Personal Growth - How employees feel about training and their future prospects
When it comes to Personal Growth, focusing on providing growth and development opportunities will make people feel invested in as individuals, so are more likely then to feel better about the Fair Deal factor.
Menopause support is championed from the top, with the CEO sharing her experience of perimenopause as part of an organisational survey. A Menopause Champion supports women going through the change or their partners who want to help. The charity also pays employees' prescription charges for any related treatment.
Staff at all levels across the organisation are part of the 'People, Culture and Wellbeing Committee', which promotes conversations between employees and the CEO and Senior Leadership Team. It also champions staff welfare. Team members are encouraged to feed into organisational discussions via staff away days and awards celebrations too.
As training supports social mobility, all core staff are encouraged to hold a Level 2 NVQ or equivalent and managers a Level 4. All development costs are covered, and employees also benefit from work-study time allowances, quiet spaces and, dependent on the course, a financial bonus once they complete it.
Teams get together through sports and local, religious and historical events like the Jubilee. Regular business-related meetings are encouraged, including regular one-to-ones with managers and monthly team meetings to ensure work is on track and development needs are being met. And managers get together for 'People Days' to encourage knowledge sharing and succession planning.
Employees can ask the CEO questions at his monthly live sessions, which he also uses to communicate new business initiatives and achievements. Staff are encouraged to complete a survey after each 'live' so the CEO has direct, anonymous feedback. He responds to key themes at the next session.
Acora has a programme geared to support people early in their careers. This includes attracting and supporting apprentices. It also runs an 'Accelerate Programme' to support entry-level team members in achieving their technical certifications and fast-tracking their progress. Meanwhile, all employees can access a career framework to direct their development.
Employees have sustainable performance reviews with their managers to assess their personal growth and professional development. These meetings cover goal setting, self-assessment completion, and constructive feedback requests. This cycle motivates employees to achieve their set objectives and goals. These reviews foster a culture of commitment and development to all its employees, managers, and clients.
Albany Beck ensures its management team are set up for their role through executive coaching sessions. These come in the form of mentoring and skills training. It also provides continuous soft skills and technical training sessions, employee coaching, a ‘Buddy’ programme, conference participation, educational material, career conversations, and group workshops.
The organisation is dedicated to its CSR which focuses on four key areas; Corporate, Environment, People, and Social. Its 'charity of the year' is MIND and Albany Beck encourages its people to take part in fundraising activities such as the 55-mile bike ride from London to Brighton and charity skydiving.
Alpha Financial Markets Consulting has 15 wellbeing champions who are mental health first-aid trained to support colleagues whenever they are struggling. It has a walking challenge to promote physical health, and runs a time-to-talk event where hard topics are discussed and employees share their experiences, bringing the issues to life.
The company supports employee growth and development through formal training, experience-based learning, on-the-job training, and LinkedIn Learning. Everyone can access over 18,000 courses, where they can learn business, technology, creative, and personal development skills at their own pace.
It is targeted in its approach to giving. Every employee has the opportunity to vote for a charity to become its 'Charity of the Year' (COTY). Last year, it partnered with 'Cities for Children' (C4C), whose mission is to provide children living in poverty with the right to read, play, and feel safe.
Team spirit is so important to its culture, this year, 40 staff won a long weekend in Dubai. In previous years, they have jetted off to Ibiza, Las Vegas, and New York. It also hosts regular social events including its annual black tie awards evening and its BIG Summer Social.
All staff have access to a range of benefits including vouchers and perks, offering savings on shopping, dining out, and everyday spending. Health and dental insurance is also available to everyone. Additionally, as well as a competitive salary, top achievers are awarded at the annual awards ceremony - a black-tie dinner.
Staff have clearly defined career paths and are offered training and development, ongoing support, and a genuine opportunity to progress. It has actively managed and regularly reviewed career development programmes, training opportunities, and subject matter experts providing on the job training. It has additionally supported a range of people with professional accreditation and CPD.
Team working days are booked in at least once a month to encourage everyone to get together to discuss work issues and get quality time with their managers. And there's a small budget to enable teams to socialise in less formal surroundings, such as games of crazy golf.
Communication is key. The CEO hosts an annual all-day staff symposium updating everyone on business progress. He also runs birthday events, bringing together a cross-section of employees to talk informally with him over coffee and cake outside the usual work environment – something mirrored by the leadership team in their areas of the business.
All employees are offered secondments to develop their knowledge and skills across the organisation. These include placements in management positions, often leading to staff permanently doing the role. And there's financial support for training and membership fees and flexible working to assist with study time.
An online community allows staff to create groups to support wellbeing. These include the Menopause support group, virtual yoga, a book club and sporting events. These groups are promoted by the wellbeing group and staff association. There are also joint fundraising events between CF10 and Cardiff and Vale College.
CF10 aims to promote from within, with 100% of its managers rising through the ranks. Various internally delivered management modules cover core skills; managers can also take more formal qualifications. All staff also have the opportunity to gain formal teaching qualifications through a dedicated programme.
A successful trial with Fareshare Cymru has seen waste food being used to produce meals. And CF10 has reworked its menus to reduce the amount of food that goes to waste in the first place. Customers can take used coffee grounds for their gardens, and the company only uses products from sustainable sources.
The webinars initiated through the pandemic have continued, and staff have regular opportunities to quiz the senior leadership team. Leaders come together monthly in virtual workshops to feedback from their teams and raise any concerns and queries with the People and Culture team.
Employees are supported to take professional qualifications, including those from the Chartered Insurance Institute, Chartered Institute of Loss Adjustors and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. And customer service, project management and UX design are just some of the broader work-related certifications employees have taken recently.
Passionate about the environment, the Group runs sustainability workshops introducing environmental initiatives. Its most recent is working with Carbon Neutral Britain, which calculates the Group’s carbon footprint and offsets this with certified projects in the UK and around the world.
Its Hearts and Minds team promote initiatives like monthly check-ins and awareness campaigns for health screening, domestic abuse, menopause, prostate cancer, and breast cancer. Recently, all employees were provided with a Hygge (the Danish word for the feeling of cosiness and comfort) Kit, including The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well.
The team has “gone green” and has been promoting environmental issues throughout the business. Each quarter a new imitative is set for the company, and this year saw the best yet with employees urged to make a series of pledges to stick to for a minimum of a year such as sing refillable household products.
The organisation has a Personal Development Plan for all employees which focuses on building skills, attitudes, and focus. The PDP template splits SMART goals into three defined lengths: long-term, mid-term, and short-term. The aim is to create good habits which can lead to lasting positive improvements over time.
