

Morningstar have partnered with the City of London and a charity based in the city fringes to provide teenagers in deprived areas with an opportunity to visit a City office, go through a workshop with employees on City careers, practice interviewing, learn more about career paths in a financial company and take part in work experiences and internships potentially leading to a permanent role.

Morningstar's flat non-hierarchical environment, casual culture and open architecture encourages and fosters open communications at all levels of the organisation. The company actively encourages questions, ideas, and debates and state they aren't likely to hire individuals who aren't curious question askers. Morningstar have an open upwards communication policy where employees are invited to write, call or meet senior management regularly. The company organises breakfast sessions with senior management, town hall meetings with their CEO and founder and country meetings, social events and seek employee feedback through several different surveys.

At Metaswitch, a line manager is an individual's Personnel Manager and is responsible for their wellbeing, engagement at work and their career. Weekly status meetings are a key element of this role and it guarantees one-on-one time every week between the manager and employee. Managers are trained to be able to manage their people effectively and this means using careful judgement and thought when making decisions about the employee and agreeing all key decisions with their line.

Metaswitch believe the key to the wellbeing of their employees is their relationship with their manager. The happiest and most productive employees are those treated with respect and fairness and who have clearly defined goals. Each employee is guaranteed one-on-one time with their manager every week and they believe that this is invaluable for their employees' general wellbeing. If they have any concerns or worries, the manager will dedicate as much time as is needed to resolving the issues. Metaswitch also give employees a lot of flexibility with managing their time. They are able to fit their work around their life, so that they are not under any unnecesssary stress. For example, many of their employees in Enfield are in a lunchtime sports club, which has been set up for for Metaswitch employees. There are currently groups for football, rugby, ultimate frisbee, badminton, and many more! Employees play these sports in the local park and then use their changing room and shower facilities on site. They are able to take extended two hour lunch breaks to accommodate these sports and make up the time later.

Mercedes-Benz UK have 600 e-learning programmes on-line for employees to access as well as Ashridge's Virtual Learning which all employee have access to.

With all Mercedes-Benz products there is a 'Blue Efficiency' version that is specifically environmentally friendly. The UK environment benefits from the vast amounts of research that is continually undertaken to ensure vehicles are as environmentally friendly as possible. The company actively allows employees to support National Charity Days e.g. Wear it Pink and Comic Relief.

Mercedes Benz Retail regularly hold road shows for all their staff to ensure they are kept up to date with the business performance and reminders about their core values to ensure that they are all pulling in the same direction. The top line results will be communicated to all staff with the more detailed results being disseminated to each department/site to ensure action plans can be put in place to act upon the feedback where appropriate. Mercedes Benz Retail have always looked at the results and created action plans to address the feedback provided to ensure that employees realise that their feedback is very important and is acted upon.

Mercedes Benz Retail offer their Technicians the opportunity to spend one week's work experience with the Mercedes Benz F1 Grand Prix team.

Medicare First believe the key to ensuring the wellbeing of their employees is to offer a strong inclusive leadership within an atmosphere of professionalism, fairness, respect, fun, friendliness coupled with reward and recognition for a job well done. The open plan office environment and the hands on approach of their senior management team enables them to communicate, understand and work effectively with the employees to demonstrate they are the company's most valuable asset.

In March of this year Medicare First took part in a fund raising event for "Red Nose Day". Employees were requested to wear at least one item of red clothing and contribute to the charity. The day was a great success with some very interesting displays of inventive red items of clothing, some of which could only be displayed momentarily! Good fun was had by all and the money raised went to a very worthwhile cause.

The managers show much greater flexibilty. It is now commonplace for staff to be working from home on some occasions, to be given opportunities to leave the business earlier on a Friday if travelling away for the weekend. The managers create and agree development plans with staff on an annual basis. The managers feedback the vision to their teams and quarterly objectives are created in line with the plan. The managers review competencies with each of their staff at least once a year.

The Christmas Party is a major event in Matchtech's company calendar. At a time when many businesses have been keeping a keen eye on costs, expenditure on staff social activities has been reduced or even cut. Their business has prided itself on maintaining their social activities. Matchtech pay for all their staff and partners to attend the black tie party and awards ceremony. This involves arranging for their staff from their four UK offices and one German office to converge for the occasion at the Guildhall in Southampton. It is the event in the company's social calendar.

Managers conduct employee reviews twice annually to understand employees' ongoing needs. Managers lead by example regarding ongoing development and actively encourage non-management employees to harness all the training and development opportunities available to them. Managers offer on-the-job mentoring outside of set hours and/or appraisals to continuously give and receive feedback. Managers actively encourage all employees to get involved in CSR initiatives and lead by example on this. The same goes for social sports and other social activities outside work hours.

Following the Marks Sattin Mid-Year Review, employees participated in 'The Apprentice Challenge', followed by drinks and snacks. This was a half day event that saw all Marks Sattin employees in the UK and Ireland come together in London to celebrate the company's achievements and participate in an Apprentice themed challenge. Employees were split into groups and tasked with appointing a team leader, then followed clues to different areas of London and carried out challenges to earn points. Each team was given £50 for any purchases required and evidence such as photos and receipts had to be supplied for each challenge. Prizes included bar tabs and dinner at Michelin star restaurant for the entire team.

As the majority of the managers have themselves progressed through the company they have the ability to empathise and understand the workload and pressures that comes with each role. Because Team Managers sit with their teams they are accessible and approachable and are on hand to recognise and observe any excessive workload or pressures their team may have and can rectify the situation before it manifests into something larger. Targets are discussed regularly and performance around the targets is constantly reviewed. All managers actively encourage their teams to recognise their colleagues successes by asking them to vote for who that week is most deserving for recognition and receive the team's trophy.

As the majority of the managers have themselves progressed through the company they have the ability to empathise and understand the workload and pressures that comes with each role. Because Team Managers sit with their teams they are accessible and approachable and are on hand to recognise and observe any excessive workload or pressures their team may have and can rectify the situation before it manifests into something larger. Targets are discussed regularly and performance around the targets is constantly reviewed. All managers actively encourage their teams to recognise their colleagues successes by asking them to vote for who that week is most deserving for recognition and receive the team's trophy.

Manx Telecom run an idea scheme called 'innov8' whereby staff can submit ideas for improvement. These are evaluated by a committee of managers and staff who can make financial awards based on the quality of the idea. They hold annual staff update sessions with the senior team and their managers hold monthly team briefs. Manx Telecom encourage staff to play an active part with their managers to identify specific issues and actions to address areas for improvement. After last year's survey, employees were invited to take part in a competition to submit 88 reasons that make Manx Telecom a great place to work. All the entries were rolled together to come up with the definitive list.

Manx Telecom run an idea scheme called 'innov8' whereby staff can submit ideas for improvement. These are evaluated by a committee of managers and staff who can make financial awards based on the quality of the idea. They hold annual staff update sessions with the senior team and their managers hold monthly team briefs. Manx Telecom encourage staff to play an active part with their managers to identify specific issues and actions to address areas for improvement. After last year's survey, employees were invited to take part in a competition to submit 88 reasons that make Manx Telecom a great place to work. All the entries were rolled together to come up with the definitive list.

At their September sales meeting Lundbeck held a chocolate making competition, an Apprentice style challenge. The whole sales organisation was split into groups and given an afternoon to create, package and market a new chocolate brand. These were then pitched to the Senior Management Group and a winner was chosen. It was a lot of fun and a break from formal work exercises.

At their September sales meeting Lundbeck held a chocolate making competition, an Apprentice style challenge. The whole sales organisation was split into groups and given an afternoon to create, package and market a new chocolate brand. These were then pitched to the Senior Management Group and a winner was chosen. It was a lot of fun and a break from formal work exercises.

Live & Breathe foster a culture of collaboration where each member of the team is valued equally. Ideas, can and do, come from anywhere and rewards are shared. As such, good people progress quickly. Being small gives Live and Breathe a clear advantage in being able to listen and feedback to the wider team. The senior team have weekly one-to-one sessions with their team members and on top of that the flat hierarchy means everyone can talk to a Director pretty much whenever they want. Additionally they employ the Clear Partnership for coaching and mentoring which has proved valuable in many ways not least the fact they are completely impartial and staff feel able to talk openly to them.

Live & Breathe helped organise and participated in an ‘It's a Knockout' event for one of their nominated charities ‘Caravan'. As well as giving the event coordinator time during her working day to arrange the event, a team consisting of Live & Breathers and their clients was assembled and given the afternoon off work to compete. Not only did everyone enjoy the event but it had two key benefits - it raised £20,000 for a very good cause related to the sector in which Live & Breathe operate and it provided the opportunity to work together with their clients in a constructive, out of business environment, getting to know and understand them and themselves better and work better as a team.

The most effective approach is an ambitious digital training programme which began towards the end of 2010 and was completed in the summer of 2011, facilitated by uTalk Marketing. Leo Burnett wanted to inspire and excite their people about the opportunities digital offers and give people the specific, practical skills to create digital communications. By running a fully comprehensive training programme featuring nine interactive workshops for their account management, planning and creative teams, they gave them confidence to integrate digital into their everyday work and talk to clients about digital with the same credibility that they can talk about offline communications. The workshops were attended by mixed peer groups which made interaction between attendees more beneficial and left people feeling empowered and inspired to take a different approach to their day-to-day tasks. Leo Burnett's course evaluation showed the programme was enormously successful. 94% of staff stated that they were "very satisfied" with the programme. To complement the utalkmarketing training activity Leo Burnett also undertook a number of other development initiatives to enhance the digitisation of the agency such as lunchtime learning sessions with companies such as Facebook, Google, etc. and Q&A clinics in specialist areas such as Social Media, User Experience, Hypermedia, Digital Production etc.

The most effective approach is an ambitious digital training programme which began towards the end of 2010 and was completed in the summer of 2011, facilitated by uTalk Marketing. Leo Burnett wanted to inspire and excite their people about the opportunities digital offers and give people the specific, practical skills to create digital communications. By running a fully comprehensive training programme featuring nine interactive workshops for their account management, planning and creative teams, they gave them confidence to integrate digital into their everyday work and talk to clients about digital with the same credibility that they can talk about offline communications. The workshops were attended by mixed peer groups which made interaction between attendees more beneficial and left people feeling empowered and inspired to take a different approach to their day-to-day tasks. Leo Burnett's course evaluation showed the programme was enormously successful. 94% of staff stated that they were "very satisfied" with the programme. To complement the utalkmarketing training activity Leo Burnett also undertook a number of other development initiatives to enhance the digitisation of the agency such as lunchtime learning sessions with companies such as Facebook, Google, etc. and Q&A clinics in specialist areas such as Social Media, User Experience, Hypermedia, Digital Production etc.

As a thank you for everyone's hard work in the first half of the year, Leasedirect took everybody to the cinema for the afternoon! They closed the offices, hired a private screen and treated everyone to sweets, ice creams and drinks. It was really well received by all and was something a bit different to show their gratitude.

Leasedirect have introduced a twice weekly fruit delivery across the business which provides all staff with free fruit. They have also introduced a scheme to help people stop smoking. They are keen to support all employees with a desire to stop smoking, from funding the cost of nicotine patches to hypnotherapy Leasedirect have also negotiated a discounted rate for all staff at their local gym and are part of a cycle to work scheme.

It is difficult to pull out just one or two examples of how Lands' End seek to enhance the wellbeing of their employees as they offer a raft of opportunities which they believe encompasses the full diversity of their employees. Lands' End recognise that personal development, job satisfaction and a realistic work/life balance all have a positive impact on the wellbeing of their employees.

Lands' End's managers are keen to understand how they behave in the workplace by completing a Personal Profile Analysis. They also receive direct feedback from their superiors, colleagues and subordinates by completing the 360 degree feedback process. Lands' End managers work with their teams to plan and prioritise workloads. The Managers are able to recognise and reward in various ways including Individual Performance Awards (£), above effective annual appraisal ratings, employee evaluations in our Operational areas (EEvA), trophies, vouchers (£) and team awards.

KFI has a monthly bonus scheme in place for the majority of people that allows them to earn an additional 20% OTE. Targets are set for each person which are specifically related to performance and quality. Capital bonds are paid over and above the monthly bonus scheme. All of Kwik-Fit's people are engaged in the scheme that allows them to earn bonds each month for achieving performance and quality targets. Bonds accrue over the year and are paid at Christmas. Their employee of the year scheme also ensures people feel rewarded for their efforts. Every month each department identifies their employee of the month. All winners are rewarded with free food in the restaurant, access to the concierge service and gym membership for one month. All winners go through to the four monthly Qualifier Awards and department winners are treated to a day off and lunch with the senior management team. Qualifier winners are also invited to their Employee of the Year ceremony. This is a black tie event held in a 5 star venue and partners are invited. Each department winner gets £1000 and the overall employee of the year is awarded £10,000.

As charity giving is an integral part of of the culture of KFI, they have gradually introduced a number of activities which all help to form their commitment to charities. They include a payroll giving scheme called 'Donate an hour's pay' which encourages staff to sign up and allow a salary deduction of the equivalent of one hour's pay each month, dress down days when they ask staff to donate once a month £1, a 'Countdown to Christmas' weigh in scheme in which employees are sponsored to lose weight (monitored by the Occupational Health Nurse), a number of group events during the course of the year, including Maggies Monster bike and Hike, Caledonian Challenge and fun events such as white water. Each year, employees select a charity of the year. Last year, Rutherglen High School (a local special needs high school) reveived many benefits including a new minibus and a new sensory garden.

Keyfuel's leader is approachable, an excellent communicator, passionate about the business and the people who drive it forward. He communicates a clear vision and practices the company values.

Keyfuels have a weekly Friday breakfast, monthly fruit and yoghurt mornings. There have been improvements to air conditioning facilities, improvements to Health and Safety policies and introduction of marked walkways to enhance personel safety.

Keoghs offer a number of ways for staff to offer ideas and feedback and work hard to encourage a two way information flow. Communication options available include: Internal newsletters (staff are encouraged to send in content), Daily business communications (a daily email issued to all staff covering a variety of topics – often used to promote opportunities for feedback), Surveys (undertaken for a range of topics from where to hold the staff Christmas party to feelings on particular issues going on within the firm), Forums (offers staff the ability to post questions to the Board which can be done anonymously if preferred), Meetings – Business update meetings are held quarterly, staff are encouraged to send in their questions prior to the event and are given the opportunity to ask questions at the meetings themselves. Surveys are then circulated to ask for feedback on the issues raised. Team meetings are also a great opportunity to gain feedback from staff in person.

Keoghs offer a number of ways for staff to offer ideas and feedback and work hard to encourage a two way information flow. Communication options available include: Internal newsletters (staff are encouraged to send in content), Daily business communications (a daily email issued to all staff covering a variety of topics – often used to promote opportunities for feedback), Surveys (undertaken for a range of topics from where to hold the staff Christmas party to feelings on particular issues going on within the firm), Forums (offers staff the ability to post questions to the Board which can be done anonymously if preferred), Meetings – Business update meetings are held quarterly, staff are encouraged to send in their questions prior to the event and are given the opportunity to ask questions at the meetings themselves. Surveys are then circulated to ask for feedback on the issues raised. Team meetings are also a great opportunity to gain feedback from staff in person.

During the monthly meetings with their consultants, Kelly Services' managers review their team's performance individually by considering a number of factors. They use this information to assess the demands upon their team members and evaluate any development or training needs. Managers also use this time to highlight any successes of the month and ensure recognition for any particular achievements is given. As well as the weekly meeting, managers every day conduct a 'daily call-over' meeting with their teams. The purpose of these brief meetings is to discuss the achievements of the previous day and to review their focuses for the day ahead. Managers conduct a Development Discussion with individuals at the beginning of each year where they ask the employee for input on what they feel their business and professional development goals should be. These goals are reviewed at a mid-year meeting and then again in a meeting the following year where new objectives and goals would also be set.

Kelly Services recently identified that when looking at their management population, a large number of them had been promoted internally. While this is a very positive realisation, it also means that as a company they need to ensure that they have the tools and skills that they need to be successful. As such the company designed and implemented a Business Manager Development Programme, which assesses and evaluates all managers within Kelly Services and then creates an individual specific development programme. This programme can comprise of a wide range of different learning techniques; including class room based training, job shadowing, mentoring and individual project work, to target the development needs of each manager. The feedback that the company have received for this programme so far has been very positive and this approach is a very important part of their learning and development strategy going forward.

Instant recognition is given for the contribution of any person or group among their 3,500+ employee-partners on an ad hoc basis and usually occurs in the confines of a single department. For example, business unit heads and/or the CEO have been known to send an email to a given business unit to "call-out" the outstanding performance by a person or group.

Emails from the CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee to all employees to keep them up to date with the firm's developments and to ensure that they were the first to hear about any key decisions made by management.

The company carry out their own staff survey every April as well as the Best Companies in October. Each dealership has a staff group that work with managers to improve staff satisfaction. All dealership staff receive an update presentation every three months regarding the company. This is usually followed by food, drinks and socialising.

The company carry out their own staff survey every April as well as the Best Companies in October. Each dealership has a staff group that work with managers to improve staff satisfaction. All dealership staff receive an update presentation every three months regarding the company. This is usually followed by food, drinks and socialising.

As a company they have a "giving back committee" who work with the HR team to bring fund raising ideas to fruition, supporting events such as Children In Need and Red Nose Day. In the last financial year they have donated £156,944 to various charities. The company have also rolled out ‘just giving' which is where employees can donate to any charity they want to via payroll which comes from their gross salary, they save on PAYE deductions.

As a company they have a "giving back committee" who work with the HR team to bring fund raising ideas to fruition, supporting events such as Children In Need and Red Nose Day. In the last financial year they have donated £156,944 to various charities. The company have also rolled out ‘just giving' which is where employees can donate to any charity they want to via payroll which comes from their gross salary, they save on PAYE deductions.

A recent memorable social event was the New Year Kick Off which launched the New Year in May, introducing their new V2MOM's for the Company. All employees attended and there was a Gala Dinner and Dance in the evening. Team working at IRIS is one of their highest priorities and they recognise everyone's individual contribution towards team achievement which they believe helps them create the optimum environment to help achieve success.

Managers recognise and reward employees. They recognise over achievers and consider the level of support individuals will need to achieve their tasks. They review this regularly asking for feedback on how they feel things are going and also make communication a priority through regular team meetings and 1-2-1's and Personal Career Discussions are offered to all their direct reports. They are open to receiving information from others, asking questions and responding to feedback and have an open door policy. They also organise team events and nights out to enable team members to socialise.

A particularly memorable and enjoyable social event held by Integralis, was the Olympics on Ice event in May 2011. 46 employees, from different divisions of the business, came together at a local ice-rink, for a number of team-building exercises. Without knowing what they were getting themselves into, Integralis employees turned up ready and willing to enjoy the event. There were a number of games that took place on the ice, all of which were based on creating trust and confidence in team members. Employees were linked up with other people that they may not have normally interacted with on a daily basis. Trust was a real necessity, especially as employees wore shoes (and not ice-skates), so were even more likely to slip and fall without their colleagues' help. This was a totally different event, something that had never been done before. It was great fun, and everyone talked about it for a long time afterwards.

The Social and Charity Committee nominates a local and national charity for the company to support each year. Often, Integralis purchase a table at an event or ball, usually for the national charity, and they invite all employees to nominate someone to attend the ball who they believe has gone above and beyond the call of duty in their work. Nominations must be backed up with examples and then the 10 employees who receive the most nominations are invited to the ball. In November 2010, 10 employees attended the Enchanted Ball at the Savoy for Macmillan cancer support.

Instant has a variety of ways in which they communicate with employees, and how ideas and feedback are collected. Best Company Ideas Lunches – two of these take place each year (one with all new starters in the past 6 months, another with a random selection of more). The goal is to get new ideas for making Instant a better place to work. HR Surgery – every month the People & Culture Manager runs an HR Surgery where staff can talk in confidence, be listened to, give their feedback and share ideas. Ideas Box – Anyone in the company can submit a new idea for innovation at Instant. Employees can submit as many ideas as they wish, the best idea is put into practise and the winner receives a cash prize, an extra day of holiday and two return flights to a European City of their choice! Active Listening – Instant has run master classes for managers on active listening and coaching.

As part of POPs across the business, Managers will hold informal monthly and more formal quarterly and annual reviews with their team members. During these meetings Managers ask what support their team member would like - what do they find tricky? Are they confident? Can more support be provided? Informally Instant has a very open plan environment, everyone has the same equipment and is visible and totally approachable in the office. Instant genuinely cares about employees wellbeing and want success for each other.

InHealth Group has an Employee Assisted Programme where staff are encouraged to take advantage of a range of facilities available to them, which include Medical Referrals and Stress Related Counselling services. Line Managers can also apply for performance coaching, which is available from an external resource.

InHealth Group has an Employee Assisted Programme where staff are encouraged to take advantage of a range of facilities available to them, which include Medical Referrals and Stress Related Counselling services. Line Managers can also apply for performance coaching, which is available from an external resource.

ING Direct provides Lifeworks which is an employee Assistance Programme; they also offer counselling services and alternative therapies every quarter for their employees.

At Incisive Media each team meets at least once a week, the company also has peer group meetings with managers to share expertise and best practice.

Incisive Media values the wellbeing of its employees and they have a category in their flexible benefits programme dedicated to Health & Wellbeing to prove it! The company has fortnightly Chair Massages that are on offer to all staff. This has proved to be a very popular benefit and Incisive Media have received great feedback from employees. On top of the ‘ordinary' benefits that most companies offer, such as gym membership, private medical insurance and health cash plan, Incisive Media has gone one step further and has introduced a variety of Health Screenings which are available to all employees. The types of screenings on offer range from a wide selection of BUPA Wellness screenings to Skin Screenings and the newly introduced Breast Screenings which are on offer to all staff and their partners. Everyone knows that prevention is better than cure.

Inchcape's CEO encourages empowerment and colleagues' acceptance of responsibility for the creation of solutions to business challenges. He also encourages a commercial attitude with the willingness to take acceptable risks in decision-making.

Inchcape's CEO encourages empowerment and colleagues' acceptance of responsibility for the creation of solutions to business challenges. He also encourages a commercial attitude with the willingness to take acceptable risks in decision-making.

Structured hyphen induction programme in addition to the wider Adecco Group Induction. Internal menttoring and coaching. Manager and employee work together on the personal development plan which is linked to the core competencies of the job role and identifying the skills gaps that may exist. These are reviewed during the ad hoc and mid year reviews. The Manager also takes the opportunity in these meetings to ensure that the individual is happy in their role. This provides an opportunity for discussion around an individual's wellbeing or any personal concerns they may have at work.

The senior management team took part in a roadshow to improve employee engagement across hyphen. The team visited each on site team to give them a platform to ask questions to management but also provide them with key insight into initiatives / financials etc. This has been extremely well received and hyphen will be looking to make it a regular event going forward.

The Leader is very distinctive in allowing the senior management team to get on with running the business and has a real strength in empowering his senior and other teams to own the strategy and action plans. This has a considerable positive impact on their ability to be agile as a business, enabling them to reach quick decisions in a fast-moving marketplace.

Many employees are paid a bonus for their contribution to the business. This provides a clear and effective link between their performance and the improvement in the business. The company also offers a 'site finders' fee to employees which encourages them to activitely seek opportunities which will benefit the company.

One of the best examples which has been running for four years and which Harrods believe is completely unique to them is the ‘Harrods One Hundred'. This is a very exclusive club whose 100 members are their best sales people. Membership is driven by the amount of sales achieved and the top sales person achieved sales of over £6 million in 2010/2011. The rewards are a special yearly dinner awards ceremony with directors and their managers. They receive a gift bag containing a £1000 gift card, pampering sessions, gifts provided by brands such as Cartier and additional employee discounts as well as a unique ID card that gives them additional senior manager privileges and finally a Harrods 100 jacket lapel pin to wear with pride.

Michael Ward is a personable, warm and engaging leader. He brings a sense of realness to Harrods' world and ensures everyone takes what they do, seriously but not take themselves too seriously. The biggest demonstration of comittment to improving the working environment was to press ahead with the refurbishment of the employee restaurant at a cost of £500,000, even though the restauraunt is going to be moved to a different floor and location in approximately18 months time. Many companies would have said that the employees could wait, but because the leadership team were sensitive to the feelings and frustration the poor quality of food, the ambience, decor etc. was creating, they pressed ahead with the refurbishment. This was an appropriate grand gesture towards employees.

Managers ask for 360 appraisal feedback on their own work from colleagues and subordinates and constantly mentor and appraise individuals in their teams, highlighting and taking initiative if they notice any areas of expertise are lacking. Managers listen to their staff's needs and treat all staff like family members. Group Positive offer a defined career path and have regular reviews and appraisals. Weekly management team meetings are held to discuss all aspects of the business and company as a whole.

Group Positive provides staff with thank you cards, flowers, cakes, champagne and husband and wife weekends to the South of France in appreciation for their work.

All staff were asked to submit suggestions that could improve Greene & Co both internally and in the service the company offers to customers. They have a company colleague rep who staff can talk to in absolute confidence about any problems/issues they may have (be it to do with work or of a personal nature). The colleague rep can feedback any issues to senior management. All staff at Greene & Co have a monthly one-to-one with their manager, and a quarterly one-to-one with David Pollock the MD, where any feedback can be given.

Managers carefully monitor how their team is performing and whether they are achieving their goals. Managers will review progress in one-to-one's, and put measures in place to provide extra training if needed. One-to-one's with managers are also for receiving feedback from staff as well as giving it. Sales techniques are also covered in monthly company training sessions.

Managers review if the skills and the capacity of employees in their team needs to be reconsidered against the requirements of the work, both in team and 1-2-1 meetings on a weekly and monthly basis. At appraisal interviews, managers discuss with each employee what their personal aspirations are. Managers also debrief their teams after Board meetings. Discussions are encouraged whereby employees can ask questions and receive feedback in an open and honest environment.

Gleeds has an internal team known as "GYM" - Gleeds Young Marketeers - which has been running for circa 20 years. Younger members are encouraged to sign up and take part in the activities designed to help develop a sense of belonging and build up long term internal and external relationships. Activities include a conference (attended by 120 GYM members from across the world) sailing, bowling, wine tasting events with clients and charity marathons. 2011 saw a re-launch of GYM with new members and greater involvement. As well as occupational health provision and employee assistance programmes, they have also run yoga and massage courses at Head Office and their social calendar includes Christmas events, sailing days, team sports, away days and charity fund raising.

Fortune Cookie hold regular reviews of performance, recognise and reward outstanding performance through incentives based on goals, have regular announcements to the company about great work and achievements, regular formal and social get together's for the whole company.

Fortune Cookie hold regular reviews of performance, recognise and reward outstanding performance through incentives based on goals, have regular announcements to the company about great work and achievements, regular formal and social get together's for the whole company.

What works particularly well at Fleishman-Hillard is that the results per office/team are shared in groups, providing a forum for feedback and an exchange of views. Senior leaders in the business agree particular areas of focus for the next year, either in teams or office-wide. This provides a strong sense of continuous improvement and a desire to seek feedback. Also this year, the Managing Director of the London office conducted a series of listening sessions – Staff Clinics – made up of groups cutting across the different teams to gather detailed employee feedback on a first-hand basis and to foster greater transparency and collaborations.

Each summer Fleishman bring the teams together for an away day and partner with an external events company. In 2011 they split the company into teams to participate in a dragon boat race followed by a Summer BBQ. Other events include: Karaoke, bowling and ice skating. Children's Christmas Party. One morning in December is set aside for staff to bring their children to a Christmas Party with games and an entertainer. A senior staff member, usually their MD dresses as Father Christmas. There is a Team Christmas Lunch. Each team will organise a lunch or drinks to celebrate the end of the year. Fleishman have a company Christmas Party. They bring the company together to celebrate the end of the year. Fleishman choose a stylish venue and host champagne cocktails followed by dinner and dancing into the small hours. Employees can have an in House Massage. Fleishman set up drinks in their reception area to encourage staff to get together at the end of the week. In the summer, they set this up on the deck of their roof terrace.

Fleet Hire have a number of communication channels to encourage open and honest feedback. These include; Stress Management committee, represented by each area of the business and facilitated by an external counsellor. Anonymous suggestions box, reviewed monthly by management. Social Committee. Q &A sessions after each monthly floor presentation.

Monthly company funded stress management discussions, facilitated externally, which includes 'stress free days' utilising stress relieving methods. Company funded external quarterly in work hours health and wellbeing consultations covering diet, blood pressure, cholesterol testing, BMI etc. Company subsidised gym membership.

Employee development by access to a variety of training interventions. Dedicated team of learning and development professionals, Head of Training, Group Trainer,specialist, Food / Beverage Training Manager. Dedicated departmental skills trainers who are experts in customer service field and knowledgeable in company specific operational procedures. Accessable to all employees, ensuring successful orientation of new employees. They monitor and record training provison to ensure consistency. Head of Training ensures courses accessible to all and pitched at different levels and job role. Ensures clear and progressive pathway towards achieving supervisory and management skills allowing development within the business . Includes management development programme, Supervisory Skills workshops, Food and Beverage academy, NVQ customer service and team leading, Graduate Management Training programme. Comprehensive training calendar published inviting all managers to nominate employees for the courses. Head of Training identifies employees who would benefit from specific courses and talented employees can enhance their skills and fulfill future leadership succession plans.

Tim Kemp is Chairman of Firmdale hotels London and New York. For the past 30 years he has taken what started out as a few small student hostels in central London locations and created from them, luxury, full service, award winning boutique hotels. He manages a core team of Directors and visits the various properties on a daily basis to ensure that each provides the high standards he demands. He has an active role in areas such as personnel and training, purchasing, branding and identity of his successful hotel group. Tim breathes life into derelict areas which in turn brings more jobs and money into new communities. It is this sense of independence that sets Tim Kemp apart as the leader of Firmdale Hotels. He has the freedom to realise his ideas. Whilst he is able to delegate responsibility to other leaders in his organisation, he retains a ground roots relationship with personnel at all levels.

During summer 2011, Ffastfill had a Summer BBQ and Dragon Boating event for all staff and their families. It was well attended and the feedback was great from employees. Ffastfill catered for families including small children where a bouncy castle was available for their entertainment.

During summer 2011, Ffastfill had a Summer BBQ and Dragon Boating event for all staff and their families. It was well attended and the feedback was great from employees. Ffastfill catered for families including small children where a bouncy castle was available for their entertainment.

FDM are a very active organisation encouraging any sports activities that help employees to interact in a more social environment. They have football, netball and volleyball teams which employees can get involved in and compete in an informal setting. They also have lots of employees taking part in marathons, bike rides, strong man conpetitions and other various activities which are in aid of charitable organisations.

FDM are a very active organisation encouraging any sports activities that help employees to interact in a more social environment. They have football, netball and volleyball teams which employees can get involved in and compete in an informal setting. They also have lots of employees taking part in marathons, bike rides, strong man conpetitions and other various activities which are in aid of charitable organisations.

Danny Pecorelli, Exclusive Hotel's Managing Director, is a man of great values and principles. He has integrity and operates with transparency and honesty, always warmly greeting team members as if they were old friends - in many cases they are! All Exclusive employees personally know Danny on first name terms and all remain firmly loyal to the Exclusive family. Exclusive Hotels started as a family business and remains so today, 30 years later. Their guiding principles are centric to a family unit, abeit extended, care and respect, hard work and integrity. Look after each other and look after their guests.

Danny Pecorelli, Exclusive Hotel's Managing Director, is a man of great values and principles. He has integrity and operates with transparency and honesty, always warmly greeting team members as if they were old friends - in many cases they are! All Exclusive employees personally know Danny on first name terms and all remain firmly loyal to the Exclusive family. Exclusive Hotels started as a family business and remains so today, 30 years later. Their guiding principles are centric to a family unit, abeit extended, care and respect, hard work and integrity. Look after each other and look after their guests.

The company regularly brings the entire workforce together in a single business event in which the wider economic environment, the industry marketplace, recent business results and continuing objectives are presented. This is an important event which allows the entire organisation to meet and socialise whether office-based or field-based.

The company regularly brings the entire workforce together in a single business event in which the wider economic environment, the industry marketplace, recent business results and continuing objectives are presented. This is an important event which allows the entire organisation to meet and socialise whether office-based or field-based.

The recruitment industry is highly competitive and can be very challenging at times. As such, it's vital that their employees are appropriately recognised and rewarded for the contribution they make to the success of EMR. While the EMR benefits package is comprehensive, in addition to this they offer on going rewards for meeting and exceeding monthly individual and team targets, as well as on going quarterly and annual rewards for value-based performance. These include bottles of champagne, iPads, extra holiday days, bar tabs, team lunches and the Red Letter rewards scheme outlined above. A generous bounty system is also in place to reward current employees who refer new employees into the business.

Simon Bassett has been the Managing Director of EMR since 2008, shortly after the company was acquired by FiveTen Group. One of the key reasons Simon is admired and respected by EMR staff and fellow FiveTen Group management is his extensive marketing recruitment experience, having worked in almost every role in EMR, from Junior Consultant through to now Managing Director. This positively influences the culture within EMR, reinforcing one of leading by example, visibility and open communication. Simon also focuses on leading by example by continuously developing himself both personally and professionally through an executive coach, and being a key contributor to the UK marketing community. As such, Simon is a member of The Marketing Society and a regular judge at the annual Marketing Week Engagement Awards. He also supports the CIM with career planning and advice to their members and has been a guest lecturer at Henley Business School. Simon is also Vice Chairman of M Squared, the marketing sector group of APSCo - the professional body that represents the interests of recruitment organisations. As part of a commitment to innovation, Simon introduced Marketer's Pulse in 2011, a Twitter feed devoted to the UK professional marketing community which encourages all EMR stakeholders to get involved, including clients, candidates and employees.

The organisation hosted an EMCAS Extravaganza for staff and partners which included fairground rides, games, magicians and body painting. The event was a huge success and they had lots of positive feedback from staff. As the staff are across three sites these functions help to create community within the organisation.

The organisation hosted an EMCAS Extravaganza for staff and partners which included fairground rides, games, magicians and body painting. The event was a huge success and they had lots of positive feedback from staff. As the staff are across three sites these functions help to create community within the organisation.

Being ISO 14001 certified means that Eland have identified elements of their business that impact the environment. They have produced a policy that ensures they meet stringent objectives according to environmental legislation. The management and adherence to this policy is an ongoing process.

Being ISO 14001 certified means that Eland have identified elements of their business that impact the environment. They have produced a policy that ensures they meet stringent objectives according to environmental legislation. The management and adherence to this policy is an ongoing process.

e.surv are constantly promoting the carbon reduction programme and encouraging their surveyors to reduce their carbon footprint by driving efficiently.

e.surv are constantly promoting the carbon reduction programme and encouraging their surveyors to reduce their carbon footprint by driving efficiently.

dotDigitalGroup had a company-wide summer party in June 2011 which was held on a leisure boat which went up and down the Thames in London stopping at various piers on the way so that people could get off if they wanted to. Staff came from all over to attend, including the Minsk office in Belarus. Everyone had a great time with a BBQ, a DJ, karaoke and dancing, not to mention a few drinks. This was fully funded and a great team building event - the only problem was the weather but nobody let it get in the way of having fun! A great time was had by all and dotDigital also announced their Employee of the Financial Year winner and runners-up.

dotDigitalGroup constantly listen to employee feedback and have introduced a range of initiatives to support employee development and the focus of the new appraisal system is equally weighted between performance and development. The best current example is the offer of matched funds towards an employee's ambition or something on their bucket list. Does not have to be work related - just something that they can evidence will develop them personally. To date dotDigitalGroup have bids for sailing, pilot training, leadership training, drumming, paragliding, engaging a personal trainer and a tandem sky dive.

For the second year in a row, Disruptive had their company boat trip. The whole company went to Henley on Thames where they boarded a boat for a cruise down the river. Food, drink and entertainment was provided - on their return for those who wanted the party to continue (it was only 5pm after all) they were dropped off in Marlow for fish and chips and a pub or too. Great night out and a few sore heads the next day.

For the second year in a row, Disruptive had their company boat trip. The whole company went to Henley on Thames where they boarded a boat for a cruise down the river. Food, drink and entertainment was provided - on their return for those who wanted the party to continue (it was only 5pm after all) they were dropped off in Marlow for fish and chips and a pub or too. Great night out and a few sore heads the next day.

STELLAR Awards - Discovery's Employee Recognition Programme is the tool through which individual and team achievements can be recognised. STELLAR acknowledges accomplishments, contributions and behaviours aligned with their corporate goals and values and growth traits by rewarding employees with cash, merchandise or peer-to-peer (non-monetary) praise. In honour of the innovative spirit and boundless curiosity that drove John Hendricks to establish Discovery 25 years ago and which continues throughout all levels of the company every day, Discovery introduced the John S. Hendricks Innovation Awards in 2009. The awards recognise the most innovative and creative ideas from the past year. From groundbreaking events and specials to successful channel launches, and from new business initiatives to even the simplest ideas that had a tremendous impact, the awards celebrate all areas of innovation that further Discovery's mission of satisfying curiosity and making a difference, drive the growth of their business and inspire other employees to unlock their creativity. Nominations are accepted for both individual and team efforts.

DCIdeas is a corporate-wide programme that gives every employee a chance to participate in the decision-making processes that directly influences their work as well as the company's overall direction. DCIdeas offers employees a way to share their ideas and suggestions with Discovery leadership using an intuitive online interface. Employees can submit ideas directly to senior management and track the review and evaluation of their ideas as they move through the evaluation process. Since the re-launch of DCIdeas in 2009, more than 130 ideas have been submitted for review and implementation. One example of this system at work is Discovery's Planet Green at Work initiative, a special submission platform that was developed to allow employees to suggest ways for the company to employ environmentally-friendly practices in the workplace as well as in the way it conducts business. Discovery also hosts weekly Executive Breakfasts and yearly Executive Road Shows where staff have the unique opportunity to informally meet and engage directly with senior management. This year also saw the launch of the London office Creative Think Tank, which offers a corporate and creative platform respectively for staff to provide feedback and to seek their ideas, for example for new programming or marketing ideas.

Denplan undertake community actions that make Winchester a better place whether this is painting the local theatre, renovating a youth club or helping to clear ground so everyone can enjoy it.

Denplan has put processes in place to ensure that employees are given regular support. A monthly one-to-one form is completed which looks at successes, actions, any issues and also the ongoing support the employee needs. Managers, Supervisors and Coaches were trained in using these forms at a bi-annual business event. Managers then meet with their teams on a regular monthly basis and bi-annually through the formal appraisal process. This enables them to gain an understanding of their team's work-life balance. They are able to conduct flexible working meetings with HR Support, providing inventive solutions to requests.

Cubic Transportation Systems contribute more than £60,000 to charities including Winston's Wish, Headway, Heavenly Stars, Railway Children and Horley Lions. But they also see our contribution in a different light: they build systems that make living in cities safer and more enjoyable by making public transport easier and more attractive to use. They are the people who devised the Oyster card system. In interviews following the roll-out of the system, one Londoner said that he felt, “..with my Oyster card, I own London...”. Oyster is now a London icon, one of the reasons why so many people love the city. And they do the same in Chicago, New York, LA, San Diego, Brisbane and Miami. Few products or services can be said to have made such a positive difference in peoples' lives.

Cubic Transportation Systems have introduced the Medicare cash scheme which includes cash back for a number of health related services, EAP and discounted gym membership. They have also introduction of the cycle to work scheme.

Listening to employees is mission-critical for CTN. They are a people business and benefit hugely from the views, ideas and opinions of their own people. In addition to the daily dialogue they have with individuals, CTN have institutionalised the following forums: a) Off-site company meetings: 4 times a year, all staff are invited to participate in an off-site exchange of ideas and a debate about future plans. b) CEO lunches: a rolling program of team 'working lunches' with the CEO for informal Q&A and debate.

Listening to employees is mission-critical for CTN. They are a people business and benefit hugely from the views, ideas and opinions of their own people. In addition to the daily dialogue they have with individuals, CTN have institutionalised the following forums: a) Off-site company meetings: 4 times a year, all staff are invited to participate in an off-site exchange of ideas and a debate about future plans. b) CEO lunches: a rolling program of team 'working lunches' with the CEO for informal Q&A and debate.

The firm's charity, 'Build Africa' facilitates the firm's direct involvement in the building and equipping of a school in Kenya. The scale of the project has allowed them to have a very direct and tangible impact on the lives of an entire African community and has included members of the firm being directly involved when visiting Kenya. In addition, each year for the last 10 years, staff members bring in Christmas presents for local children who are in the care of Tunbridge Wells Social Services and who would not normally enjoy the kind of Christmas most of us take for granted.

The firm has a permanent Health & Wellbeing Page on their Intranet, with information and links to various websites, including local personal trainers & health clubs, nutrition sites and health & wellbeing articles on the NHS Direct & BBC websites. They have run a series of Health & Wellbeing seminars that were well attended and very much appreciated by all staff. They are also very proud of the success they had with their "Stop Smoking Scheme". For this they arranged for the NHS to run an in-house stop smoking scheme, which they offered as part of their health & wellbeing programme, several members of staff participated in the scheme and all managed to complete the programme and quit smoking.

Within the organisation a working party has been implemented following an employee suggestion, with the aim to review operational progress and identify any areas for improvement. It involves a group of voluntary representatives who provide a voice for the rest of their team to highlight key operational concerns and any ideas/suggestions to rectify them. The MD is also in attendance as the final decision maker on feasibility from a commercial point of view. The Management focus group meet on a weekly basis to evaluate business as a whole. This encourages sharing best practice, cohesion and support between departments. Feedback is communicated back to teams and actions implemented. The mission, vision and values workshop encouraged the involvement of respected employees and demonstrated the business commitment to listening to its employees and reinforced the inclusive culture and open door policy.

Crest Medical take the approach to wellbeing whereby they try to identify and tackle the cause and not the symptoms of their people's welfare. Wherever possible they try and accommodate and support any changes and adjustments to relieve any pressures that may occur either personally or professionally. They do this by ensuring they maintain an open dialogue with their employees through their communications infrastructure and people management.

As an organisation they put a lot of emphasis on identifying potential within the organisation and developing it accordingly. A typical example is one of their home managers who they financially assisted to build on her qualifications from Romania, from her starter position as a care assistant. This particular individual went on to do her nursing qualifications and the Registered Manager Award and now manages one of their homes.

Managers within the organisation make clear to their staff the objectives of their team and the organisation at a level that is appropriate to their role, ensuring that they understand how they are expected to contribute to developing and achieving them. They ensure they meet with their staff regularly and involve them in developing what they consider a viable reward and recognition strategy and how that connects with their own input toward the achievement of the organisation's goals. They also encourage their staff to recognise the contribution they and their colleagues make to the organisation, and recommend deserving colleagues for recognition. They implement an informal and formal evaluation of how their staff manage to keep on top of their expectations and offer constructive suggestions as the need arises. They also encourage a similar openness among their staff as they themselves enjoy with senior management, with the ultimate goal of an organisational culture of mutual support and encouragement..

Cougar Automation seeks to reward their employees for their efforts in a variety of ways. They recognise everyone that gives 10 out of 10 for customer service. This is done every two months at the company wide meetings and again at the awards presentation and at their annual Company Day.

Cougar Automation seeks to reward their employees for their efforts in a variety of ways. They recognise everyone that gives 10 out of 10 for customer service. This is done every two months at the company wide meetings and again at the awards presentation and at their annual Company Day.

The company organises and pays for one charity initiative each year which anyone in the agency can join. They believe passionately that the event should put something back into the local community where they work. On the surface Covent Garden, and the borough of Camden, where they are headquartered, is a wealthy and vibrant part of London. Behind the scenes it is home to many disadvantaged and under-privileged people and children. Their Give Day is designed to undertake a project which makes an immediate, if small, difference to the community. In the past they have cleared ponds in local parks, doing work that would otherwise need to be paid for by scarce resources, or painted local community facilities which again would need to be paid for from limited funds.

The company organises and pays for one charity initiative each year which anyone in the agency can join. They believe passionately that the event should put something back into the local community where they work. On the surface Covent Garden, and the borough of Camden, where they are headquartered, is a wealthy and vibrant part of London. Behind the scenes it is home to many disadvantaged and under-privileged people and children. Their Give Day is designed to undertake a project which makes an immediate, if small, difference to the community. In the past they have cleared ponds in local parks, doing work that would otherwise need to be paid for by scarce resources, or painted local community facilities which again would need to be paid for from limited funds.

The wellbeing of employees is supported through various means. Longer lunch breaks are provided to encourage healthy pursuits, such as running, swimming and gym time and extra holiday days are also given for every member of staff. They also provide fully equipped kitchens on every floor and a chill out area/social room to relax and play. To make sure their staff are both healthy and happy they offer medical screening. Their occupational Health advisor has introduced a monthly newsletter on different topics which is circulated to staff and has also been invited to present to staff to address any relevant health issues that are raised. They ensure the external staff are safe, by providing driver assessment training, and Help at hand; a telephone helpline; to assist with personal issues which may require expert assistance.

COMPUTERLINKS are committed to recycling, using Biffa recycling bins internally and externally, recycling all technical or printer equipment through an environmentally friendly agency and using only recycled stationary and toilet paper. As an organisation they provide market leading solutions that protect organisations of all sizes against Cyberthreats. Protecting infrastructure from cyber-attacks is critically important as any disruption can have a severe effect on the world. Due to the complex, interconnected fabric that controls the globe, Cyberthreats impact most aspects of our everyday lives from personal banking through to vital resources such as electricity and water supplies. Any compromise can cause significant economic and social damage and can even be fatal. They distribute both established and new technologies to provide protection against such threats. Working with trusted partners, these solutions are implemented by organisations across all markets to ensure the attacks are kept to a manageable level, to minimise disruption and protect the livelihoods of the global population.

Social events at COAL IT are circled in everyone's diary and none more so than the annual incentive. A memorable trip was where a group of 17 attended a 4 night all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas. It was a fantastic experience especially for those who had not been before. Staff stayed at the Encore which is one of Las Vegas' new hotels and dined in top Las Vegas restaurants including Koi and Steve Whynn's SW restaurant. The holiday was topped off by a night in the Encore's new club XS, seeing the Rat Pack show and even bumping into the legend that is Tom Jones.

COAL IT hold regular appraisals and one to ones between managers and their staff, where they ask for feedback on the company, as well as any issues in general and these are then relayed back to all staff in the monthly sales meetings. In addition to this, they have a quarterly newsletter where they ask staff for feedback and give them an opportunity to put forward anything they would like to be included in the next issue.

The company offers all employees a diverse range of social activities throughout the year including an annual subsidized ski trip, annual charity walk weekend and an international rugby match. They have found that spending time with staff members outside the work place is an excellent opportunity to find out what interests them both socially and professionally and in these relaxed settings they have received very valuable input into how the company, Senior Management Team and individual managers are perceived and the staff are very willing and open to provide feedback on any new company proposals and offer their own ideas for the company to consider. They always value the input of ideas from employees, one particular example was a suggestion to help the company increase its environmental recycling where they implemented a process to recycle all cardboard packing materials received in the Warehouse and Support Office and are now looking to extend this process to all their branches.

In response to feedback received from Managers' during their annual reviews in March 2011 requesting presentations from external speakers; the company engaged with Philip Hesketh, a world renowned motivation speaker to conduct training seminars for all staff. The seminars aimed to energise and motivate staff, build their confidence and enhance their customer service abilities. These were well received by all staff members and feedback was very positive. The leader of the organisation leads the organisation with real passion and drive, believes in quick decision-making and does not shy from making hard choices. His open door policy extends to emails and telephone calls and staff do not shy away from contacting him as they know he will listen and offer fair and direct feedback or advice. He is a people's person and makes each member of staff feel valued and appreciated. He values his good relationship with staff and will always ensure they receive the appreciation of the company for their hard work. At the core of his business style is a non-judgemental broad-minded attitude which is evidenced by his positive focus on and interaction with staff.

Citywire has an open plan office for all staff including senior management, this helps keep communication lines open at all levels of the business and direct feedback is welcomed by the Senior Management Team. The Chairman and CEO hold quarterly "town hall" meetings, where everyone in the company is invited; this keeps the staff up to date on company progress and actively encourages questions from staff. Citywire Improvement Group selects twelve individuals each year and gives them the opportunity to present their ideas to help improve the company. The Citywire Improvement groups have been continued with a further two offsite meetings taking place this year. The people invited are asked to come up with ideas to improve life at Citywire.

Citywire has an open plan office for all staff including senior management, this helps keep communication lines open at all levels of the business and direct feedback is welcomed by the Senior Management Team. The Chairman and CEO hold quarterly "town hall" meetings, where everyone in the company is invited; this keeps the staff up to date on company progress and actively encourages questions from staff. Citywire Improvement Group selects twelve individuals each year and gives them the opportunity to present their ideas to help improve the company. The Citywire Improvement groups have been continued with a further two offsite meetings taking place this year. The people invited are asked to come up with ideas to improve life at Citywire.

Managers ensure that individuals undergo a company induction which provides a context for an employees' role and impact on the wider organisation. They consider the level of support individuals will need to achieve their tasks and review this regularly asking for feedback on how they feel things are going. Regular informal conversations are held to ensure staff are happy and feeling supported alongside the formal bi-annual performance review process. They also respect employees' life outside of work and encourage home-working where the business can support this. They also consider requests for part-time roles and support these where they can in terms of business need.

As an organisation they undertake staff surveys twice a year as part of their biannual performance review process. At one of their sites an annual staff survey clearly stated that better internal communication was needed. A Comms Group was subsequently created consisting of a diverse range of volunteers from across the site and they have been successfully creating a quarterly newsletter for all of their staff at Nottingham. This is a great way of communicating upcoming events, charity information, recommendations and other areas which might be of interest to staff. It also regularly profiles different partners at the Treatment Centre and has received great feedback from all staff. They also operate an open-door policy for all management including the CEO. Despite being split across a number of sites, they come together every Monday for a video-conference call run by the CEO with contributions invited from all Partners.

All Head Office staff and their partners and children were invited by the company to a day at the Bournemouth Air Show in the Summer of 2011. This included their own viewing area at a top hotel on the West Cliff above Bournemouth seafront, a barbeque and bar/refreshments throughout the day.

Ceuta spread the 'green word' outside by way of communicating and encouraging their people and all their suppliers to be thoughtful about the environment at home as well as at work.

To say thank you and recognise the contribution that Centrica's employees and their families make to their success. They ran four CE Sunday events around the country over the summer. More than 2,000 people enjoyed fun in the sun, trying their hand at everything from dog training to archery. Live music provided the backing for the activities including pony riding, clay pigeon shooting and fairground rides. The events proved a big hit with employees. Colleagues who attended said that it was a ‘perfect day', ‘fun, safe and entertaining for everybody' and ‘to have the opportunity to see and speak with colleagues in an informal environment was great.'

Centrica Energy are aware that learning new skills and building capability is key to personal growth and to making Centrica Energy high performing, pioneering and safe. Their approach is to offer blended learning solutions to cater for all employees including at an individual, team and organisational level. Examples of this will include their Induction Day and Management Orientation, supporting Career Days for their Business Units and leading on HiPo programmes such as ELP to identify future leaders within the business.

Catermasters give on the spot gifts for people, for example a bouquet of flowers, a meal out for two and additional holiday. Catermasters have also worked on communications and making employees more aware of some of the things that they do as a business. They have also improved the induction programme and induction package to appeal to more front line team members.

Managers receive training in reviewing with staff. Managers also work alongside staff on a daily basis and teamwork is heavily promoted. Managers have monthly staff meetings to review how things have gone etc. Managers are required to carry out monthly training bites and ensure job descriptions and information is up to date.

Managers have to ensure that the maintenance of the PRIDE boards and the free flow of information is delivered consistently throughout the year. They also need to be aware of issues within the team and particulary if individuals within their team seem to be struggling and in turn giving them the advice and support they need to continue to be fulfilled within their role.

The leadership has built the business from a standing start in 2005 to a £25 million pound business at the end of 2011. This has been achieved by adhering to the values and ethos that the company was established on and being able as the company grew to communicate, motivate the new team members joining to all feel a sense of ownership and pride in the development of the company. This has been supported by a really effective communication and engagement policy that means that all team members feel they have a voice and that voice will be listened to and acted upon by all members of the management team. They believe that the success of the business is firmly established in the culture and the ability of the team.

Building Adhesives offer an occupational health facility on site which is open to all employees. They are able to self-refer to discuss any issues with their health advisor, who are independent of the organisation and information is confidential. They provide counselling for individuals if they are having a difficult time, not just work related but if they have any issues in their personal life that they need support with. Building Adhesives also offer mini medicals for all employees.

Building Adhesives offer an occupational health facility on site which is open to all employees. They are able to self-refer to discuss any issues with their health advisor, who are independent of the organisation and information is confidential. They provide counselling for individuals if they are having a difficult time, not just work related but if they have any issues in their personal life that they need support with. Building Adhesives also offer mini medicals for all employees.

The Operational Board have increased the level of authority that managers and team leaders have in relation to employee relations and budgetary control. This was done to empower the lower tiers of management. In addition to this they are the people that work closest with staff members, they know them as individuals and by allowing them more authority to make decisions based on what they feel is best for their staff has helped to boost staff morale, productivity and in turn engagement.

Brookson Ltd held a 15 Year Party in September 2010 to celebrate the 15 year anniversary of the company. There was a large focus on how the company had progressed over the 15 years it has been in operation and awards and special mentions were given to staff that had helped to contribute to the success of the business. The event celebrated both the achievements of the company and also the achievements of individual staff members. There was a three course meal, free bar and lots of entertainment this combined with the awards demonstrated that the company recognised and wanted to reward staff for their hard work over the past 15 years which collectively has resulted in the company's success.

Casterbridge use a direct email system called 'Mail Matt', where employees can email Operations Director Matthew Moore directly with any kind of query, idea or feedback. This is available in a link off the intranet site. Additionally there is a 'Directors' email address, allowing employees to contact all the senior team directly. Casterbridge hold a quarterly Employee Forum where questions can be raised and they invite questions at all staff meetings which can be passed through the appropriate communication channels to whoever can serve the question best. Casterbridge aim to engender a feeling of being able to communicate across the organisation freely and easily.

Casterbridge's training department (The Casterbridge Academy) amongst other activities operates internally and runs apprenticeship schemes for Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications in Childcare and Young People's Workforce. The overall aim of Casterbridge Academy is to recruit, train, educate and progress the future leaders of the business. Taking on approximately 120 new learners each year, they are based in Casterbridge's nursery settings which provides them with the right balance of gaining excellent on the job experience with formal training courses and programme assignments and tasks. The apprenticeship programmes and the team of dedicated trainers and assessors work with the learners in order to develop their skills and knowledge to the level of becoming a premium childcare practitioner allowing them to offer only the highest standards of care to all their children and parents. Upon graduating from the Level 3 programme the learners are considered by the industry to be ‘qualified' and are allowed to work independently and even progress on to be Supervisors and Nursery Managers although Casterbridge provide them with a lot more training before then. As far as they are aware, they are the only company in the industry to offer internally run apprenticeship programmes.

Company social events are a regular feature. Addiction Worldwide hold Friday drinks every week, when they all get together at the end of the day to chat over a few beers. Their monthly staff meeting always adjourns to a local pub, and turns into a social event. Recently they decorated the building with cobwebs and pumpkins for Halloween, most people dressed up and the day ended in a party. They also have a well-supported softball team. They are hardworking, highly motivated individuals who genuinely enjoy each other's company. People will often hear of staff members who go on holiday together and spend time together out of office hours. Fun and playfulness are key to a culture that is creative and encourages innovation and socialising is a lovely by-product of this. Social events are not limited to the 'junior' or 'younger' members of staff. The long standing, more senior members of staff are not afraid to get stuck in either.

Addiction Worldwide is fast paced and often has intense periods of working, so they have to be communicating, observing and listening to what is happening throughout the organisation. They work on the basis of 'Ask forgiveness not permission'. Feedback is an integral part of their culture, which is something they bring in from the interview stage. They are an entrepreneurial, creative company which employs people who want and indeed need to share ideas on a daily basis. To that end there is no suggestion box or other 'one fits all' way of capturing all of this. Instead they make sure that every single member of staff knows that they will be listened to and answered. It is integrated into their DNA .

Supporters regularly refer to the role profiles ensuring that the employee is clear about their role and responsibilities and the company's expectation of them, recognising the effort and contribution everyone makes by saying thank you at Team Meetings and away days.

At an Away Day in April the Senior Management Team spent the day facilitating the whole team in the development of the 5 year plan. This was done by first asking the team to step into the tardis, and via various stimulations, come up with their vision of the future both professionally and personally. The team were then split into groups and each group had a lense to explore the future through and brainstorm what the business would look like in that area. The groups were then asked to present their thoughts back to the whole team at the end of the day. These thoughts and ideas were then used back at the office by the Senior Management Team in the final write up of the 5 year plan. The inclusiveness of the day had a huge impact on the team which was reflected in the very positive verbatims recieved in their bi-yearly employee engagement survey.

Bovey Castle display the correct behaviours by communicating regularly in the form of meetings and appraisals. They also provide training sessions.

Bovey Castle display the correct behaviours by communicating regularly in the form of meetings and appraisals. They also provide training sessions.

They have a passionate belief in supporting their colleagues and have faced numerous challenges since the merger of the two heritage businesses, each with their own training methods and practices. To further develop their customer service training, they knew they needed to radically change the way they developed the capability of their practice colleagues adopting not just a ‘Best of Both' but a ‘Better than Both' approach to the challenge. Historically D&A had operated a compulsory NVQ programme for all of its practice colleagues whilst Boots had adopted a less structured but customer-led approach. To best support their colleagues the decision was taken to retain the formal NVQ approach. They also decided to make the programmes increasingly flexible and fit for purpose in a fast moving sector. So last year they made the Level 2 NVQ apprenticeship programme compulsory for all new joins - 400 new apprentices each year with capacity to flex up to over 600, and to ensure a consistent training experience for all learners whether full time or part time, government funded or non funded. In the last year, with the mission to ensure successful take up of the NVQ programme, they have opened five new satellite or regional training centres across the country. These have been carefully sited to ensure that all colleagues are within reasonable travelling distance of a centre, and that their Optical Consultant population do not have to stay overnight. This is particularly important given the number of part-time colleagues and colleagues with families, for whom residential training is extremely difficult. The company have invested large amounts in facilities, equipment and staff for these centres and they have all been created with colleagues' personal needs in mind. They want to ensure all of their colleagues have the knowledge they need to succeed in their role and the opportunity to develop themselves personally while at work, and the apprenticeship programme is just one example of that.

They have a passionate belief in supporting their colleagues and have faced numerous challenges since the merger of the two heritage businesses, each with their own training methods and practices. To further develop their customer service training, they knew they needed to radically change the way they developed the capability of their practice colleagues adopting not just a ‘Best of Both' but a ‘Better than Both' approach to the challenge. Historically D&A had operated a compulsory NVQ programme for all of its practice colleagues whilst Boots had adopted a less structured but customer-led approach. To best support their colleagues the decision was taken to retain the formal NVQ approach. They also decided to make the programmes increasingly flexible and fit for purpose in a fast moving sector. So last year they made the Level 2 NVQ apprenticeship programme compulsory for all new joins - 400 new apprentices each year with capacity to flex up to over 600, and to ensure a consistent training experience for all learners whether full time or part time, government funded or non funded. In the last year, with the mission to ensure successful take up of the NVQ programme, they have opened five new satellite or regional training centres across the country. These have been carefully sited to ensure that all colleagues are within reasonable travelling distance of a centre, and that their Optical Consultant population do not have to stay overnight. This is particularly important given the number of part-time colleagues and colleagues with families, for whom residential training is extremely difficult. The company have invested large amounts in facilities, equipment and staff for these centres and they have all been created with colleagues' personal needs in mind. They want to ensure all of their colleagues have the knowledge they need to succeed in their role and the opportunity to develop themselves personally while at work, and the apprenticeship programme is just one example of that.

Bond Pearce has a confidential and free employee assistance helpline, for anyone to call and discuss personal or work-related problems. They also have regular occupational health visits by a qualified GP to each of their office locations. He is available for any employee to attend a private consultation, should he/she need to do so. They also have free eye tests and flu jabs for all employees.

Bond Pearce has an active Corporate Responsibility agenda with local committees in each office. One of their most innovative actions is the Business Action on Homelessness (BAOH), which is a unique partnership between business, homeless agencies and the Government. The campaign runs in a number of cities, including Bristol, and aims to break the cycle of "no job, no home", by helping homeless people to find employment and achieve independent living. The people on the campaign are “hidden homeless” i.e. not rough sleepers but people living in hostels or other forms of temporary accommodation. They all share the aim of wanting to change their lives by returning to work but often lack the confidence and the know how to achieve this for themselves. Bond Pearce (Bristol office) has hosted part of the BAOH training programme for their homeless clients. They help by providing some volunteers to help clients improve their interview skills. Bond Pearce have participated in this programme over a number of years. The homeless clients gain an immense amount of confidence simply from coming into a professional office environment, being treated with respect and finding out that people who work in this type of firm are interested in seeing them achieve success

Managers are expected to use the 'LMS' system to conduct regular reviews with teams. Employees are asked to rate each objective on a given scale and constructive feedback is provided to support development. Managers are also expected to use the 'Shine' recognition platform by reviewing nominations for employees and approving awards. Managers are also expected to utilise the full range of resources on offer to support personal and career development. Using such programmes enables managers to adapt to a variety of challenging situations and also offer support in giving feedback to teams.

The most innovative thing that the organisation has done this year with regard to giving something back, centres on the adoption of a more proactive and structured approach to organising their community and charity programme. The programme seeks to give back to the community and engage their people in a range of volunteering and charitable opportunities through the use of the company volunteer policy, allowing up to two days out of the office per year to participate in community initiatives. Run by an employee-led CSR steering group, the programme has been organised in two main areas; charitable giving and community investment. The objective of the charitable giving element is to ensure both employee involvement and maximum benefit for charity through fundraising and donations. This year Macmillan Cancer Support was selected by their people as the national charity and they set an ambitious target of raising £50,000, enough to fund a Macmillan nurse for one year. Employees can also sign up for payroll giving or apply for matched sponsorship for personal charity fundraising activities. Building on the theme of employee involvement, the community investment element of their programme aims to develop an awareness of the impact of their business on the wider community, encouraging their people to volunteer to participate in community based initiatives. These initiatives range from employability skills workshops to painting and maintenance in the local community. All volunteering activities are made available through their ‘oneCommunity' online volunteering platform.

BMT celebrated its 25th anniversary by launching a new significant philanthropic project called BMT Giveback. All staff were invited to submit ideas for ways in which the application of BMT's technical scientific and engineering capabilities could make a difference to the lives of people in developing countries. The winning idea which has been put into practice is the design and implementation of a low cost sewerage and sewage treatment system for a rural village in India. At present, with no sanitation system, dirty water flows in open channels down the middle of unpaved roads, creating health risks. The project is much more than just a charitable donation, it is a technical challenge which BMT's engineers have taken on to design a novel system which will work with very low water flows and be easy to maintain by the local people. By choosing materials and skills for the construction which area available locally, businesses in the area have been able to secure contracts to deliver the works, ensuring the maximum economic benefit to the local community. The new design having been created and piloted by BMT's technical experts is being given away to an international development charity who will seek to implement it elsewhere. So not only will the 2500 people in this village experience a significant increase in their quality of life, but potentially many thousands elsewhere.

BMT celebrated its 25th anniversary by launching a new significant philanthropic project called BMT Giveback. All staff were invited to submit ideas for ways in which the application of BMT's technical scientific and engineering capabilities could make a difference to the lives of people in developing countries. The winning idea which has been put into practice is the design and implementation of a low cost sewerage and sewage treatment system for a rural village in India. At present, with no sanitation system, dirty water flows in open channels down the middle of unpaved roads, creating health risks. The project is much more than just a charitable donation, it is a technical challenge which BMT's engineers have taken on to design a novel system which will work with very low water flows and be easy to maintain by the local people. By choosing materials and skills for the construction which area available locally, businesses in the area have been able to secure contracts to deliver the works, ensuring the maximum economic benefit to the local community. The new design having been created and piloted by BMT's technical experts is being given away to an international development charity who will seek to implement it elsewhere. So not only will the 2500 people in this village experience a significant increase in their quality of life, but potentially many thousands elsewhere.

The company provide employees with their own, personalised mug upon joining the firm to eliminate waste from the use of paper cups.

All partners and directors attended a workshop designed to help them to motivate, recognise and retain their employees. The Senior Management team have also approved a firmwide strategy session off site for May 2012. This is currently in the planning stages. Bob Rothenberg became Senior Partner at the company in 1997. He has an approachability and warmth that make him very popular with everyone within the organisation. He successfully lives the firm's values and has managed to nurture a firm that cares about its staff whilst also being supportive of new and innovative approaches to the way they do things.

As well as having an employee assistance programme in place, employees are able to have massages during their working day. The firm also offer access to a doctor and occupational health specialists. A full workstation assessment programme is also in place.

Birketts has an ad-hoc reward system where individuals or teams are rewarded for achievement, outstanding work or going the extra mile. Rewards vary and can be money for a meal out or weekend away or vouchers. In addition, Birketts also has a published profit share scheme.

In 2010, Barlows entered and won the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce Business Awards Invest in Skills category. To celebrate their sucess all employees were invited to attend an awards ceremony.

To initiate employee engagement, new employees will be given a structured induction over two weeks from arrival at Barlows. Their personal development process provides a two-way framework that balances a structured approach with flexibility and informality. It is also intended to integrate a process of employee and company improvement into the everyday running of the business by improving hard and soft skills, addressing behaviour and liking roles to the company mission. The company also share their knowledge and skills in the workplace through coaching and mentoring, workplace secondments and collaborative planning. All have an immediate impact on business results.

Europ Assistance held a free Family Fun day at Warden Park School. The event also raised money for their two staff charities, Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre and St Peter & St James Hospice. All members of staff at Europ Assistance were invited and encouraged to bring along their friends and family. The day started with traditional races; egg & spoon race, sack race, three legged race etc. This was enjoyed by both the children and adults! There were various prizes for the winners but the adults were definitely more competitive which provided good entertainment for all those spectating. Other events included; face painting, balloon modelling, a bouncy castle for the children, giant jenga, rounders and table tennis. Food was laid on with a fish and chip van followed by ice creams for all from an ice cream van. Raffle tickets were sold on the day and prior to the event with donated prizes including; Champagne, Family Portrait and Cinema voucher, plus many more. Everyone enjoyed the day whether they were taking part in the events or simply relaxing and soaking up the sun. The Social and Charity Committee members put a great deal of effort into organising the event and feedback from members of staff was extremely positive!

Europ Assistance Holdings Limited provides intranet wellbeing, charity work and a discounted gym. The organisation also has a ride to work scheme and provides flu jabs.

Argos believes the wellbeing of all their colleagues is vitally important and something they are widening over the next year. At their distribution centres, the company are currently trialling a wellbeing programme which will potentially be rolled out to other distribution sites and the rest of Argos. This trial aims to prevent and/or incorporate early detection, therefore maintaining and improving the health and wellbeing of the workforce. A regular monthly calendar of events incorporates health awareness campaigns including mental health, diet & exercise, cancer, stopping smoking and flu vaccinations, corporate benefits promotion, managing money and fun/team building events. Across the whole business the company offers the below, under the umbrella of wellbeing: All colleagues have access to a confidential telephone line to support facilities that provide guidance on health, financial and legal advice. In addition to the actual health of their colleagues, other elements of wellbeing including financial help.

Across the business, employees have the opportunity to develop through different training schemes. The Raising the Bar programme is more than the run of the mill training programme. It is based around changing the mind-set of the company's senior store colleagues, and giving them the tools to inspire and lead their teams to be the best they can be and enhance service to customers. STEPS is a tool that helps Argos' non-management employees achieve desired levels of performance, it is used for stores to develop their teams, whilst delivering exceptional customer service. Idevelop is used in Argos' Head Office and is an online development tool which facilitates learning. Distribution: Connecting You, is designed for the senior team, to give them the tools to understand the needs of their teams. SkillPac – includes the distribution induction, and specific training including H&S/manual handling and department role training. Professional training: Across the whole business, any employee can opt to do a funded professional course related to their role including paid study leave.

Arena Media have their very own social team who organise all their social events during the year. Every quarter, they have an all staff party to get together outside of work to mingle and socialise. A particular memorable occasion was the Summer Party last year which was held in July. It was a pirate/treasure hunt theme which consisted of staff getting into coloured teams to follow a twitter treasure map to find the 'treasure' - the party venue! The night was a great success and staff had a wonderful time. It allowed everyone to interact and especially allowed new staff members to meet people in the company.

Arena Media aim to create as many opportunities as possible to share ideas, encourage feedback and most importantly to listen. The company actively encourages each employee to ‘make a difference' as set out in their mission statement. One good example of this is the Arena's Dragon Den, which they introduced last year. Staff were invited to persuade the Dragons, a panel made up of staff at various levels, to part with their cash - a chunk of the charity budget for a charity they felt was most deserving. It was a way for them to ‘make a difference' and 50 employees chose to take part. To ensure they live up to their proposition, Arena Media carried out several workshops to discuss what Further, Faster means to individuals and departments, as well as generating ideas. Keeping the groups small and making it informal has given everyone a voice at all levels. Attendance at the workshops was very high, as people recognised it was their chance to get involved in shaping how the business is run.

Almac's late Founder, Sir Allen McClay, supported by their CEO always considered their employees as an extended family - "the Almac family". That sincere belief in the Almac people is what sets them apart and makes the company a special place to work. Almac's CEO is hugely active and visible in all aspects of the business. He remains on first name terms with everyone regardless of position or stature and his informal manner is highly motivational and encourages an easy flow of communication across the company. Due to his friendly, approachable and flexible attitude he is known, liked and truly respected by everyone. He is involved in every major business decision right throughout the organisation, ensuring all aspects are resourced adequately and their potential is maximised. He is a true leader who relentlessly drives the company forward with confidence and passion.

Almac's late Founder, Sir Allen McClay, supported by their CEO always considered their employees as an extended family - "the Almac family". That sincere belief in the Almac people is what sets them apart and makes the company a special place to work. Almac's CEO is hugely active and visible in all aspects of the business. He remains on first name terms with everyone regardless of position or stature and his informal manner is highly motivational and encourages an easy flow of communication across the company. Due to his friendly, approachable and flexible attitude he is known, liked and truly respected by everyone. He is involved in every major business decision right throughout the organisation, ensuring all aspects are resourced adequately and their potential is maximised. He is a true leader who relentlessly drives the company forward with confidence and passion.

Nutritionist sessions are arranged by the company where staff can discuss their diet and ways to improve it. The company provides flu vaccinations for any staff who want it in the run-up to winter. They have a Dunhill Den - a 5th floor "common room" environment with TV, table football, music, fruit, food and drink available all through the day.

Over the last year, the company have put in place specific additional bonus schemes related to enterprise-critical projects, where all involved staff can obtain a financial reward if the project deadline is hit. This has proved to be a valuable way to focus and motivate the teams involved. They also have access to 8 Wembley stadium tickets, which are given out to different members of different teams by the CEO and ExCo, as a reward for delivery or working successes.

The company frequently celebrate successes.

The company frequently celebrate successes.