My Team

Marketing & Media Agencies

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The Beyond Collective

Strong internal communication is important at Beyond Marketing and 30 minutes each week is spent updating everyone on projects, client pitches, people initiatives and news, as well as keeping them in the loop with activities for the week ahead. The Culture Club organises pub nights, birthday celebrations and annual outings.

The group has enhanced maternity-leave policies. Up to five "landing days" at full pay towards the end of maternity leave are designed to help reintegrate an employee back into work and, for the first six weeks after return, its "breakfast and bedtimes" policy allows staff to arrive late and leave early.

Beyond Marketing offers its services at a discount to charities. In the past year it has created an award-winning, innovative, donation-driving campaign for Shelter, a new advertising campaign for Alzheimer's Research UK and helped children's charity Make a Wish to spend more effectively on media.

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Business Services

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Here East

Here East has a flat structure that encourages staff to seek support from those in different departments should they need it. One-to-one mentoring is available for those who need a safe space to discuss anything personal or work related.

During the summer, team days take place in the local park. Games are played, staff have picnics and take part in interactive workshops. There is an all-team meeting every month, during which there is a fun team-building game. A social committee arranges regular events, in addition to the Christmas and summer parties.

All staff are paid 14% above the London Living Wage. On top of this, the business gave everyone an allowance of 4.8% in April to help support them when the cost of living increased. A Team Stars recognition scheme gives monthly rewards to staff and there is an annual awards ceremony rewards Here East Heroes.

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Education & Training

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Wigan & Leigh College

As well as its charity efforts, the college has environmental initiatives in place. It promotes the cycle-to-work agenda and the number of staff signing up to it, instead of using cars or public transport, has increased. It also advocates recycling and has bins and stations across the campus.

To promote health and wellbeing, the college offers an employee assistance programme and occupational health support. Managers have had training in resilience, there are mental health first aiders and one-to-one counselling is provided. Hybrid working helps with work-life balance.

There are twice-yearly celebration events and staff sports days. Social activities include a book club and a cycle club. Staff briefings involve all employees. There is also a biannual staff survey, as well as regular focus groups and staff newsletters. Staff can use the college's employee engagement app, Stribe, to leave feedback.

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Technology

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SourceBreaker

Teams have champions who encourage cross-departmental collaboration. For example, the customer success team has product, sales, operations and marketing champions. They take responsibility for relaying key information from their respective departments and looking at how customer success might work with those departments and improve processes.

The future leaders' programme aims to develop the next generation of leaders, as well as show staff that the company is investing in their careers. It also serves to increase buy-in to its vision. Each session focuses on understanding what the business wants to achieve and the part future leaders play in it.

SourceBreaker has early-finish Fridays, when work stops at 3pm, it offers 30 days' annual leave on top of bank holidays and a "work from anywhere" policy, so staff can go on holiday and stay on to work from that location for two to three weeks more.

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Retail

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Buyagift

B Teams champion the voices of staff. B-You, which leads the cause for all things inclusivity, was launched in January. The B-Social team focuses on culture and events and the B-Well team has responsibility for wellbeing initiatives.

Monthly company updates provide the whole team with a progress report on the overall business and how it is doing financially. Project updates are also given, along with shout-outs for team member achievements and new starters are welcomed.

For 12 years, the group has supported Cool Earth, which works to protect the world's rainforests. Since 2010, it has been partnering with the Willow Foundation to make special days possible for seriously ill young adults. Money has also been raised for local charities, such as Herts Young Homeless and Borehamwood Food Bank.

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Consultancy

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Momentum

Staff say one of their favourite benefits is access to the mental health support service Spill. It provides them with free, confidential access to a therapist, whenever they need it, whether it's to have sessions or ask a question about something on their mind.

Allowing colleagues to choose their own working hours, where they work, and how they work best has seen a reduction in fatigue across the business, as the team is able to focus on delivering their best work rather than working in an environment that doesn't serve them.

On Social Thursdays, the last Thursday of every month, most staff come in to the office, spend the day working together and collaborating, then everyone finishes slightly early to do something social. It may be a sushi-making class, a baby shower for a team member or a Wimbledon-themed table-tennis tournament.

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Marketing & Media Agencies

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MadeBrave

Managers have access to a toolkit that helps them to have effective one-to-one meetings, set well-formed goals in their teams, share and manage expectations and give good feedback. They also have wellbeing training, so they can support staff, understand their own limitations and know when to make a referral.

MadeBrave runs team away-days, such as a trip to Copenhagen and a Find Your Brave Weekend, quarterly immersion weeks and team-building activities, along with other opportunities to mingle and have fun. This year, an external provider has been brought in to stage events to help to keep staff connected and engaged.

Thanks to its "work from anywhere" policy, MadeBrave estimates its CO2 emissions will be reduced by 73%. It also offers a cycle-to-work scheme. Most of the paper used for print work comes from mills run on renewable energy and the print shops it works with are carbon neutral.

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Recruitment

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Macildowie

The company uses "walking meetings" to encourage staff to remain active and spend time away from desks. Paid sick leave is available from day one and free private healthcare is available to those at certain grades and to others at a reduced price.

Team spirit is seen as one of the most important skills to develop. Team-building activities challenge employees to do something that is out of their comfort zone, including raft-building, a high-ropes assault course and a visit to The Cube in Manchester, which offers mental and physical challenges in the ITV game show's Perspex boxes.

Staff nominate two charities a year to support. This year they have been raising funds for and volunteering at Stonebridge City Farm, in Nottingham, and the Leicestershire Action for Mental Health Project. Charity runs and office competitions are among the events that bring in cash for the charities.

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Education & Training

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Bridgend College

Cross-college continuing professional development days bring staff together to take part in group workshops. Team away-days, bring-your-dog-to-work day, planting sessions and celebratory events on national days all help to encourage staff interaction.

Last year, an equality, diversity and inclusion adviser was appointed to help increase diversity and create conscious inclusion across the college in line with its "be all that you can be" mission and to foster an environment where students and staff feel as though they belong.

Performance and development reviews are an essential tool in helping managers understand what motivates their staff and support their wellbeing and personal development. An Ignite mentoring programme is being developed to help staff in lower bands acquire the abilities and confidence to compete for higher-level posts.

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Technology

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Appello

A team of staff produces a bi-monthly newsletter, The Wrap Up, which is sent to the whole business. It provides updates on new joiners, career changes, promotions and births, as well as spotlighting particular departments, products or processes.

Senior managers have been leading from the front in making adjustments within their teams to support more flexible working and developing internal opportunities for people to carve out a long-term career with Appello.

Development is supported through succession-planning and encouraging staff to apply for internal roles, before jobs are advertised externally. Since the last survey, more than 20 staff have been promoted or transferred to fellow departments to progress their careers and widen their skill sets.

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Team Cohesion = Performance

The Beyond Collective

Here East

Wigan & Leigh College

SourceBreaker

Buyagift

Momentum

MadeBrave

Macildowie

Bridgend College

Appello

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