What are companies doing with regards to 'Personal Growth'

If they are not consistent or authentic in articulating their purpose and values internally, Stott and May becomes just another recruiter in an already crowded marketplace. As such they are constantly pushing the envelope and finding new ways of articulating ‘the Stott and May' way of doing things. They believe it starts with the workplace and in an attempt to create a positive and unique work environment for our staff to dare to fail Stott and May have created themed offices, including Alice in Wonderland in New York and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in London. The company wants their employees to think laterally and to be the ‘dreamers of dreams' or the ‘music makers', all of which was the underlying philosophy behind the office transformations. Founder and CEO Stephen Stott commented “It's a fun and slightly wacky idea I came up with and it's been evolving ever since. The story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is really all about pushing creative boundaries and, much the same as Willy Wonka's factory, I wanted the office to be a space for innovation, where staff could think big and not be afraid to fail. We're not your typical corporate company and I wanted the office to reflect that.”

Stott and May launched their Career Progression Scheme this year for both sales and support functions, with the scheme enabling development and progression within the business that is seemingly limitless. The CPS is supported by a blend of internal and external training sessions, as well as useful desk coaching. As well as all this Stott and May have paired up with Andrew Sillitoe, founder of The Strategic Team Coach, who uses a unique method to quantify the health and psychological state of staff, monitor the level of fatigue, observe in real-time the psychological impact of recruitment and enable staff to manage thoughts, feelings and emotions under pressure using biofeedback during phone calls. A mentoring system is also put in place for senior managers using external industry experts, with everything stemming back to the Career Progression Scheme. Managers are measured through the performance of their teams and also engagement across the whole business. The company reviews teams on a monthly basis through the Career Progression Scheme and always takes the temperature of engagement each quarter.

The vision was drawn up at a brainstorming session of all Managers who felt that if everyone had their input in this, it would be more likely to be taken on board and implemented. This was rolled out to all team members in bulletins, employee representative meetings and the annual companywide meetings. SPV also communicate this though all forms of social media.

Working in a high risk industry SPV run a regular training plan which they draw up in conjunction with the CITB & NFRC. Over and above this, in 2016 they have put all supervisors through training to enable them to get gold CSCS cards. They have four team members booked on a heritage roofing course which they have requested and will also ensure they can offer another service to their clients. They have also enrolled all administration members in a customer services NVQ Qualification that they enrolled out to newly promoted supervisors onto the Institute of Roofing management and technician course. The MD Howard is The institute of Roofing Midlands Regional Chair and as such the company has a number of manufacturers CPD courses coming up later in the year. In 2016, SPV enrolled two new apprentices on a built up felt roofing apprenticeship with a further two to be enrolled later in the year. In 2016 they put three team members through a cladding apprenticeship which they are due to complete in early 2017. In 2015, they enrolled six team members on the pilot Liquid Waterproofing Specialist up skill Course. This programme was written by the Liquid Roofing and Waterproofing Association in conjunction with the CITB to infill the training gap in the industry between the Apprenticeship and OSAT. SPV Group then subsequently put a further three team members through the course early this year. In 2016 they enrolled a further three onto the Liquid Waterproofing Specialist Apprenticeship course.

At Seven Technologies Group they have created an environment of Empowerment and Innovation. As an employer within the engineering sector, one of their best attributes as an organisation is that employees have the opportunity to not only be part of an innovation culture, but are also empowered to make decisions and ultimately make a difference. The most commonly used phrase in Seven Technologies Group is 'crack on', as empowerment of the individual is an ingrained value in their business. The company see continual development as one of the key elements within our Performance Management System. Through technical, functional and management training they hope to give their people the skills and knowledge they need to be the best they can be, creating and delivering market leading products and service alongside formal training. Informal mentoring 'buddy systems' have also been a great way to share past experiences on what staff have learned and encourage those taking on new challenges to handle whatever's thrown at them in the best possible way.

At Seven Technologies Group they have created an environment of Empowerment and Innovation. As an employer within the engineering sector, one of their best attributes as an organisation is that employees have the opportunity to not only be part of an innovation culture, but are also empowered to make decisions and ultimately make a difference. The most commonly used phrase in Seven Technologies Group is 'crack on', as empowerment of the individual is an ingrained value in their business. The company see continual development as one of the key elements within our Performance Management System. Through technical, functional and management training they hope to give their people the skills and knowledge they need to be the best they can be, creating and delivering market leading products and service alongside formal training. Informal mentoring 'buddy systems' have also been a great way to share past experiences on what staff have learned and encourage those taking on new challenges to handle whatever's thrown at them in the best possible way.

Managers have support from their learning platform RG University as well as support from their own line managers (whether that be Heads of Department of members of the Leadership Team). They also run an ‘Insights for Managers' course where managers can share experiences and develop their abilities to adapt and communicate better with their teams. They have an overall culture of ongoing and flexible manager feedback through regular 121s. They don't believe in annual performance reviews because for Reward Gateway, they're outdated and don't suit the pace of their organisation. They monitor performance through 121s and have a Performance Recovery Programme that they use to highlight issues that have dropped below what's needed.

The Senior Management Team have recently been restructured so that they have each business function represented at board level. The members are spread across the globe and ensure that they are available and approachable on their internal comms (email, Google Hangouts). There are two members of the Leadership Team whose focus is on HR (overall Hr and Benefits/Reward) demonstrating their dedication to their People as a function. The values were created by their people but bought into at Leadership Team level from the start. Glenn, the company CEO, is present at Reward's quarterly global updates and also travels in person to all offices. He is approachable and puts a specific focus on key values. He is open and takes part in a filmed segment of the business updates where he is asked questions submitted by staff and (without prior preparation) answers honestly and commits time to resolving any issues raised.

This year RBG's have started using vlogs to communicate certain key initiatives within the business; however they're not your standard video blog because of the team demographic, so the company had to work on making them really engaging through new artwork, latest soundtracks and having strong clear messages throughout. A recent example was sent out for RBG's General Managers to communicate with their teams during team meetings. The vlog was watched 400 times, so the company know each site watched the vlog on average 6 times, demonstrating a strong level of engagement and interaction at site level to help cascade information throughout the business.

RBG are very proud of their blended learning approach. Their employees, staff and management alike receive training through a number of channels, including workshops, on the job training, e-learning, role specific workbooks, conferences, bespoke development plans, apprenticeship schemes and more formal modular training programmes. Many of the teams have little or no work experience when they join RBG, so with this in mind the company have developed the ACE (Amazing Customer Experience) training programme, which helps them with the skills and knowledge they need to be successful. It offers interactive e-learning modules that cover a range of topics, from Health and Safety and Cocktail Spec tests to Hospitality training. One of the most exciting developments over the last 12 months has been the launch of role specific modular training programmes. Every management role in the company is now eligible to attend a 4-6 months modular training programme that supports the development of their management skills. The learning objectives of these programmes are not bar related and help Managers develop personal skills in coaching, time management, communication methods, effective feedback tools and even delegation.

At Rajapack UK they like a good challenge. So to create a bit of fun in the office, they set themselves the challenge of doing their own Tour de France, later nicknamed 'Tour De Raja'. The company hired an exercise bike and over four days each department cycled from Bedford to Rajapack's head office Branch in Paris. To put that into context, that's a distance of 337 miles in under 20 hours! This was all to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support, a charity that provides such amazing support to people affected by cancer. The event was a huge success, raising £1,180.42, but proved more of a success in the sheer participation levels within the business, as 35 members of staff participated and took turns in the riding.

Rajapack offer a Perkbox benefits membership scheme to all employees, which offers health and wellbeing benefits along with reduced gym memberships, something Rajapack funds to ensure it is not to the detriment of the individual. The company have also introduced fresh fruit boxes for the benefit of all members of staff and there is the equivalent of one piece of fruit per day per person, ranging from apples and bananas to grapes and so on.

As part of PTM Group's Healthcare package all staff are offered the use of a Virtual GP with their health care provider which means that they schedule appointments in work time, without having to leave the office. The Health Cover also offers access to a free counselling service which can be especially beneficial to people needing support through difficult times. Their subscription to Perkbox means that gifts turn up to work regularly for staff and packages can include stress balls, vouchers, money off restaurants and cinema tickets. It is important for PTM Group staff to know that they appreciate that they have a life outside work and they want to help them enjoy it!

Each Manager conducts an Annual Self-Assessment with their team which gives them the change to plan for the future with their team but also to reflect upon areas where improvements could be made. PTM Group is committed to being the leader within the sector and this annual review is a key factor in continual growth within the company and for the management to set long term goals for their departments. As leader, Jamie Paterson, has an open door policy and he will make time to see staff and address any concerns, queries or ideas they may have. Jamie regularly visits all PTM Group sites, makes a point of meeting all new staff face to face as well as engaging with staff regularly to obtain feedback about the progression of the company. All staff have access to Jamie's mobile number so they can contact him directly, for any reason. PTM Group keeps CPD logs for all staff, which are reviewed regularly. As a training provider, most training is done in-house.

Each employee has access to two paid learning days. PHD realise that finding the time to learn can sometimes be challenging, so employees can use two dedicated days to study at home allowing them more freedom over when and how to fit learning around work. They also offer a learning bursary which gives employees money and the opportunity to learn something non-work related, whether this be street dancing, Arabic lessons, beer brewing or a basic DIY course.

In line with PHD's culture and ethos of the ‘Human Touch', working collaboratively and face to face interaction between teams is strongly encouraged. Every department holds weekly status meetings so everyone is made aware of important updates. These meetings are vital in ensuring news is communicated quickly and is an opportunity for team members to interact away from their desks. Line managers hold regular catch ups with their people to boost communication. The large majority of their people are very sociable and are often at lunch or drinks together. PHD encourage this as it aids good working relationships across the various departments. They also hold weekly 15-minute update meetings that rotate around the building. These meetings are intended to give everyone brief updates that are relevant to the way they work for clients, provide useful insights and showcase interesting research. After restructuring the teams late last year, PHD had to rethink their internal workstreams leading to revamped briefing and planning processes within PHD. Key speakers explained the new way of work during a dedicated offsite session. Everyone received a pack with printed collateral to re-enforce the learning. As part of their planning process they hold Action Planning sessions, these encourage people to work collaboratively and to be creative by working together as a group. People are selected from different teams to gain a range of insights and experience and it is an opportunity for them to network with people from outside of their normal day to day team.

Perkbox University, the in-house training program, encompasses management training courses. They ask senior managers to present to managers along the lines of how to motivate staff, how to generate the best results, conflict resolution, empathy, workload management, reward and recognition etc. These happen every couple of months. Every manager is mentored by a senior manager. They always try to promote from within and so new managers will be well versed in Perkbox's management training, having been on the receiving end themselves. A good example is the sales team, those demonstrating aptitude for increased responsibilities are eased into a management role by making them senior managers, who are still doing front line selling but have mentoring responsibilities. Senior Managers will shadow team leaders to prepare them for the more analytical aspects of the role and are afforded the opportunity to learn on the job. Regularly there are weekly, monthly and quarterly reviews. The weekly and monthly reviews are held between the manager and their line manager and are used to discuss how the managers team have responded to the established KPI's and address any incumbent issues. Quarterly reviews are held with the HR Manager present and minutes are taken for the managers to refer to at any time subsequently.

Perkbox University, the in-house training program, encompasses management training courses. They ask senior managers to present to managers along the lines of how to motivate staff, how to generate the best results, conflict resolution, empathy, workload management, reward and recognition etc. These happen every couple of months. Every manager is mentored by a senior manager. They always try to promote from within and so new managers will be well versed in Perkbox's management training, having been on the receiving end themselves. A good example is the sales team, those demonstrating aptitude for increased responsibilities are eased into a management role by making them senior managers, who are still doing front line selling but have mentoring responsibilities. Senior Managers will shadow team leaders to prepare them for the more analytical aspects of the role and are afforded the opportunity to learn on the job. Regularly there are weekly, monthly and quarterly reviews. The weekly and monthly reviews are held between the manager and their line manager and are used to discuss how the managers team have responded to the established KPI's and address any incumbent issues. Quarterly reviews are held with the HR Manager present and minutes are taken for the managers to refer to at any time subsequently.

Senior management present very clear monthly business updates closely aligned to the values of the company. They take a hands on approach to the business and clearly demonstrate company values in their working practices and in their approach to day to day tasks. Managers are honest, open and straightforward in all their dealings with staff and clients and focus on delivering a first class service, they set the gold standard. Managers make sure they attend the sports and social events in order to have down time and fun with their colleagues. Spending time with each other away from the workplace is key to establishing a strong working relationship. Paul Clark, Penta's CEO and founder of the company, has an open door policy and is very approachable. He had always had a very clear vision for the company that he set up 18 years ago. Two of his keys strategies have been to surround himself with high calibre individuals who have complimentary and different skill sets as well as putting his staff, clients and candidates at the very heart of the business. Paul was always determined that any one employed by him would actively enjoy coming to work as well as offering a first class service to all customers. He sets clear performance expectations, goals and objectives for others, treats mistakes as learning opportunities, demonstrates an ability to make decisions and take responsibility for them, encourages feedback from everyone in the business, seeks to fine more efficient ways of operating and actively encourages ideas form others.

A great chill out area with table football, table tennis, Wii Fit, pool table, music and large screens for multi-channel TV plus a free Penta bar for Friday evenings and for special celebrations and events. Icelolly offer free hypnotherapy for people who are serious about giving up smoking and annual health check including flu vaccine. Regular breaks throughout the day when staff can leave the office for 15 minutes. There is a chill out zone with free hot and cold drinks and access to microwave, an active sports and social club and exciting overseas incentive trips.