Personal Growth

AND Digital

ANDis are given 15 extra days of paid leave. Two are for volunteering for anything that an ANDi chooses to support, 13 are "upskilling and innovation" days. Staff can participate in formal courses or do something more informal, such as catching up on reading or carrying out another activity to increase their skills.

Agile ways of working are designed to foster effective collaboration and communication. Through daily stand-up meetings, regular planning, reviews and retrospectives, teams create an appropriate rhythm for themselves to be able to problem-solve collaboratively and achieve quality results.

An incentive share plan provides the opportunity for ANDis to own a part of the company and see a growing reward for participating in its expansion. Unusually in the industry, the scheme gives "growth shares" to ANDis at all levels, not just those near the top.

60a43081c04f23c7f7bd65d5

View Company

Technology

Willmott Dixon

Seventy-five per cent of employees are making lifestyle changes based on their results from a free annual workplace-based health check. Common themes that have emerged across the workforce have led to the company starting a monthly walking group and giving staff water bottles to encourage them to drink more.

As a thank you for hard work and loyalty, staff can access a £750 Personal Learning Fund after five years of service. They can spend it on learning a new skill, such as language and photography classes or other support. This could include fitness training or NCT classes to prepare them for a new baby.

The company’s Women’s Leadership programme, which includes mentoring and a course at Cambridge University, aims to create a pipeline of 150 female leaders in Willmott Dixon and its supply chain over the next 10 years. More than 30 women have benefitted so far, with more than half being promoted to senior leadership positions.

60a41a5c276eef885ef39cd9

View Company

Construction & Engineering

Street Group

Weekly "donut" chats pair staff with another colleague for a coffee break, and water-cooler topics are discussed on the communication app, Slack. Update calls are made every other day to check-in and socialise. Regular social events include cheese-and-wine nights, pumpkin-carving, competitions, charity events, bake sales and a summer and Christmas party.

A new learning and development structure is being implemented for customer success and sales teams, before being rolled out across the business. The programme has identified training gaps which are are being rectified through training days and courses. A head of training has been appointed to work with line managers and their teams.

One of the company's principles is "stock the fridge", which relates to an all-hands-on-deck approach. If staff see something that needs doing they muck in and help out. In the early days, as a small start-up, it was key and the approach has been maintained even though the company has grown rapidly.

60a43081c04f23c7f7bd65d5

View Company

Technology

TriConnex

Approaching learning and development comes in the form of the ‘70:20:10’ model. This sees employees get 70% of their learning from daily tasks or challenges, 20% from social interaction, and 10% from formal training. There’s also extensive apprenticeship, mentoring, and shadowing programmes on offer and staff are often supported into more senior positions through secondments.

To encourage the switch to more environmentally friendly vehicles, a new electric vehicle (EV) salary sacrifice scheme has been launched. Staff eligible for the scheme benefit from income tax and national insurance contribution savings, as well as reducing their carbon footprint. Employees can make use of the free EV charging points at TriConnex’ head office.

Wellbeing walks are just one of the initiatives on offer to give employees a boost. There’s also an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support physical and mental wellbeing, as well as access to financial advice resources. All staff benefit from discounted gym membership, and there’s healthy eating promotions on offer at the firm’s subsidised canteen.

60a4311ae17897300a2a0dde

View Company

Utilities

Connect Childcare

Connect Software works with an external organisation to deliver wellbeing sessions to staff. They are popular and the topics covered are chosen by everyone to encourage buy-in. Wellbeing reminders and tips are sent out regularly to ensure employees are taking care of themselves, taking a break and having down time.

Quarterly senior leaders' meetings are a new concept at Connect and were launched to bring leaders together to bridge the gaps that have appeared as a result of a more flexible way of working. The three-hour meetings discuss the highs and lows of past quarter and pave the way for the next.

Training and development is promoted by the company and is discussed in quarterly assessments and regular one-to-one sessions with staff. Employees are encouraged to look at their skills and areas that need developing. As a result of the last company survey, Connect Software has created a nine- to 12-month leadership and management development programme.

60a43081c04f23c7f7bd65d5

View Company

Technology

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy

The society uses blended learning. Its model includes online learning, bite-sized training, work-based learning, learning games, project-led activities, acting-up opportunities, secondments, involvement in staff-led initiatives, learn-and-share forums and support to obtain further qualifications.

Staff nominate a charity to support each year, based on recommendations submitted by colleagues. In 2021, it was Swan UK, which supports children with syndromes without a name. It received £3,000 thanks to staff-led activities such as quizzes and sweepstakes, as well as match-funding from the society of up to £1,500.

The society has continued to work predominantly remotely, but leaders have increasingly sought opportunities to connect with people in person, while sustaining virtual opportunities. The leadership continued to work towards its ambition to engage staff with its vision through leader-led "home-team’"discussions which provide a space for staff to give feedback on a range of topics.

60a42cf42dc6b4e3d0d1fbbf

View Company

Not For Profit Body's

Talent Works

Talent Works encourages employees to take paid volunteer days. They have been given information on local and national charitable initiatives such as telephone befriending services. This year the business will be supporting a local charity and staff will run the London Marathon on its behalf.

Talent Works has rolled out a new benefits platform which provides remote fitness and wellness activities, ranging from yoga to those for alleviating back and neck pain. The business also provides a healthcare scheme which enables employees to access therapies such as physiotherapy, osteopathy and acupuncture, funded by the business.

Staff are encouraged to have a development plan with SMART objectives. Some teams also have career pathway documents which allow employees and managers to score and track progression for those wanting to take a step up in their career.

60a42fee82899d978c972840

View Company

Recruitment

St. Gemma's Hospice

Wellbeing initiatives include sessions on resilience, looking after yourself, managing time and managing stress. Clinical supervision has been increased and there are counsellors on site to deal with immediate issues. Relaxation and mindfulness sessions, as well as recordings, are available and a wellbeing week focuses on all areas of mental and physical health.

An external provider has been used for team-development training, as well as to encourage cross-team collaboration. Monthly IT skills sessions help staff to improve their technical know-how. The hospice has a bespoke clinical leadership course. Nursing staff are supported through nationally recognised courses, including non-medical prescribing and master's and doctoral degrees.

The hospice's ambition is to develop an accessible leadership and management framework that outlines leadership expectations, behaviour, and training opportunities, as well as a managers' competency checklist setting core standards for those who have line management responsibility within the hospice.

60a418018660a79f486d5619

View Company

Charity's

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.

60a43081c04f23c7f7bd65d5

View Company

Technology

Skipton Building Society

The Menopause Network promotes normalisation of, education about and support for women experiencing the peri-menopause and menopause. The group strives to help others understand what going through these life stages means, not just to aid women’s understanding of this transition, but also to help partners, friends, colleagues and family to understand better.

Strong emphasis is placed on listening to colleagues and responding to feedback, through pulse surveys on topics such as the society's reward offering and performance framework, full engagement surveys or focus groups that delve deeper into specific topics.

Skipton enables colleagues to drive their own development and growth through "playlists" that give them access to self-directed learning when the time is right for them. During Building a Better You week, sessions to promote the learning available took place and, since then, attendance has increased.

60a41fa8df49eb26ff02d8a0

View Company

Financial Services

Growth Fuels Engagement

AND Digital

Willmott Dixon

Street Group

TriConnex

Connect Childcare

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy

Talent Works

St. Gemma's Hospice

SourceBreaker

Skipton Building Society

Understand your organisational health across all eight factors

Why measure with Best Companies?