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Personal Growth

Growth Fuels Engagement

Investing in development boosts retention and shows employees they're valued. When employees grow, your organisation thrives.
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Ice Comms

Annual awards and ‘Spin to Win' vouchers thank brilliant staff with holidays, electrical gadgets, days off and lie ins. Ice Comms' entire operations team were given a £500 voucher at Christmas in recognition of the especially challenging time they have had. Senior managers sit amongst their teams to improve communication.

Online training courses are readily available and those taking part are rewarded with £50. There is regular customer service and compliance training, and performance is monitored on a daily basis with live data. All senior managers sit amongst their teams so friendly advice is never too far.

Staff taking part in The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge, a 24-mile, 5200ft climb across the Yorkshire Dales National Park, raised more than £20,000 for a local hospice. Ice Comms also offsets its carbon emissions with a tree planting scheme, which employees will be able to partake in.

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Telecom

Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce

HWCC has continued to support professional development including degree apprenticeships. Managers have access to the training courses and webinars the Chamber has organised for external businesses which range from building resilience to managing mental health during the Coronavirus crisis and leading through change and uncertainty.

Morale boosting activities included quizzes, origami making, a sunflower growing contest and the 12@12 initiative - 12 minutes of exercise at noon to encourage staff to get away from their desk. During the initial lockdown HWCC also introduced a Friday Pause at 4 to encourage employees to meditate.

During the pandemic, HWCC has provided a day's paid leave for employees to take part in charity work. Fundraising events included a virtual Macmillan Coffee Morning and a short comedy festive video it made for a virtual carol service to raise money for the local food bank.

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Business Services

Healios

Healios is launching its first management development programme. The People Manager learning pathway is based on an analysis of the day-to-day challenges and opportunities managers face. The scheme aims to enable managers to act as stewards for the company's culture and engender an atmosphere in which all employees thrive.

Last year, Healios launched the Healios Academy, a career-development initiative for experienced clinicians to develop autism assessment skills. The academy was set up to address Helios's need to expand its neurodevelopmental team, as a result of unprecedented demand for its assessment services.

Concerns were raised about physical and mental wellbeing when lockdown restrictions precluded employees from leaving home. Staff spearheaded a Healios group on an exercise tracking app to support and generate fitness-related activities and ideas. The company continued its weekly mindfulness sessions, fortnightly yoga classes and “Walking Wednesdays”.

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Health & Social Care

Hallam

Hallam has a social channel dedicated towards recognising achievements where employees can nominate one another for going the extra mile or being a great colleague. At the weekly get together the person with the most nominations receives a prize, usually a gift card or a day trip.

Hallam has three training tracks: leadership, specialist, and consultant. During the pandemic Hallam delivered comprehensive training including a reading programme and online courses in assertiveness, machine learning and design. It also launched a programme called Unity to promote integrated working and communication.

Hallam's mental health and wellbeing programme includes trained mental health first aiders, free counselling, training on resilience, meditation and purpose, and access to peer coaching. Hallam also works to create an atmosphere of psychological safety and a culture that encourages a sense of unity and togetherness.

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Marketing & Media Agencies

Haines Watts

To thank its team members in the north east for their efforts, commitment and resilience during an unusual year Haines Watts stopped work on a Wednesday afternoon and encouraged everyone to do something they enjoyed and had afternoon tea delivered to their homes.

Haines Watts promotes employee development by showcasing stories of those who have completed its award-winning talent programmes which earned it Silver for Employee Training and Development at the UK Employee Experience Awards in 2020. The Leadership Development Programme has transformed learning and development at the firm.

During Stress Awareness Week one of the managing partners shared his story about his mental health and this year Haines Watts has run a national mindfulness training programme and staff also took part in quizzes, yoga and fitness initiatives to boost morale.

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Accountancy

Goodstuff

In 2020, as part of its commitment to diversity and inclusion Goodstuff launched its D&I network: the Do the Right Thing Council. The Council is made up of eight working groups covering different areas of diversity each spearheaded by a Partner in a leadership role.

All training programmes have continued during the pandemic during which time 30% of Goodstuffers gained a qualification from the industry's governing body, the IPA. Development opportunities include Manager's Academy, a six-month programme for all managers and regular all-agency training talks which everyone is encouraged to attend.

In addition to mental health workshops, staff have free access to online fitness classes, and Goodstuff launched an agency 'Couch to 5k' group. It also ran a Feelgood Week, with activities including a crafty cuppa, one on one mindfulness sessions, a nutritionist talk and financial planning advice.

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Greater Manchester Combined Authority

Team leaders – and all employees – were able to access coaching and mentoring throughout. GMCA also piloted a reverse mentoring scheme and initial feedback has been excellent. It organised resilience workshops for all staff, as well as specific training around resilience for managers.

GMCA has continued with operational training, after an initial pause at the start of the pandemic. Now done in a Covid-safe way, development moved online through e-learning, webinars, and other platforms. The organisation received excellent feedback after two very well-attended events, ‘Learning at Work' week and a ‘Festival of Learning'.

Lots of teams do lots of different things to try to replicate some of the things they are missing about the office, including randomised coffee meets, huddles, quizzes, escape rooms and more. GMCA has installed new audiovisual equipment at all fire stations to support firefighters with group training, communications, and debriefs.

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Global Processing Services (GPS)

GPS's Learning and Development Programme offers one to one coaching and mentorship for all managers. Breakfast Brainstorms and Lunch and Learns are available to all and bimonthly virtual presentations keep everyone in the loop. Through its emerging leaders programme participants receive the Star Manager level 4 certificate.

Company healthcare, assistance plans and financial wellbeing sessions help its workforce keep well. Nobody was obliged to return to the office full time once its doors opened and flexible working is supported. Home office equipment was offered to all staff during the pandemic to ensure their physical wellbeing.

A signatory of the Women in Finance Charter, GPS is dedicated to promoting female talent in the sector. Men are also supported and last November staff raised money for mental health charities by taking part in Movember. Virtual breakfasts and blog posts also helped spread awareness of men's health issues.

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Technology

ghd

It was paramount for the company to maintain a regular training rhythm during the pandemic and digital learning made sessions more flexible. The company ran an onboarding session with the education team to allow new starters to understand better the history, culture and products.

The firm also increased the frequency of 1-1 catch ups, introduced a virtual Covid hub with key information on mental health and wellbeing including managing yourself and others and it also launched a Facebook page to share additional social activity.

For 16 years ghd has supported Breast Cancer Charities globally and has helped raise $20 million through annual limited-edition collections and awareness campaigns. It no longer uses silica gel within its supply chain, replacing it with a non-toxic, chemical free and is fully biodegradable.

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Fulcrum

Development opportunities include the Leading the Way and Momentum management programmes and apprenticeships to develop new talent. Recent training has included how to effectively manage and support remote teams, a mental fitness training workshop, safety training and courses in competition law and anti-bribery.

During the pandemic the Fulcrum family swung into action with daily wellbeing calls to every employee, helping colleagues stay in contact by encouraging virtual cuppas and lunch dates, TikTok challenges and online competitions. Line mangers also had weekly 1-2-1s with everyone in their team.

During the pandemic Fulcrum prioritised and provided enhanced services to those helping combat Covid-19. This included speeding up utility connections for new homes for NHS workers, helping a hand sanitiser manufacturer scale up production quickly and helping a new NHS laundry open faster.

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Utilities

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