What are companies doing with regards to 'Personal Growth'

ACS Office Solutions collect all used printer toners and have their pallets collected and stored by local charities for them to reuse or recycle. They are Trustees of the HOPS Charity and award and distribute funds to nominated charities.

ACS Office Solutions collect all used printer toners and have their pallets collected and stored by local charities for them to reuse or recycle. They are Trustees of the HOPS Charity and award and distribute funds to nominated charities.

A dedicated mentor is assigned to each of YWR's Managers who undergo the training programme. They provide ongoing coaching and mentoring based on the training programme provided within all divisions of the company. The management programme has catch-up sessions to ensure peers support one another during the learning process, as well as the senior staff providing general feedback. The company's best feature is their open house session on a monthly basis, whereby learners can speak to YWR's in-house L&D team regarding any aspects of their learning which they are having difficulty translating back to their daily activities. There are a number of ways in which the company measure the performance of Managers, including quarterly reviews with their Line Manager to identify issues and training requirements. They also hold regular engagement sessions with employees to establish any issues with their Line Management, which are then further addressed at review.

YWR supports the learning and development process within the company with talent planning, a detailed career structure and internal promotion process. They also have in house staff dedicated to providing training and bespoke mentoring. All employees have an individualised training programme, which is linked directly to the appraisal format and their career potential.

Xceed offer a Line Managers Toolkit in the form of on-going coaching from an external Hogan Assessor and an informal Mentorship programme that is run internally. The Line Managers' Toolkit provides templates, guide-notes, best practices and policies for each step of a Line Manager's role. The Mentoring scheme matches mentors and mentees based on interests, personality and priorities. Line Manager performance is measured inline with the overall company objectives and performance framework. This requires a minimum of Quarterly reviews, with Objectives and PDPs being updated, Performance and Potential ratings being submitted and 360 feedback being solicited, reviewed, analysed and stored. Additionally, the People Function and Leadership Team review results and trends from Xceed's six weekly ‘Pulse Poll', which can highlight areas for focus. Finally, on a quarterly basis, the Board and Leadership team reviews data on attrition, churn and promotion and progress by team and Managers, all with the goal of highlighting and remediating any issues that relate to one team or Line Manager.

Perhaps the strongest indication from the Xceed Leadership Team is that 50% of their bonuses are related to ‘Demonstrating Values'. For many years the company have had Spirit Awards which are now Value Awards. These are ‘surprise' and personalised ‘awards' or prizes for ‘catching someone doing something great' that are always tied to the company values. Xceed's Founders, CEO and Board are actively involved in the business. The CEO hosts a ‘welcome' meeting or call with all new joiners within their first week. The Leadership Team also has a schedule of internal communications so that each area of the business is heard from regularly, as well as a weekly ‘Friday Five' that provides an overview of events and headlines for each week. Xceed also have both Town Halls and Open Forums. The CEO chairs the Future Leaders Programme and has an active role in leading people initiatives and working groups. This is in addition to a strong ‘open door policy', whereby anyone and everyone is encouraged to come straight to the CEO with any concerns or issues.

WDP's monthly Line Manager supervision process is very supportive, as well as focused on performance management. Employees Managers conduct a one to one return to work interview after every absence, which includes ensuring that the individual is indeed well enough to be at work and to help identify any underlying issues. The organisation also offers 360 coaching, 360 feedback and an annual appraisal for staff.

WDP operates a Health, Safety & Wellbeing handbook. They also have a Staff Handbook that includes a stress management policy and guide aimed at Managers and team members. The handbook includes suggestions about how to notice and mitigate stress. WDP's approach to flexible working contributes to employee wellbeing, as does their investment in employee learning and development. The company's L&D team delivers training open to all employees, which is particularly useful for practitioners engaging with service users. It covers noticing signs of stress, supporting team members, stress reduction techniques, ways to minimise stress and next steps if more than self-care is required. Most teams engaging directly with client caseloads also receive group clinical supervision with an external clinical supervisor or an alternative suitable reflective space.

As a rapidly growing company, Total Assist runs a regular and dedicated internal recruitment academy for new staff. This gives new team members a fully supported environment to learn their new role amongst their peers before they progress to a consultant desk of their own. The company have also found this is a great way for new starters to mix with existing employees and promotes a family feel within the company.

As a rapidly growing company, Total Assist runs a regular and dedicated internal recruitment academy for new staff. This gives new team members a fully supported environment to learn their new role amongst their peers before they progress to a consultant desk of their own. The company have also found this is a great way for new starters to mix with existing employees and promotes a family feel within the company.

At Test Direct all new starters undergo a one-week induction course outlining all of the company's tools and processes, as well as an overview of how Test Direct work as consultants. This is followed up with regular four week reviews during Probation. Following probation quarterly performance reviews then take place. Everyone has an Individual Development plan that is reviewed regularly by their Manager and the People and Talent Director. In addition to external certification courses, Test Direct have their own Training Database where there are 100s of documents, courses and templates for employees to read when they need them. Test Direct have an annual Company Training Plan focusing on the needs of their consultants, remaining at the forefront of technology and tools. Courses are arranged to meet the needs and skills required by both individuals and the business and the company offer external and online courses that lead to certifications and accreditations.

In addition to providing training for technical skills, all Test Direct Managers will attend Management and Consultancy in-house training and external courses, such as ISTQB Advanced Test Manager. The company also provide in-house training to all Managers on how to manage and conduct Performance Reviews, complete IDP's, Conflict Management and Delivering Effective Feedback. Test Direct have also just changed their Performance Reviews process so instead of every six months it is now quarterly. The company have done this to make it a simpler, quicker and more meaningful process. There are three quarterly reviews: self-assessment, client feedback and manager feedback, followed by a full detailed annual review. This covers managerial aspects of their roles such as project deliverables, client interfaces etc. Managers are assessed against specific objectives, dependent upon their roles and also based around a set of expected behaviours. Reviews are then countersigned to ensure consistency across the company and also look at utilisation of consultants as a metric of performance.

As a company tech21 invest heavily in providing an amazing work environment for their colleagues to work in, so as a company they encourage employees to give something back to the community. In the last three months they have introduced a policy to allow employees to volunteer and in return they offer paid time off for up to three days per year. tech21's company philosophy is to “pass it on”. This essentially means pass on the benefits that they provide to support local communities who are in need. Last year they managed to raise a total of just over £9,000 through activities that their employees had participated in. Through the local dragon boat race employees raised money for the NSPCC. This is just the start, their focus next year is to partner with a local charity and run different fundraising activities that employees can be involved with to help raise money and give back to the local community.

As a company tech21 invest heavily in providing an amazing work environment for their colleagues to work in, so as a company they encourage employees to give something back to the community. In the last three months they have introduced a policy to allow employees to volunteer and in return they offer paid time off for up to three days per year. tech21's company philosophy is to “pass it on”. This essentially means pass on the benefits that they provide to support local communities who are in need. Last year they managed to raise a total of just over £9,000 through activities that their employees had participated in. Through the local dragon boat race employees raised money for the NSPCC. This is just the start, their focus next year is to partner with a local charity and run different fundraising activities that employees can be involved with to help raise money and give back to the local community.