What are companies doing with regards to 'My Team'

Each year Carlson's locations are asked to choose a charity they would like to support throughout the year. They organise their own fun-raising activities around various themes and also collect money around the office. Such activities have been themed around ' The Great British Bake Off', where people baked cakes and brought them in. Slices were sold off and the money all went to the chosen charity. Branches have also run a fancy dress competition and Carlson really give the branches free reign with this to do as they wish.

Last year Carlson introduced Fish and Chip suppers, whereby their SVP and a member of the Leadership Team went to each location in the UK and Ireland network and had an evening of fish and chips and an open discussion forum. Staff members were very open about their likes and dislikes and were encouraged to be honest. The company also have a weekly update and two monthly updates that are sent to the network. The weekly one highlights what has been happening in the network, updates on staff and training and also roles that are available around the network as a whole. For the monthly updates, one is from the SVP and is called 'Catch up with Chris', providing a general business update. The other comes from the Marketing Director and is called 'Assets of the Month'. This informs staff what's new in the marketing world and also what CWT is doing in relation to marketing campaigns. Carlson used to use Yammer but have now changed this to Jive effective 1st January. Jive is a platform whereby staff can share ideas, suggestions, help colleagues and collaborate across a much wider network. People are encouraged to set up groups for different project and topics and use it as the go-to place for peer-to-peer support.

CS Healthcare employ a reward and recognition framework for their employees. This assesses what reward should be given to an employee or team based on their contribution to the Society. It also looks at an employee's behaviour based on the company's five key behaviours and performance. The criteria looks at whether an employee or team has performed over and above the required level for their job, if they have demonstrated all the key behaviours positively and if their behaviour is consistently good in their contacts across the Society. Employees will be eligible for rewards on different levels. This process will ask Line Managers and the Senior Management Team to nominate an individual or team with final sign off from the Chief Executive, who will then decide what level of reward will be given.

CS Healthcare brought in a Chiropractor to assess all employees that wanted a free consultation. As the company are an organisation where employees are sat at their desks most of the time they wanted to ensure they had an opportunity to get checked and sort any painful issues they may have had. This was very well received and gave the Society the opportunity to show they care about the wellbeing of their employees. CS are also introducing Resilience Training for employees to give them the tools to cope resiliently with stress. They have increased the lunch break period to promoted breaks to ensure employees can get away from their desks and feel refreshed. This is important for employees wellbeing as well as enhancing productivity. They are even introducing Mentoring and coaching at work, with the aim of providing additional support for staff to ensure they receive all the help they need.

Leaders and managers are easily accessible at CPPG and are always ready to listen. Team leaders are encouraged to discuss proposed new initiatives with their teams and feedback their comments. Working parties led by members of the management team are used with representatives from each department or location so that all views can be gathered. Regular meetings are held so that everyone in the company is kept up to date with such discussions. CPPG operate an open door policy to encourage discussion amongst team members and their team leaders and managers.

Leaders and managers are easily accessible at CPPG and are always ready to listen. Team leaders are encouraged to discuss proposed new initiatives with their teams and feedback their comments. Working parties led by members of the management team are used with representatives from each department or location so that all views can be gathered. Regular meetings are held so that everyone in the company is kept up to date with such discussions. CPPG operate an open door policy to encourage discussion amongst team members and their team leaders and managers.

During CityWest Homes management development programme action plans are created, redefined and developed. Action learning sets are then created and all Managers are taught to coach so that they can aid one another in their learning sets. They help to support one another with their action plans, both personal and professional and they also expand their cross-company knowledge and networks. In addition they provide eLearning wherever possible to support their training and use their intranet to store useful documents and resources for Managers who have been on training courses. All Managers are required to have one to one's with their Managers at least weekly or bi-weekly to measure their performance. At this meeting they receive feedback on management capabilities, culture and values. Additionally at the end of each financial year Managers are assessed formally against their objectives. They also have a 360 review completed by their peers and reports to determine how far they display the cultures and values.

CityWest have a number of initiatives that bring their people together so that they all get to know people outside of their teams. In 2014 CityWest Homes launched a new networking group called ‘creating balance'. This group aims to build a vibrant and supportive network to expand the opportunities for women at CityWest Homes. Meeting at their Head Office, all of their people have the chance to share experiences and learn from a range of guest speakers. The most recent speaker was the Arsenal Ladies footballer Danielle Carter. Danielle gave a fantastic insight on what it is like being a female footballer, the drive and determination needed to make it and she also gave some useful hints and tips on how to achieve your dreams. The CityWest Homes book club meets every six weeks to discuss a book over food and a glass of wine or a soft drink. The CityWest Homes Social Club runs subsidised events every month, which range from salsa classes and cocktail making to a Halloween walk through central London.

Every employee is included in CIL's generous company bonus scheme. A bonus is paid three times per year, in September, March, and a smaller Christmas bonus in December. The amount received is a function of company performance, the individual's grade and the individual's own performance. People are told about their bonuses personally by one of the Partners, and everyone receives a personalised letter summing up the key projects and achievements from the last six months. Through the bonus scheme, employees receive an uplift on their salary ranging from 20% of base (at Analyst level) to 100% (senior managers).

CIL have a comprehensive internal training programme that aims to support people on their career journey from Analyst through to Partner. Everyone starts with a thorough two-week induction fortnight, which focuses on the core skills that one will need as a consultant and how they apply them on CIL projects. The fortnight finishes with a mini-team project to simulate the kind of work people would do on a typical project. After induction fortnight they have c.40 training modules that support people with their journey to Consultant. During this time there is also a lot of emphasis placed on self-teaching and using the people around you to help coach. CIL encourage new joiners to be curious and ask questions of those around them. For Consultants and above they have a series of lunch sessions with guest speakers from friends amongst their client base. These sessions are intended to introduce Consultants to themes outside of the core day job but also to help them get a good feel for what CIL clients really look for in their work. To help people progress to Partner, CIL have an excellent sales training programme that focuses both on presentation techniques but also sales habits and processes. These are delivered by specialist external training companies.

Every month Chorus reward their support engineers as a group and by naming an individual who stood out that month. The company have set targets to achieve for delivering customer service and depending how much they are exceeded affects how large the rewards are. By rewarding an individual Chorus find it brings a competitive element and by doing this monthly staff know they stand a really good chance of winning and beating their target. By also doing a team reward Chrous help build team-building and ensure staff are rewarded for their hard work. These rewards have included a go-karting day out, meal and drinks for the team, paintballing etc and the rewards are chosen by the team so they have something they would want to receive.

This year Chorus are supporting the Children's Hospice South West as their charity of the year. Last December they asked all staff to nominate a charity that they wanted to support – these charities were then listed on the internal social site Yammer and all staff voted, with the winner being CHSW. Throughout 2016 the company organised various fundraising activities – both as a company and as individual activities with company support and donations. Individual activities have included the Bristol 10k and the Guernsey Marathon, while company activities have included a 5k colour run, the Portishead Raft Race and cake sales. As well as activities, Chorus have a collection basket in their staff area for staff to drop off unwanted goods that they take to their charity shop, as well as a collection pot. Chorus do not have any written initiatives but have an equality and diversity policy in place so do not discriminate. They ensure that their buildings (and past offices) are accessible for anyone with disabilities and will be as flexible as possible to help anyone return to work.

CarShop have a very clear development journey that arms colleagues with the right tools, training and support along the way. CarShop supports colleagues with studies and e,ployees are able to request study leave. CarShop will also assist in funding courses if there is a business need for someone to gain a qualification. There is an e-learning renovation project underway too to make this a blended learning approach. The company also work with some excellent third parties to tailor training for bespoke requirements, which makes them an industry leader in their training programmes.

CarShop have a very clear development journey that arms colleagues with the right tools, training and support along the way. CarShop supports colleagues with studies and e,ployees are able to request study leave. CarShop will also assist in funding courses if there is a business need for someone to gain a qualification. There is an e-learning renovation project underway too to make this a blended learning approach. The company also work with some excellent third parties to tailor training for bespoke requirements, which makes them an industry leader in their training programmes.

Being a dispersed workforce, it's critical that Canonical provide their employees with valuable opportunities to improve interactions and communications within their teams, as well as across the organisation. To achieve this, the company hold a number of Sprints. Sprints are opportunities for teams to fly to some exciting locations around the world to work in a co-located environment. Sprints are used as an opportunity to align company strategy, priorities and for teams to work on projects. The founder, CEO and EVP's are actively involved at these Sprints, providing employees with opportunities to interact at all levels. In addition, Canonical uses a number of online communication tools such as instant chat, group emails, video calls and virtual town halls to encourage the sharing of opinions and ideas and to ensure teams are getting the value of face to face communication. There is a culture of open communication and transparency at Canonical. Jane Silber the CEO and the Executive Team encourage this by providing regular company updates, town-halls and opportunities for every employee to actively engage in decisions and news. This is further demonstrated by skip level meetings to remain current and engaged with employees across the organisation.

Reward and recognition programmes are important at Canonical to support the retention of top talent, improve team culture and to ensure they are continuing to foster a higher performance organisation. There are various ways the company recognise their employees, including a number of internal awards such as ‘Exceptional Contribution', ‘Spot Light on Success', ‘Valuable Contribution' and the ‘Thank You' awards. Anyone across the organisation can nominate colleagues for these awards, which draws visibility to great work and provides valuable recognition across peer groups. When driving a high performance culture, it's important that everyone can recognise what 'great' looks like and this programme empowers employees to advocate and recognise greatness. Those nominated are celebrated with company-wide recognition and a cash award. In addition to all this, every employee is eligible for the annual compensation review, which includes a performance based bonus. Canonical value and encourage innovation and the pursuit of personal and professional ambitions. They are even frequently producing achievements in the form of publications, keynote and software innovation and development, which is recognised and celebrated company-wide via various communication channels.

CDP is an independent innovation partner who has completed over 1,000 product development assignments for businesses around the world. Members of their team are named inventors on many hundreds of patents owned by their customers. The company are based in two of the world's leading centres for science and technology. Their European office is in Cambridge, a city with an 800-year history in science and creative thinking. Their USA office is in Silicon Valley, probably the world's most successful innovation hub. CDP are happy for anyone in the business to hold up the company values as a mirror to any decisions the business makes and to then hold CDP to this account. Staff do this at the annual strategy day forum. This year the company is making several changes to the way they operate in response to this challenge from the staff, for example in their working conditions, structure and training investment.

CDP offer many employee rewards, including spot prizes for recognition of effort for individuals or a team. They are also known to give family tickets to Legoland and evening meal vouchers for two. CDP are keen to ensure employees associate their working environment with enjoyment, leading to events such as the whole company curry evenings and pirate themed barbecues.

CMBC are using innovative and creative digital approaches to communicate with their workforce. Traditionally they have displayed their primary purpose using policies and procedures, but they are now using augmented reality videos and YouTube videos to communicate CMBC's organisations Primary Purpose, Values and Outrageous Ambition. These video posters are displayed across the council and uploaded onto the council's intranet pages. Furthermore local college media students and apprentices record employee's stories to help deliver CMBC's outrageous ambition. The Chief Executive personally invited 500 Middle Managers who operate below Head of Service level to attend a half day Big Leadership Conversation workshop. Corporate Leadership Team shares CMBC's outrageous ambition to the Best Borough in the North and discusses with the Managers the organisation's three corporate priorities, how they fit with their values and behaviours and their role in making this happen. They also have a council Facebook page to deliver key messages to their communities and workforce on a daily basis.

CMBC are using the 70:20:10 model of learning to provide a base for employees to shape their learning. The organisation is just about to publish a revised Learning and Development Policy for the first time in several years, which they will use to underpin the development of a culture of self-directed learning. The emphasis is on seeking out learning instead of relying on paid for structured programmes of learning. CMBC also have a coaching and mentoring programme which has been in place for three years. They have built their own pool of workplace coaches and mentors that anyone in the council can request to have time with. They also run a ‘Day in Your Shoes' campaign, which aims to get employees connecting with one another across teams and learning from others about what their services do. This is promoting cross-council networks and helps employees to understand what goes when it comes to delivering CMBC services to the public.