What are companies doing with regards to 'My Team'

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Gateway Housing Association

A staff forum network, known as ‘Gateway Together’, exists to raise awareness of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Designed to promote a constantly evolving positive and inclusive culture, it has led to a number of events initiatives including Eid celebrations, Pride, Men’s Health, Black History Month, and International Women’s Week.

Gateway’s office refurbishment included a new recycling system, as well as other initiatives that focused on a commitment to mitigating its impact on the environment. These include LED lighting, the use of hybrid vehicles and electric charging points, as well as a ‘Cycle to Work’ scheme and a bike loan initiative.

Collaboration and inclusion activities consist of weekly team briefings internally, as well as a number of external team bonding activities. These include taking part in virtual ‘escape rooms’, as well as the establishment of a ‘Birthday Month Club’ to encourage celebration across different teams.

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Manufacturing

Lionel Hitchen

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Each department runs a monthly "world-class manufacturing" meeting that other staff can attend with the aim of improving cross-departmental relationships and understanding, and to share ideas. There is usually a fun team-building activity, too.
A training programme was rolled out to leaders, who reviewed the company's values and came up with a memorable way of summarising them, called the Hitchen Way. The programme also resulted in the formulation of three transformational business goals, which have brought considerable improvements to business processes and have involved large cross-functional teams.
The company set up a Green Team to work on reducing its carbon footprint and staff engaged enthusiastically in coming up with more than 100 ideas and projects for energy saving, which will include the purchase of a new electric van in 2022.
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Financial Services

William Blair

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William Blair's Global Inclusion Council, created in 2017, is an advisory group of colleagues responsible for defining the firm's inclusion strategy and priorities to create a workplace where people are encouraged to bring their individual perspectives and experiences to work to drive greater creativity.

During the pandemic, it was important to keep employees up-to-date and to promote team bonding. William Blair launched a microsite dedicated to Covid-19 updates and a special edition of the firm's global electronic newsletter, Inside William Blair@Home.

Each employee received a food voucher that could be used for home deliveries while working from home. The company has a strong employee assistance programme to support every member of the workforce. Laptops were issued to all staff to enable the team to work from home over the past year.

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Consultancy

Veramed

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Recent staff socials have ranged from a Ukrainian cookery class to scavenger hunts, with some wine and chocolate tasting thrown in. The events were run remotely using funds ring-fenced early in the pandemic.  Exercise hasn't been forgotten and a professional yoga instructor and personal trainer run classes online at lunchtime.

Daily stand-up virtual meetings allow teams to discuss the day ahead while enjoying their morning coffee.  These 15-20 minute calls also provide the opportunity to start the day with a human connection and the chance to ask colleagues for advice on work issues.

An environmentally preferred purchasing policy encourages employees to be mindful of the way in which they manage their travel, purchase office equipment and stationery and manage their home office. Company offices have been equipped with energy trackers, all waste is recycled and use of recycled and non-toxic products is encouraged.

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UKCloud

UKCloud is committed to supporting employees' development, ensuring that it is tailored towards each staff member's specific ambitions and career path. A buddy system for new recruits provides a career mentor for people as they embark on a five-week programme of on-the-job training.

Colleagues found new and interesting virtual ways to use their social budget – £75 per head every quarter – while operating remotely. UKCloud believes this initiative has been pivotal in helping to maintain strong team interaction during a challenging year.

A Health and Wellbeing Week in January 2021 promoted practical strategies for feeling better. Senior leaders got behind the initiative, encouraging staff to exercise during the cold winter months. They have also been active in continuing to break down the stigma associated with mental health.

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Tonic Games Group

Every second Wednesday, staff have the afternoon off to work on personal development projects alone or in groups. They show off their projects in a regular video series and monthly newsletter. Each employee also has £300 to spend on courses and resources on the online learning platform Learnably, launched in December 2020.

One of the lessons of lockdown was that the more people communicated outside their day job, the more productive collaborations they had on important projects. Mediatonic recognised its teams had different rhythms and stopped organising fun events such as quizzes and tea breaks in favour of empowering groups to host events of their own design.

Mediatonic is a founding partner for Safe in Our World's new campaign, #LevelUpMentalHealth, which seeks to unite the gaming industry to support both players and developers who may be struggling silently with their mental health. The company has also set aside money to support two charities fighting racial inequality in the UK.

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Housing Associations

Thrive Homes

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Thrive Homes switched quickly to being a remote business last March. The Chief Executive, Elspeth Mackenzie, took to the internal social network OneThrive to provide business updates and advice on public health guidelines. Workplace by Facebook was also used to keep staff informed.

The Lumina Spark programme is used to develop people's understanding of themselves and others. It provides tools to constructively share, challenge, debate and give feedback, and to enhance emotional intelligence when interacting with colleagues and customers. Managers draw on its insights in the growth of their teams.

Inspired by a two-minute video from New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, managers took part in a 15-second challenge, #PrideinThrive. Each of them filmed themselves talking about what they were most proud of and grateful for. The clips were posted on the firm's internal social network.

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Property

The Howard de Walden Estate

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The Howard de Walden Estate promotes training and development within the wide-ranging roles in the property company, including tiers of management. Support is also available for further education where applicable to the role and the individual employee.

Daily and weekly meetings kept teams bonded in the past year using cloud technology that the company already had in place. Team members also got together online to boost morale with virtual cocktail evenings and a book club.

A personal trainer kept employees on their toes with weekly workouts, recipes and advice for staying healthy during lockdown. Excellent health benefits for staff at The Howard Walden Estate include 24-hour access to mental health advisers.

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Teamspirit

Teamspirit's culture of collaboration allowed the senior leaders to implement decisions quickly and effectively under high-stress, chaotic conditions as the coronavirus crisis developed last year. They road-tested a pandemic disaster recovery plan with all employees in February and implemented flexible working.

After a survey showed that 59% of staff feared that remote working might slow their career and personal development, the agency raised the visibility of its extensive training programme and celebrated promotions (19% of the 70-strong team were promoted last year). In the next survey, 59% shrank to 19%.

Staff vote anonymously in the quarterly peer group rewards scheme, which honours team members who have made a difference through living the company values. The six people with the highest number of nominations receive a £600 voucher and get to hear the often moving comments of colleagues who nominated them.

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Retail

tails.com

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The company works hard to avoid gender bias and promotes and hires on merit. It means there is a healthy female/male balance across the team, of which 58% are women. In the senior team, 51% are women. Thirty per cent of the software team are women, compared with an industry average of 15%.
At Tails.com new recruits aren't given an induction, but an InDogtion. It is a week-long introduction to the company, giving them the opportunity to meet their fellow pack members. They receive a welcome pack on their first day, which includes some of the organisations products, a branded hoodie and notebook.
One of the more innovative partnerships that Tails.com formed in the past year was with Ishango, a programme that offers data scientists in Africa the opportunity to undertake a 12-week project for global host companies. The first cohort was an overwhelming success and the company will welcome a new one this year.
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