What are companies doing with regards to 'Personal Growth'

All staff and their families have access to a free, confidential employee assistance programme helpline, offering advice on legal matters, finances, stress and anxiety, relationships and more. The organisation also offers free private healthcare cover, critical illness cover, and life assurance. For many roles, flexible working practices promote a healthier work/life balance.

As well as ensuring fair pay, the organisation prioritises regular feedback of when employees and teams have performed well. Walk through the company offices and you will see plenty of handwritten thank you notes from the managing director, long service awards on display, and team recognition trophies.

The organisation facilitates welfare meetings for any employees that need support. The services available include stress risk assessments, occupational health referrals, CBT counselling, and bereavement counselling to ensure that it looks after its employees when they need the extra care.

Origin focuses on monitoring its energy usage and then combat this with tree planting and other green initiatives. It has electric car charging points at every site, and the organisation is accredited by ISO 14001 for environmental management – while also working on obtaining its sustainable resourcing accreditation (BES 6001).

Modo25 organises regular team building activities including quizzes, axe-throwing, junkyard golf, a food festival, and pumpkin carving at Halloween. The organisation also hosts Modofest annually, where teams get together to discuss the year’s performance, highlights, plans for the year ahead, and to give out awards that are voted for by the teams.

Modo25’s values were agree during a company-wide workshop session. These words are on the walls of the office to remind colleagues what the organisation stands for and to encourage them to live by these words every day. Bi-monthly Operations meetings allows teams to share information, understand challenges, and ensure communication is as good as possible.

The organisation hosts regular in-person events to support its teams to come together and get to know each other. These events range from quarterly business plan updates, to regular wellbeing learning sessions, such as menopause awareness sessions, mental health first aid, and men's mental health.

Caledonia Housing Association has a defined set of leadership competencies for each level of managerial role. These are clearly linked to both the strategic priorities of its business plan and our cultural values and behaviours. Its development planning process for managers links an individual's learning goals to the leadership competencies that apply to their position.

All senior leaders have regular group and one-to-one time with performance coach Matt Fowler from Incredible Thinkers who helps to support and challenge managers to become braver, healthier, happier leaders with elite mindsets. This performance coaching has been extended to all recently promoted team leaders and supervisors.

Sapphire has signed up for Operation Christmas, which will aim to send 200 boxes of presents to children who would otherwise go without. The organisation is currently working with Zellar to review its carbon footprint and it has invested in planting trees in the UK and abroad in partnership with other green companies and suppliers.

During the organisation’s Annual Conference, employees have the opportunity to celebrate everything Hilltop. The Managing Director shares results from the last year and launches the One Page Business Plan, providing insight into where every colleague fits into the plan going forward. Food and drink is provided in a local venue afterwards.

Hilltop has four foundational elements to its manager development: appraisals and coaching from an internal mentor; learner led training; external training, which can be half-day sessions or government funded, longer courses; and a HR led wellbeing programme, that includes regular catch-ups to make sure the manager feels happy and supported.

Managers at DF Capital are supported through leadership development programs, a suite of wellbeing services and tools, and real-time manager training sessions and briefings. This comprehensive strategy empowers managers, facilitating a supportive, trusting, and caring environment for their teams.

The leadership team at DF Capital upholds and promotes company values in daily operations and decision-making processes. They communicate these values consistently through team meetings and company announcements, fostering a positive and cohesive culture within the bank.

Food discount was increased to 50% off when not working and completely free during work hours. The organisation also reviewed its pay structures to keep ahead of the game. Managers receive a pay review twice yearly and the average increase last year was 8%.

Its monthly Cascade process brings initiatives, launches and updates to all teams, including a bake-off to test new products, SHINE customer experience training, financial results, leadership initiatives, team building activities, and staff engagement. This brings teams together to focus on key areas of importance to the business in a consistent, considered and empowering way.

Each Director is responsible for ensuring that the employee experience in their area is consistent with the organisational values - they meet regularly with all staff, not just their own direct reports, to ensure that employees understand the Group’s organisation’s culture as well as having the chance to have their voices heard.

The organisation supported over 50 community groups and projects in 2023. In North Wales it supported Rhyl Foodbank, in West Wales, Cardigan and Pembrokeshire Foodbank received funding to support their work in the community. In Mid Wales, Welshpool and District Foodbank received financial assistance to purchase more food supplies. In the South it supported AcePlace.

To foster strong relationships between teams, Vida Homeloans organises regular quizzes, competitions, and challenges to support fun social interactions across teams. The organisation also brings the leadership teams together for off-site development and further hosts regular summer events to gather all employees together.

Thanks to an online recognition tool called Applause, colleagues can give and receive adhoc thank you/recognition against the company's values. The imitative, which is supported by the leadership team, sees each acknowledgement appear on an online ‘wall of fame’, where they are instantly visible so colleagues can add comments, like, and share.