Every month Good Relations reward an employee with a ‘Passion Day'. This is an opportunity for an employee to take an additional day's holiday to pursue a particular passion or hobby – from singing in a choir to some extra training to run a marathon! Employees simply describe what they would do with a Passion Day, and then the company select a deserving candidate each and every month. As an agency that fully supports and encourages a good work-life balance, Good Relations find the Passion Day initiative very effective, in ensuring employees know that their hobbies and passions outside of the working environment are supported.

The Good Relations Training Academy provides ongoing support for managers of all levels. Training sessions are tailored to ensure they are as relevant and effective as possible for both junior and senior managers. One-to-one coaching and mentoring is readily available from the senior management team. Senior managers work closely with their teams to ensure that management styles are carefully honed.

Ewan Hilton Chief Executive works above and beyond his role within the organisation to raise public awareness of mental health and the difficulties faced by people with mental health problems, both through Welsh Government platforms and with the media in Wales. By partnership working with other organisations in the sector, he leads in a way that allows Gofal to deliver that message even more strongly than they could on their own. Part of the organisation's Strategic Plan is to create a culture which is led by Experts by Experience, involving their service users in every aspect of their work. The core competencies are linked to the Organisational values and demand that Senior Managers work as role models of each competency for the rest of the organisation. Ewan Hilton Chief Executive does not have an office base, enabling him to work from any of the satellite offices. Ewan is extremely approachable and enjoys engaging with employees, plus he takes the opportunity when working in different sites to speak to and listen to employees on a day to day basis. He is also able to email "all users" in the organisation.

Ewan Hilton Chief Executive works above and beyond his role within the organisation to raise public awareness of mental health and the difficulties faced by people with mental health problems, both through Welsh Government platforms and with the media in Wales. By partnership working with other organisations in the sector, he leads in a way that allows Gofal to deliver that message even more strongly than they could on their own. Part of the organisation's Strategic Plan is to create a culture which is led by Experts by Experience, involving their service users in every aspect of their work. The core competencies are linked to the Organisational values and demand that Senior Managers work as role models of each competency for the rest of the organisation. Ewan Hilton Chief Executive does not have an office base, enabling him to work from any of the satellite offices. Ewan is extremely approachable and enjoys engaging with employees, plus he takes the opportunity when working in different sites to speak to and listen to employees on a day to day basis. He is also able to email "all users" in the organisation.

There is an SMD presentation at all staff meetings on the values of FTI. Values have been installed as a screensaver on all computers in the office, put on the website and is featured on all job specs. There is also a desk drop announcing the launch of the values. The Leader engages with employees on a daily basis through emails and also through Business Area Town Halls. The company supports employees development by providing resources for them to gain professional qualifications for both client facing and support staff. Coaching and mentoring is always offered to those who attend these programmes and there is also ongoing training in person or through online resources. On top of all this there is support of a competency matrix, coaching from external providers and further programmes run internally.

There is an SMD presentation at all staff meetings on the values of FTI. Values have been installed as a screensaver on all computers in the office, put on the website and is featured on all job specs. There is also a desk drop announcing the launch of the values. The Leader engages with employees on a daily basis through emails and also through Business Area Town Halls. The company supports employees development by providing resources for them to gain professional qualifications for both client facing and support staff. Coaching and mentoring is always offered to those who attend these programmes and there is also ongoing training in person or through online resources. On top of all this there is support of a competency matrix, coaching from external providers and further programmes run internally.

Over the past year Epiphany have doubled their training expenditure to offer employees a variety of development interventions. These include 360 feedback and workshops on time management, presentation skills and leadership. Some more innovative examples include yoga, sophology (mindfulness/meditation) and stress-busting workshops. Staff have access to an array of online resources including Google Partners Courses, Bing Accreditation, Lynda.com, Umbraco TV, Microsoft Gold Partnership and Microsoft Training. Approximately 100 people have attended one or more workshops in the past year. Many employees have also benefited from attendance at conferences and internal knowledge-sharing, including their monthly 'Brainfood' session and Expert Network groups. Epiphany have continued to invest heavily in leadership development. Over the past 12 months 32 people have undergone an intensive ten-module programme supported by 360-degree feedback, development resources, and bi-annual catch-ups to assist with personal development action planning. Psychometric assessments have been introduced to support employee development. All employees completed a Motivational Styles Questionnaire and they identified motivating and demotivating factors at individual, team and organisational level. Outcomes are being used by individuals to help with personal development and career planning. Psychometric assessments have also been used for development of the sales team. Employees completed personality and motivation questionnaires and their results were mapped onto the various stages of the sales cycle to highlight areas of potential strength and development. Employees were provided with 1:1 feedback and tips to aid their development. The overall results formed the basis for a team sales development session.

Over the past year Epiphany have doubled their training expenditure to offer employees a variety of development interventions. These include 360 feedback and workshops on time management, presentation skills and leadership. Some more innovative examples include yoga, sophology (mindfulness/meditation) and stress-busting workshops. Staff have access to an array of online resources including Google Partners Courses, Bing Accreditation, Lynda.com, Umbraco TV, Microsoft Gold Partnership and Microsoft Training. Approximately 100 people have attended one or more workshops in the past year. Many employees have also benefited from attendance at conferences and internal knowledge-sharing, including their monthly 'Brainfood' session and Expert Network groups. Epiphany have continued to invest heavily in leadership development. Over the past 12 months 32 people have undergone an intensive ten-module programme supported by 360-degree feedback, development resources, and bi-annual catch-ups to assist with personal development action planning. Psychometric assessments have been introduced to support employee development. All employees completed a Motivational Styles Questionnaire and they identified motivating and demotivating factors at individual, team and organisational level. Outcomes are being used by individuals to help with personal development and career planning. Psychometric assessments have also been used for development of the sales team. Employees completed personality and motivation questionnaires and their results were mapped onto the various stages of the sales cycle to highlight areas of potential strength and development. Employees were provided with 1:1 feedback and tips to aid their development. The overall results formed the basis for a team sales development session.

In 2015, Edelman refreshed their values to ensure they are relevant to the company's future direction, support a client-centric culture and are inspiring great work. These core values are at the heart of everything the company do and are well publicised around the business. The values are also embedded in the talent programmes, recruitment strategies, appraisal processes, performance management and learning and development programmes. All are designed to align employee's behaviour with Edelman's mission, vision and business objectives. Edelman is dedicated to delivering Quality, something that is championed by a dedicated Global Chief Quality Officer. It's also reflected in the proprietary client satisfaction survey, all to ensure the company deliver on their client promise whilst remaining loyal to their values.

Edelman continuously supports employees' professional and personal development by refreshing their Learning & Development Programme every year. This carefully tailored programme comprises regular internal and external training sessions, including but not limited to an introduction to PR, writing skills, paid media 101, presentation and pitching. Edelman also runs the annual Client Leadership Academy, a yearly global programme to help rising stars continue their journey towards becoming the firm's client and business leaders of the future. The annual Edelman Fellows Programme sees up to ten middle Managers within the global network given the chance to transfer from their home office to selected host offices in APACEMA, Canada, Europe and CIS, LatAM and the U.S. for up to 12 months. Locally, Edelman has invested heavily in Career Pathing, ensuring their evolution from PR firm to Communications Marketing agency opens a wider range of career paths for our people. Lastly, the Edelman Global Women's Executive Network supports future female leaders within the company and this year offered an opportunity for employees to attend the International Women's Forum in Tel Aviv. There, they joined discussions on the future of leadership and examined pressing global issues.

Darwin have developed a fully embedded learning and development culture. Every member of staff is encouraged to learn and develop at every stage of their career, from Trainee Consultant through to Management. The company call this the Darwin Career Academy. They have enlisted the expertise of an external recruitment training and development expert, who delivers the induction training for new consultants, as well as specific modules that help the recruiters to progress and achieve their own career goals. For Darwin's mid-level staff, they have developed a programme called 'Rising Stars'. Each module is delivered in person by Darwin's CEO and co-founder Paul Kirby. Darwin support Central Services functions to obtain bespoke qualifications to their profession and therefore give access to flexible working arrangements to attend ongoing Continuing Professional Development events. Most recently the company have supported Darwin's Systems Analyst to obtain the Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate qualification and for a member of the HR Team to obtain the Certificate in Human Resources Practice.

Darwin have developed a fully embedded learning and development culture. Every member of staff is encouraged to learn and develop at every stage of their career, from Trainee Consultant through to Management. The company call this the Darwin Career Academy. They have enlisted the expertise of an external recruitment training and development expert, who delivers the induction training for new consultants, as well as specific modules that help the recruiters to progress and achieve their own career goals. For Darwin's mid-level staff, they have developed a programme called 'Rising Stars'. Each module is delivered in person by Darwin's CEO and co-founder Paul Kirby. Darwin support Central Services functions to obtain bespoke qualifications to their profession and therefore give access to flexible working arrangements to attend ongoing Continuing Professional Development events. Most recently the company have supported Darwin's Systems Analyst to obtain the Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate qualification and for a member of the HR Team to obtain the Certificate in Human Resources Practice.

As a collection of over 30 unique businesses D&D's general Managers are empowered to develop, with the support of HR, unique ways to recognise and reward the performance of their teams. This means that there isn't one fixed approach, but a series of flexible incentives and rewards. From a group perspective one reward they do offer, which they believe is a unique way of rewarding the performance of key talent, is to give Head Chefs the opportunity to become a chef-patron. London is currently the epicentre of the culinary world but the industry is suffering chef shortage (there is a war for talent raging in the kitchen). The reputation of the chef and the restaurant are intrinsically linked, which means that it is crucial to retain talented and successful chefs. As a chef-patron they receive a small percentage of the company, so in effect the name of the chef becomes synonymous with the restaurant. Most chefs dream of one day owning their own business and D&D feel that offering this type of reward provides a long term goal that facilitates engagements, aids retention and incentives culinary performance in a challenging and highly competitive market. Each chef is set their own performance target, which will be based in part on achieving financial targets but also heavily waited on performance from food scores on Trip Advisor and Open Table through to achieving industry recognition via Michelin Stars or AA rosettes.

As a collection of over 30 unique businesses D&D's general Managers are empowered to develop, with the support of HR, unique ways to recognise and reward the performance of their teams. This means that there isn't one fixed approach, but a series of flexible incentives and rewards. From a group perspective one reward they do offer, which they believe is a unique way of rewarding the performance of key talent, is to give Head Chefs the opportunity to become a chef-patron. London is currently the epicentre of the culinary world but the industry is suffering chef shortage (there is a war for talent raging in the kitchen). The reputation of the chef and the restaurant are intrinsically linked, which means that it is crucial to retain talented and successful chefs. As a chef-patron they receive a small percentage of the company, so in effect the name of the chef becomes synonymous with the restaurant. Most chefs dream of one day owning their own business and D&D feel that offering this type of reward provides a long term goal that facilitates engagements, aids retention and incentives culinary performance in a challenging and highly competitive market. Each chef is set their own performance target, which will be based in part on achieving financial targets but also heavily waited on performance from food scores on Trip Advisor and Open Table through to achieving industry recognition via Michelin Stars or AA rosettes.

Leaders and managers are easily accessible at CPPG and are always ready to listen. Team leaders are encouraged to discuss proposed new initiatives with their teams and feedback their comments. Working parties led by members of the management team are used with representatives from each department or location so that all views can be gathered. Regular meetings are held so that everyone in the company is kept up to date with such discussions. CPPG operate an open door policy to encourage discussion amongst team members and their team leaders and managers.

Crystal Palace Physio Group strive to make sure work life balance is achieved for all and they encourage all employees to take physical exercise by offering a subsidised gym membership. The company does not expect anyone to work on Bank Holidays and they finish early on Fridays. Employees have regular one to one meetings with their managers where they are encouraged to discuss their work life balance and wellbeing. They also encourage the use of standing desks in order to keep staff active.