What are companies doing with regards to 'Personal Growth'

The company hold regular Company Celebration Days and reward employees for their efforts as part of this event. Staff are recognised for their contribution and their successes and the contribution they have made to the lives of young people. The Celebration day is held at a special venue and attended by all staff across the organisation and is a unique opportunity for staff to meet and socialise with staff from other teams. Staff receive Awards and vouchers for specific categories of awards that are chosen carefully by senior management. These events help us to let our staff know that they are valued and recognised.

The company are committed to the training and development of their workforce and to this end they have achieved Gold status with investors in people. Some examples of their employee development include: structured induction and probation process comprehensive training plan for all new employees bespoke training to meeting additional needs of young people. All care staff expected and supported to achieve QCT level 3 in care. All managers expected and supported to achieve QCF level 5 in management. The development of a bespoke performance management supervision tool which addresses the Focus, Skills and engagement of staff and helps managers give constructive evidence based feedback across all areas thereby enhancing performance and engagement in the work place. Supervision policy ensuring regular supervision and support is provided to staff Mentoring and coaching to support new staff and existing staff develop skills Development of life skills through our company wide IT skills development program enabling all staff to achieve NVQ level 2 in IT. Giving opportunities for staff to champion areas of work in the organisation such as Health and Safety, Environment thereby developing additional skills such as chairing meetings.

All team leaders and managers enter into a specific training programme within the company which is a combination of professional ILM qualifications and in house training. All managers are then encouraged to specialise in their specific area of expertise, such as marketing or finance, so by the time a manager oversees a department, they have a combination of both experience and qualifications. Managers are provided with time off to attend courses and study packages and encouraged to continually share learning and best practice amongst colleagues. There is a strong coaching and mentoring culture within the company, which means that all future team leaders and managers benefit from the experience of those already in post.

The company has always encouraged cross department and team working, with a 'one company culture'. Every week, team members gather at HQ for an information sharing and learning session. This not only gives support to those that are in isolated offices but also ensures that everyone has up to date information and shares best practice and achievements. The company also encourages team away days, so they can focus on the future of their departments and what the plans are for the year ahead. The company try to incorporate some competitive activities too, such as the Property Management away day which had quad biking and clay pigeon shooting activities mixed with some sessions with the Director on the future of the business.

The company support AAT finance qualification CIPD for HR CIMA ILM Leadership. There is Training Professional People Practice for managers. Also, How to manage performance for managers. The company offer Sales and selling skills Coaching and mentoring training. The company also offers induction training, time management and business planning.

Employee Business Forum Values are used in all employee communications and featured in all internal training materials.

As an open and transparent business, Omni utilises an array of working practices to boost team interaction - including weekly and monthly meetings across all business units. The most notable example of this is the weekly Account Manager meetings which are dedicated to providing employees the opportunity to raise operational and workplace challenges they're currently experiencing within a supportive forum. Once an issue has been raised, and a round of questions posed, each Account Manager is given an opportunity to suggest a solution in a bid to reach a successful outcome. Omni believes that inclusive initiatives such as this not only create new two-way channels of communication within a team, but also builds trust among employees and ultimately enhances employee engagement and productivity.

As an open and transparent business, Omni utilises an array of working practices to boost team interaction - including weekly and monthly meetings across all business units. The most notable example of this is the weekly Account Manager meetings which are dedicated to providing employees the opportunity to raise operational and workplace challenges they're currently experiencing within a supportive forum. Once an issue has been raised, and a round of questions posed, each Account Manager is given an opportunity to suggest a solution in a bid to reach a successful outcome. Omni believes that inclusive initiatives such as this not only create new two-way channels of communication within a team, but also builds trust among employees and ultimately enhances employee engagement and productivity.

Company Show and Tell + Beer & Lightening sessions take place fortnightly on a Friday afternoon. The sessions promote a culture of shared learning and enhance internal communication across departments whilst enjoying a cold beer and snacks. Development and Operations teams present news around completed features, product updates and roadmap progress as well as new ideas, technologies and learning from conferences and personal self development. Sales and Marketing teams share emerging industry trends, competitor analysis and customer case-studies. HR , Finance and other support functions hold regular slots to provide insight on new-initiatives and processes. A monthly podcast was introduced to pull together interesting stories, interviews and the latest news and updates from across the business - essentially something to bridge the gap between the quarterly company meeting and day to day communications. The most popular podcast to date included an interview with NewVoiceMedia's founder and CTO Ashley Unitt who shared why he started the company and his visions for the future.

Company Show and Tell + Beer & Lightening sessions take place fortnightly on a Friday afternoon. The sessions promote a culture of shared learning and enhance internal communication across departments whilst enjoying a cold beer and snacks. Development and Operations teams present news around completed features, product updates and roadmap progress as well as new ideas, technologies and learning from conferences and personal self development. Sales and Marketing teams share emerging industry trends, competitor analysis and customer case-studies. HR , Finance and other support functions hold regular slots to provide insight on new-initiatives and processes. A monthly podcast was introduced to pull together interesting stories, interviews and the latest news and updates from across the business - essentially something to bridge the gap between the quarterly company meeting and day to day communications. The most popular podcast to date included an interview with NewVoiceMedia's founder and CTO Ashley Unitt who shared why he started the company and his visions for the future.

The company have invested in a bespoke leadership development programme "Talent Unlimited", in order to develop the skills of senior leadership team. The programme focuses on authenticity and both technical and behavioural skills to enhance individual capability. All managers are provided with appraisal training, focusing on the appraisal process but more importantly, how to deliver an effective appraisal so that individuals leave the meeting feeling motivated regardless of the topics covered. In addition to this, they have also recently invested in line - management training, this is for current line manager and those likely to be promoted in the near future into a managerial role. This is to ensure they have the required capabilities before taking on the responsibility. The course covers recognising everyone as an individual whilst highlighting the importance of treating everyone fairly, delegation, motivation and how and when to have difficult conversations.

They have run internal comms campaigns and postcard desk drops to reiterate the mission, vision and company values. They also feature in appraisal forms to ensure that employees are living and breathing our shared goals.

Staff at DLKW Lowe were involved in helping decide what the company's values should be and have been included from day one. Staff meetings were used as a forum to discuss the company's values. The values of the company are now communicated during the induction process for new employees and also in the language used throughout the company day in and day out.

The senior management team at DLKW Lowe demonstrate the company's values through their behaviour and always use the company's terminology in all staff meetings. They also award staff who continually demonstrate the company's values in their day to day working lives.

At the end of each project the project team host a 'learning lunch' sharing the project's details and learning's from the project. The team celebrate each new project win by a bang on the gong and follow up with a company-wide email with information on what the project is about, value and a thank you to the team who helped to win the work.

At the end of each project the project team host a 'learning lunch' sharing the project's details and learning's from the project. The team celebrate each new project win by a bang on the gong and follow up with a company-wide email with information on what the project is about, value and a thank you to the team who helped to win the work.

Monthly the company award a spot prize, a bottle of bubbly and a £50 voucher based on feedback they receive. The company recognise nominees as well as winners. The Managers will thank people outside this process too. The CEO also pushes the “beer trolley” round on a Friday afternoon to thank everyone for their efforts or take teams out for lunch if they've completed a particular project or delivered a client event. Most Fridays the company have a company credit card behind the bar at their local pub. Additionally each team has a team entertainment/reward budget. It's up to the team how they spend this; it may be for a project well done or maybe because they have all been working really hard on something or maybe to welcome a new recruit, it's really up to them. On top of the generous benefits package they have an annual discretionary bonus. This is open to everyone who has 6 months service or more and is a set % of their salary to ensure an equitable and fair approach. It's based upon the financial performance of the Company not the individual. The company have also introduced a Christmas bonus too. This isn't about performance or length of service. This is about recognising that everyone needs a thank you at this festive time of year. Everyone gets exactly the same amount, regardless of service, salary, position.

All of the Senior Management team have been internally recruited or promoted. That is testament to robust recruitment, engagement and the approach they use in developing and supporting their staff. Each senior manager and other non-senior managers have external mentors to help develop them individually. The SMT have coaches who meet with them every six weeks and the HR Director also holds a Coaching qualification and coaches other managers across the business. Ultimately people leave managers not businesses and the company understand that the way they manage has an undeniable effect on the engagement of their staff and subsequently their performance. Developing managers is key to that. The company like to believe they recruit the best people and truly believe they deserve to be managed in the best way possible, the best way for them so they have in place a set of management behaviours that they recruit, develop and appraise against. The company is very transparent so having a common understanding to what's required in terms of competency, skills and attitude is key. Every quarter they hold a manager's quarterly review session off site where each manager shares their achievements against targets and upcoming challenges. The company's CEO will often hand out rewards, prizes and thank you's too in these reviews. Many of the managers work flexibly too, to help promote a better work life balance.

Their quality housing standards are displayed across all their sites and clearly sets their commitment to providing high quality accommodation and support to the young people accessing their service. Additionally, over the last five years the organisation has made a substantial investment in their property portfolio on the basis that every young person should have a safe place to live, free from abuse, neglect and discrimination. This investment has totalled circa £5million and has been generated via grant applications, fundraising and use of reserves. In making the decision to invest these funds, the management team has demonstrated both its commitment to the core values of the organisation and their belief that young people should have access to high quality provision. In achieving this standard the organisation has ensured that every accommodation unit within their two main sites (84) has en suite washroom facilities as well as access to a communal kitchen and communal leisure space. Empower: The senior management team ensure that every young person has access to education, training and work opportunities as well as leisure opportunities to enhance their life experiences. Enrich: The senior management team have supported a number of young people to gain both local, regional and international experiences as well as opportunities to participate in activities that could have been viewed as beyond their financial means.

As well as regular informal 1-2-1 meetings, Line Managers also conduct formal performance review meetings with their staff 3 times per year. During these meetings staff have the opportunity to discuss training, development and support needs, including successes, challenges, and grading's for Key Performance Indicator's (KPI's) and organisational core competencies . Other performance supporting documentation includes performance development and improvement plans and work programmes. The organisation's core competency framework aids recruitment (person specifications); performance management (performance reviews) and employee development. They deliver their own mandatory training programme (including personal safety, competency, equality & diversity and health & safety), alongside arranging job specific training. There are opportunities for secondments into other areas of the business, as well as with other partnering agencies. Where a training needs analysis has been carried out and a qualification in a specific area is desirable, the organisation covers the costs involved in the course as well as enables the employee's time off for study leave and exams Other examples of staff development include career progression routes, whereby staff are encouraged and supported in working towards promotion to senior positions and by them also actively applying for vacancies within the organisation. Employees also have opportunities to upskill their numeracy and literacy grades and several have participated in on the job NVQ Information Advice & Guidance qualifications, therefore enhancing their skills in this area.