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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.
A positive outcome of the pandemic is that communication within and across the company is better than ever. Good communication was key to maintaining high levels of engagement and CEO Georg Ell led from the front with weekly All Hands meetings that kept everyone informed.
Though this was paused it from April to September 2020, an individual training budget for every employee has since been reinstated. Smoothwall recently recruited a software engineer apprentice who will complete a DevAccelerator upskill programme with Northcoders – a bespoke apprenticeship scheme – for 16 months. The executive team supports managers' with personal coaching.
Salary sacrifice scheme Tusker supports employees to buy electric or hybrid cars, and the company installed four charging points in the car park. There were two further salary-sacrifice schemes to help eco- and health-minded staff fund the purchase of bicycles.
The senior management team lead by example, by living the organisation's values and principles. They demonstrate this through their behaviour and how they interact with staff. They have a friendly, honest and open approach and staff have regular opportunities to engage with them and ask them questions.
Scarf has introduced a further learning support policy which encourages staff to take courses that lead to a recognised educational or professional qualification. The organisation loans employees up to £1,000 in course fees.
Last year, Scarf set up a support fund for householders struggling with fuel debt. The Heat Fund has distributed more than £7,000 to help residents heat their homes, mainly through buying prepayment meter credit.
The past year has brought new ways of working in a pub over and again, with changes implemented fast – from social distancing tables to how to serve ketchup. Peach added cleaners to pub rotas to keep up with new sanitising measures, sourced washable face masks and provided a strong pack of communication tools to help staff deal with challenging guests when The Rule of Six and Tier system came in.
A structured in-house training programme complements external courses such as Wine and Spirit Education Trust qualifications. On Peach Adventure Days teams head to big cities such as Manchester and London to soak up the restaurant and bar scenes and gain inspiration for Peach venues.
Most Peach pubs have continued to make meals for homeless people, including turning the pumpkins that would have been used to celebrate Halloween into soup and pasta for them. Some venues have used their facilities for charity or to help local needs in other ways and around 70% of employees have volunteered at some stage during the pandemic.
Sales-focused though Optimus Search is, not only financial big hitting earns rewards; every month a different incentive award recognises contributions in areas such as going above and beyond to help colleagues or reaching non-financial goals. Rewards include extra holidays, vouchers, a gift of choice or points towards the next incentive trip.
Weekly training sessions for each team focus on sales-related group coaching, while lunch-and-learns incorporate more ‘life' elements – such as how to buy a house or understanding credit ratings – tailored to support young employees. Team members are brought up through the business under the guidance of director Richard Eggleston and new managers receive both in-house and external training.
Colleagues recorded congratulatory videos for each other to celebrate achievements and special occasions such as birthdays and work anniversaries during lockdown. A daily social group call helped keep team spirits lifted, plus there were quizzes, bingo nights and virtual games.
Engineering recruits who were not fully trained at the start of the pandemic were able to continue their development through virtual training sessions. The company invested in new camera equipment to help trainers using Microsoft Teams. Staff can also access learning material via the Workplace platform.
Openreach introduced #ThankYou days, where people tagged others who had supported them through the pandemic. Microsoft Teams, Workplace and emails were used to provide information and advice to staff, many of whom were working from home, and there was a “let's beat loneliness” campaign.
Colleagues who excel are recognised for their performance: managers can nominate individuals for a £50 reward and teams can share up to £500. When the annual awards ceremony was switched to a virtual event, the firm sent hampers to winners' houses so their families could enjoy the celebrations.
All salaries and benefits have been reviewed and a fair pay policy and job evaluation process introduced. This has resulted in most staff receiving a pay rise, benefits being streamlined and the gender pay gap being removed. A full-time learning and development specialist has been appointed.
Open Doors gives all staff the chance to go on a ministry trip to give them an insight into the experience of Christians oppressed for their faith. Trips are held in work time and are paid for by the charity, although fewer have gone ahead during Covid.
Online events providing a sense of community and fun have included a secret Santa, a crisp-tasting tournament and a knitting and crochet group. The usual two-day staff retreat was replaced with small group walks. These were held near people's homes, in line with Covid regulations.
Induction Week for new recruits is now an entirely virtual experience. IT equipment is sent to their home and setup is assisted remotely. Microsoft Teams chats allow newcomers to ask questions and meet their colleagues, and there is time for an occasional Kahoot! session.
Furloughed staff were provided with industry-specific and regulatory training, with workshops on productivity, communication and wellbeing. Line managers and team leaders were offered training on managing remote teams and across the business there was a learning package that featured LinkedIn courses, TED Talks and documentaries.
Employees were encouraged to stay healthy during the pandemic, with virtual exercise classes twice a week and a run club set up on Strava. Company-wide meetings were held focusing on mental health in the workplace, and there was a stress reduction course.
Continuous learning and development are an integral part of the culture at OAG where managers act as mentors helping staff to gain professional skills or relevant experience and everyone is encouraged to dedicate one paid day per month for self-development.
In addition to weekly wellbeing webinars and regular wellbeing surveys the firm organised a wide range of fun events to boost team spirit with virtual activities including horse racing, a Family Fortunes game show, photo competitions, a Quarantine Kitchen OAG cook-a-long, and quiz nights.
Throughout the pandemic OAG has continued to support charities by taking part in virtual fundraising events including a week long Christmas Jumper Day for Save the Children where staff were encouraged to get creative and jazz up an old jumper to help the environment and children at the same time.
During the pandemic the company introduced the Naked Treat Box, as a way of boosting community and rewarding one another. Everyone gets to nominate one person every quarter and write them a message of appreciation which goes in the box containing locally sourced goodies.
Every year Naked Wines sends six budding future leaders on a four day Happy Leadership course. Two employees who attended the course have since been promoted to Head of Partnerships and Head of Continuous Improvement. Two rising stars have been supported to study for an MBA at the local university.
Employees get one day paid leave a year to support the local community from volunteering to giving blood and cleaning up local beaches. It also raises money every month for winemaker Carmen Stevens to run a soup kitchen for disadvantaged children in South Africa.
Moneypenny still runs on the family ethos embedded by its sibling co-founders. Everyone treats each other with the same respect, from director to visiting delivery driver. Everyone rolls up their sleeves: from CEO Joanna Swash manning reception or CTO Pete Hanlon picking up laptops for people when everyone moved to remote working.
The company had an 81.5% internal promotion rate last year, with 103 new roles created, of which 84 were filled internally. Moneypenny says: “We learnt so much from our last survey in 2018, which highlighted a concern by staff about personal development. We launched our Leadership Development Programme and 163 people participated in 2020.”
Company co-founder Rachel Clacher set up national charity WeMindTheGap to provide support and opportunities for young people. Moneypenny adopted 26 different species of animals and raised £1,170 after a Chester Zoo appeal and its charity committee, Raising Pennies, gave £1,000 to a local foodbank, hospital and the Salvation Army.
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