What are companies doing with regards to 'Personal Growth'

All of the Leadership Team are visible in branches and celebrate behaviour which is in line with the company values and ethos. Every half term the Managing Director sends out a communication to everyone across the brand which details financial performance and success stories of where the company culture has benefitted both Celsian people and their customers. The Management community created the values and the Consultant community created the supporting behaviours. These values are the foundation of the business and are owned by every single member of the Celsian community. Their MD is very visible within the brand, visiting each branch every half term. On national sales days he will select a branch across the network and sells to clients alongside Consultants and Managers. In addition, he will train and coach new employees whether that be on sales calls or accompanied visits to potential clients. Each half term he distributes his half term update to all which is written and based around the half term that's just been, not only financially but in terms of celebrating outstanding achievement and personal success, which upholds their values. At the end of each person's probation period individuals present to their Manager, Operations Director and the MD in order to celebrate success. He takes the winners of the employee of the term out for a champagne lunch. He gets to know people on a personal level as well as a professional level and vice versa, is open about himself personally with all employees. He sends personal hand written birthday and celebration cards to every single person within the branches. he holds forum days every term for each sector and each Consultants working on that sector.

Every single person across Celsian puts the child at the heart of every decision they make and this is within their DNA. As specialists in education recruitment, Celsian have been matching exceptional teachers and support staff with fantastic primary, secondary and SEN schools for more than 20 years. From Southampton to Gateshead, they have branches all over the UK with in-depth local knowledge and specialist insight. For teachers and support staff, they offer unique incentives like their Guaranteed Pay Scheme, Celsian School Heroes and Core Subject Bonus. And for schools, the industry-leading Children and Young People Guarantee offers a quality assurance that the people we place will improve outcomes for your pupils. Celsian are a member of APSCo which means we have been recognised as a recruitment agency you can trust, and have confidence in.

Being a dispersed workforce, it's critical that Canonical provide their employees with valuable opportunities to improve interactions and communications within their teams, as well as across the organisation. To achieve this, the company hold a number of Sprints. Sprints are opportunities for teams to fly to some exciting locations around the world to work in a co-located environment. Sprints are used as an opportunity to align company strategy, priorities and for teams to work on projects. The founder, CEO and EVP's are actively involved at these Sprints, providing employees with opportunities to interact at all levels. In addition, Canonical uses a number of online communication tools such as instant chat, group emails, video calls and virtual town halls to encourage the sharing of opinions and ideas and to ensure teams are getting the value of face to face communication. There is a culture of open communication and transparency at Canonical. Jane Silber the CEO and the Executive Team encourage this by providing regular company updates, town-halls and opportunities for every employee to actively engage in decisions and news. This is further demonstrated by skip level meetings to remain current and engaged with employees across the organisation.

Being a dispersed workforce, it's critical that Canonical provide their employees with valuable opportunities to improve interactions and communications within their teams, as well as across the organisation. To achieve this, the company hold a number of Sprints. Sprints are opportunities for teams to fly to some exciting locations around the world to work in a co-located environment. Sprints are used as an opportunity to align company strategy, priorities and for teams to work on projects. The founder, CEO and EVP's are actively involved at these Sprints, providing employees with opportunities to interact at all levels. In addition, Canonical uses a number of online communication tools such as instant chat, group emails, video calls and virtual town halls to encourage the sharing of opinions and ideas and to ensure teams are getting the value of face to face communication. There is a culture of open communication and transparency at Canonical. Jane Silber the CEO and the Executive Team encourage this by providing regular company updates, town-halls and opportunities for every employee to actively engage in decisions and news. This is further demonstrated by skip level meetings to remain current and engaged with employees across the organisation.

The company's mission statement and values are communicated in everything they do. They include these when recruiting for employees, and include this in their induction pack which is issued to employees when they first start with at BSD. As they implement these straight away when the employee starts with BSD - they find these are always embedded with the employees and are always communicated inside BSD and outside with their clients. They also have a staff intranet where this is collated and used to evidence this.

BSD enable all managers and potential managers to coach and job shadow employees higher than them. They also run this for lower staff who wish to progress in the business at all levels, they are mentored and coached by the higher levelled employees. They have also created an external management course which six employees have attended, enabling them to learn new ways to manage and what methods to approach and use. Once completed, this will be used in-house and the experience will be shadowed along to other managers and seniors, to help progress the lower end employees. They believe coaching and mentoring is the best method, particularly in the M&E industry where nothing professional changes much, all the methods stay the same and it is the way in which you learn from others which is the best. Therefore, coaching lower people will provide them with the best possible approach to learn, along with mentoring which will enable them to pick up as they go along. They have performance reviews every 6 months and measure the performance of all employees, not just managers. The performance reviews involve objectives and measures to ensure that the managers are keeping in line with policies and procedures and that they achieve the objectives and aims set for them every 6 months.

Each quarter, managers get the chance to nominate eight employees that they feel have exceeded expectations within a chosen value. The selected eight employees then get to decide between four reward day options ranging from a balloon ride and dinner in London to a golf lesson and spa afternoon. These employees will take the day out of the office to do this and will be paid as usual. All staff are set around six objectives that are reviewed throughout the year. Employees will be scored against their performance against these objectives. A bonus is provided to employees at the end of the financial year depending on their personal scores and company performance. Each month they welcome all employees to nominate a colleague that they feel has displayed one or more of their four values. Nominations are submitted via a Perspex post box (one located in each office). All nominations are collated and reviewed and four winners are chosen, each will receive a £50 voucher of their choosing and are congratulated in the monthly newsletter.

A key part of Block's strategy this year is to ensure that Block is a 'Great Place to Work'. Each Senior Manager has been designated objectives agreed with the CEO with an aim to improve employee engagement and satisfaction at Block. The group meet weekly to review progress. Once a member of staff has been employed for over five years, Block will set up a video conference and provide lunch for everyone in both offices, award that specific employee with £1000 and a personalised plaque will be displayed at the entrance of both offices. There will also be a special announcement in the monthly newsletter. Each quarter, they ask managers to nominate an employee or employees that they feel have demonstrated one or more of the company values. The company owners will select eight employees out of the nominations that will then go onto to win a reward day. Staff are provided with four reward day options and will have to agree on an option together. Each month, four members of staff will be awarded with a £50 gift card voucher of their choice following nominations from other employees. Everyone who joins Block will meet with both company owners for around thirty minutes within their first couple of weeks of joining Block for an informal introduction. This is a great chance for new starters to get to know the company owners and understand their role and responsibilities and the history of the company. Every month the CEO and CTO take turns to distribute a company newsletter. Both have an 'open door' policy and continually walk around the office to have conversations with staff at their work stations. Both leaders also use Socialcast (Block's internal social webpage) to post personal and business related updates.

To ensure regular team interaction and communication, AxiCom host a lively monthly company meeting at the local boutique cinema. They even provide a yummy breakfast to enjoy whilst the meeting takes place! The meeting is used to showcase the great work each team has been doing that month and to update all on the company's European offices to ensure the communications that are cascaded are not just regarding the UK. AxiCom often invite guest speakers to the monthly company meetings to ignite debate, curiosity and ideas amongst staff. The CEO and UK MD use this monthly slot to ensure the company's vision and long-term strategy is continuously articulated and understood. AxiCom's Global Cohn & Wolfe Group CEO also attends around once a year to cascade the Group vision and strategy. As a company AxiCom promote lots of interaction in the meeting for people to ask questions and seek any clarity that is needed. After the meeting staff have a chance to socialise and discuss what they have learned.

This year Axicom launched their ‘Leadership Development Programme', which aims to recognise and develop the pivotal role their Leaders play across the organisation. The annual programme covers topics ranging from developing a leadership mind-set and being a good agency role model to improving personal and team effectiveness, to name but a few. External coaching sessions are also offered to the Leadership Team and the internal HR team are constantly on hand to provide support, guidance and assistance to them. AxiCom is a meritocratic environment and is consistently rewarding all of their employees, not just Managers, for their great work and achievements. Performance across the business is measured through Personal Development Plans. Whether an employee or Manager, staff are appraised formally once a year and are continually set challenging objectives in consultation with their own Line Managers through ongoing quarterly review meetings. From a management point of view, AxiCom measure performance through setting challenging KPIs against AxiCom's overall business objectives. These are set by the UK MD and CEO, who personally sit with the Senior Managers to discuss and plan their career progression and performance against the business strategy. The UK MD runs a weekly leadership meeting where Senior Leaders within each practice get together to discuss how they are tracking against our targets, recruitment needs and ensuring people who are in the pipeline for promotions are on track and have the support they need in order to achieve this.

During 2015 Atkins introduced the Group CEO bonus scheme, which is designed to recognise exceptional effort and contribution by an individual to the business. In any given year there are a handful of really stand-out contributions that individuals make to the business that go above and beyond what is required of them. Whilst most such contributions are picked up by the bonus schemes the company have in place, there are sometimes individuals who do something so special that further recognition is appropriate. For example, they may develop an innovative solution to a client's problem which has brought external recognition or they may have produced a world class piece of thought leadership. The scheme is largely honorific in nature, with a personal letter from the CEO to reinforce the importance of the employees abilities and contributions to Atkins' continued success. The individual also receives a cash bonus to a maximum individual value of £3k and in 2016 there were 37 CEO bonuses awarded.

Atkins are creating a more open, agile and connected business through intelligence forums. These increase agility, empower their people and enhance teamwork across the business. One example of where this has been successful is in the Atkins Transportation division, where their forum enabled the entire Leadership Team to clearly understand the immediate goals of the business. This resulted in productivity going from 74% to 78%, beating forecast and adding to the bottom line. There are now forums like this in 2/3 divisions and HR, with plans to introduce them at UK level and in the third division over the coming months. This Summer and Autumn, everyone in the business will have a face to face conversation about where Atkins is taking the business, helping them to see the personal role and contribution they can make to the company's success.

Managers work the closest to their teams, so they need to be able to have supportive conversations and look out for signs of stress or a general change in their behaviour; therefore Managers regularly have effective one to one's with their colleagues. The company also provide an Employee Assistance Programme for counselling, as well as all round physical and mental health care through health assessments. This covers areas such as weight, blood pressure, nutrition and diabetes. At these appointments employees also discuss exercise plans either for the gym or at home and ARM also signpost them to their Physiotherapist if required. The company also provide resilience training to help people cope during stressful times. ARM are also currently working on a wellbeing intranet page, where all global information will be held here, for example EAP, charities, daily desk exercises, mindfulness and a place where people can leave an anonymous questions if they don't want to talk about their stress to their Line Manager or the People team.

Managers work the closest to their teams, so they need to be able to have supportive conversations and look out for signs of stress or a general change in their behaviour; therefore Managers regularly have effective one to one's with their colleagues. The company also provide an Employee Assistance Programme for counselling, as well as all round physical and mental health care through health assessments. This covers areas such as weight, blood pressure, nutrition and diabetes. At these appointments employees also discuss exercise plans either for the gym or at home and ARM also signpost them to their Physiotherapist if required. The company also provide resilience training to help people cope during stressful times. ARM are also currently working on a wellbeing intranet page, where all global information will be held here, for example EAP, charities, daily desk exercises, mindfulness and a place where people can leave an anonymous questions if they don't want to talk about their stress to their Line Manager or the People team.

Aquila offer the flexibility to work from home and travel to other offices to work more closely with colleagues. Each year all employees get together in one of Aquila's locations. They also have international food days where different nationalities teach employees about their nationalities and bring in a selection of different food and drinks. They also have free fruit available in each office at all times. The office bike to work scheme is highly subscribed and well used and employees often arrange out of work biking events together, which shows how effective this scheme is. Aquila have a quiet room where employees can go and work in a quiet area so they can focus without interruption, as they understand that not everyone likes working in an open plan environment. They have multiple breakout areas with couches so teams' individuals can get together and meet. They also encourage off site meetings, for example popping to a cafe for a meeting and a change of scenery. Finally every office uses Sonos provided to listen to music, which employees find creates an effective stress free atmosphere.

Aquila offer the flexibility to work from home and travel to other offices to work more closely with colleagues. Each year all employees get together in one of Aquila's locations. They also have international food days where different nationalities teach employees about their nationalities and bring in a selection of different food and drinks. They also have free fruit available in each office at all times. The office bike to work scheme is highly subscribed and well used and employees often arrange out of work biking events together, which shows how effective this scheme is. Aquila have a quiet room where employees can go and work in a quiet area so they can focus without interruption, as they understand that not everyone likes working in an open plan environment. They have multiple breakout areas with couches so teams' individuals can get together and meet. They also encourage off site meetings, for example popping to a cafe for a meeting and a change of scenery. Finally every office uses Sonos provided to listen to music, which employees find creates an effective stress free atmosphere.

Anchor's Leadership Development Programme is well embedded. The organisation also offers tailored leadership solutions consisting of bespoke training. Based on training needs analysis this includes a review of the people profiler, performance management data and conversations with Senior Leadership Team members and business partners. Performance management is based on formal reviews twice a year which are supported with monthly updates. Anchor have also developed simple and fit for purpose tools and processes for Care, Housing and Support Services. Talent review is currently focused in the Leadership Team and Support Service roles including district, home and care Managers. Calibration activity in functional teams has been led by HR to help increase consistency in performance rating application and to identify potential stars and/or successors for the future.

Anchor's Leadership Development Programme is well embedded. The organisation also offers tailored leadership solutions consisting of bespoke training. Based on training needs analysis this includes a review of the people profiler, performance management data and conversations with Senior Leadership Team members and business partners. Performance management is based on formal reviews twice a year which are supported with monthly updates. Anchor have also developed simple and fit for purpose tools and processes for Care, Housing and Support Services. Talent review is currently focused in the Leadership Team and Support Service roles including district, home and care Managers. Calibration activity in functional teams has been led by HR to help increase consistency in performance rating application and to identify potential stars and/or successors for the future.

All employees are financially linked to their department's Return on Sales. This provides a pool of cash for each individual that can then be increased based on other factors, such as Customer Service and Health and Safety. These elements are broken down into smaller measurements, which are then reported to the employees so they can see areas for improvement as a group or individually. There is also comparative information between depots and departments. The scheme actively encourages development of individuals and teams, as well as interdepartmental discussions on developing improvement strategies. Acting safely and responsibly is an integral element of the AFI philosophy and the company will continually seek to improve and revise their processes in order to deliver a safe working environment. They want the families of their employees to know that their family member is safe at work and will arrive home that evening. As a result of this AFI have been accredited with the ROSPA Gold Award for commitment to the health and safety of team members and customers.

All employees are financially linked to their department's Return on Sales. This provides a pool of cash for each individual that can then be increased based on other factors, such as Customer Service and Health and Safety. These elements are broken down into smaller measurements, which are then reported to the employees so they can see areas for improvement as a group or individually. There is also comparative information between depots and departments. The scheme actively encourages development of individuals and teams, as well as interdepartmental discussions on developing improvement strategies. Acting safely and responsibly is an integral element of the AFI philosophy and the company will continually seek to improve and revise their processes in order to deliver a safe working environment. They want the families of their employees to know that their family member is safe at work and will arrive home that evening. As a result of this AFI have been accredited with the ROSPA Gold Award for commitment to the health and safety of team members and customers.