What are companies doing with regards to 'Personal Growth'

Optimum utilises an employees innovation reward scheme which they feel encourages their employees to work in a proactive and innovative manner. Employees are asked to email their ideas for ways of improving their services to a central email address and every 3 months these are collated and viewed by the senior management team. Any of these ideas which are deemed practical to be utilised and rolled out by the business wins the employee who suggested the innovation a prize of £150 of vouchers of their choice. There are also site incentive schemes put in place such as Employee of the Month and individual rewards for going above and beyond.

Following last year's engagement survey Optimum implemented the following: increased frequency of social functions to improve engagement, increase in senior management attendance at team meetings to ensure their visibility to all levels of staff, concentrated on making an open door policy environment in areas of the company that scored lower than expected to give an opportunity to discuss areas of concern, added an additional section to the company newsletter which names individual's in the business who have been commended either by peers of by customers to give recognition of their achievements. In addition, this year was Optimum's 25th anniversary and so as a celebration of this they gave each member of staff a ‘birthday' present of a watch and also made a presentation to their longest serving employee of a certificate and £200 worth of holiday vouchers.

The company doesn't have bag carriers and their senior managers put in a shift – all of the senior managers are working in the business, understanding what their teams are doing, their clients are buying and the wider industry is offering. They are normally first there, last to leave and leading the team by example. The company is a sleeves rolled up organisation and everyone there will get involved to help out those around them – that starts with their management and flows down through the organisation.

As they have grown it's inevitably harder to keep an ear to the ground and understand how everyone in the company is really feeling. They have also recognised that it's harder for newer or perhaps younger people in the team to feel confident giving them their ideas or telling them what they really think. To provide an anonymous platform for people to give the company their ideas and point of view, and to allow them to keep a finger on the pulse of how people are feeling they signed up for a service called Tiny Pulse. It's a micro survey service for internal engagement, a single question is sent out weekly to all staff and in a couple of minutes they can answer that, recognise some of the people they want to thank (Cheers for Peers) and give any ideas and suggestions. Sign up and participation is voluntary, though they regularly promote the initiative to raise awareness, and 89% of the team are signed up. Each week half to three quarters of those people tend to take part.

Ntegra offer a company-wide bonus scheme of 10% based on employee and company targets, along with company-wide engagement events such as lunches. A reward is given to recommendations of talent to the organisation of £500 for every successful placement. Rewards are also given to staff who bring in new business to the company.

Ntegra hold team events every month to bring employees together, these include; their‘All Hands Event' which takes place quarterly and gives their leadership team the opportunity to share with everyone what has been taking place and what they expect to see has been achieved by the next ‘All Hands' meeting. Food and refreshments are provided to all staff at these meetings. ‘Thirsty Fridays' enables staff to enjoy a drink after work on the first Friday of the month; this is a company-wide event open to everyone. ‘Monthly Team Lunches' take place amongst every team at Ntegra, they enable internal teams to bond and catch up in a non-work related environment.‘Last Friday Lunch Debates' are held on the last Friday of every month and enable the company to come together to collaborate and discuss an industry trend and debate it in a wider context. ‘Dragon Boat Racing' or some form of company-wide team building event, takes place once every month, providing teams at Ntegra with the opportunity to get know their peers and work as a team in a non-work related environment.

One of the most important services offered at Networkers International is their free and confidential wellbeing service provided by PPC Worldwide. This assists employees 24 hours a day 7 days a week, online or on the phone. They help with anything from work worries, to children and home buying. Although they don't know who calls or what for, they do know that the service has been used many times by their staff. The organisation also offer a pension, cycle to work scheme, season ticket loan, sports events, private medical care, discounted gym membership and life assurance.

At Networkers International they have a dedicated internal training team that support their staff across the board. Experts in their field, they have a detailed programme that supports new starters from the moment they walk in the door. New employees have a course that essentially spans the first year of their time in the business. It's incredibly interactive, using lots of differing learning techniques to suit a diverse group of individuals. The organisation have an offering for every person at every level within the business and it's their goal to support people with their personal development plans and allow them to progress through the business. They offer one on one coaching to as many individuals as they can and all their mangers are trained to effectively coach their staff. They also spend a significant amount of budget on using carefully selected external training sources as well as supporting people with professional qualifications. Many people join the business because of the learning and development that the company offer.

Morgan McKinley's senior leadership team demonstrate how much the company values mean by rewarding and recognising the individual who is voted for, by their colleagues, as champion of a particular value each quarter. Despite being a sales business this is not linked in any way to revenue generated, this is all about recognising those who consistently demonstrate their values and they reward this with vouchers and their 'Go Beyond' trip. Anyone at any level can be nominated including Directors and it is testament that every quarter, Directors are nominated. When anyone is being considered for promotion they must be able to provide evidence of commitment to the company values; this is deemed integral to their progression and development and a core element of the company's career pathway programme. Each week they highlight specific examples of excellence in each value and communicate to the business, again in recognition of how they want everyone in the business to behave.

Morgan McKinley's senior leadership team demonstrate how much the company values mean by rewarding and recognising the individual who is voted for, by their colleagues, as champion of a particular value each quarter. Despite being a sales business this is not linked in any way to revenue generated, this is all about recognising those who consistently demonstrate their values and they reward this with vouchers and their 'Go Beyond' trip. Anyone at any level can be nominated including Directors and it is testament that every quarter, Directors are nominated. When anyone is being considered for promotion they must be able to provide evidence of commitment to the company values; this is deemed integral to their progression and development and a core element of the company's career pathway programme. Each week they highlight specific examples of excellence in each value and communicate to the business, again in recognition of how they want everyone in the business to behave.

Montpelier at LLoyd's have Spot Bonus Awards given to employees who go above and beyond throughout the year.

Montpelier at LLoyd's employees have Gym membership subsidy of up to £60 per month, Occasional massage therapist visits, nurse visit for flu shots each October, sports teams to encourage fitness

On 15th January Mindshare started a programme to evolve the way Mindshare works to be more collaborative, creative and responsive to how the media landscape is changing. The focus of their Transformation Programme is on behaviours as a way to transform their business and respond to the revolution in media and technology. On the 8th April, 'Future day 1', the whole company gathered together at the Bloomsbury Ballroom to mark the start of their journey of transformation. In the morning, very inspirational speakers articulated the case for transformation, shared stories, tools and techniques to support brainstorming, collaboration and creative thinking. In the afternoon, the whole company was split into groups and each employee had the opportunity to apply some of the learnings from the morning and to share their personal story of transformation, and the changes it brought to their lives. The most inspirational story from each group was selected and as a result a 'Book of transformation' was produced. This was not only a fantastic event where people from different areas of the business had the opportunity to bond, have fun and be inspired, but was also our first step towards changing people's behaviours to further embrace collaboration and creativity.

On 15th January Mindshare started a programme to evolve the way Mindshare works to be more collaborative, creative and responsive to how the media landscape is changing. The focus of their Transformation Programme is on behaviours as a way to transform their business and respond to the revolution in media and technology. On the 8th April, 'Future day 1', the whole company gathered together at the Bloomsbury Ballroom to mark the start of their journey of transformation. In the morning, very inspirational speakers articulated the case for transformation, shared stories, tools and techniques to support brainstorming, collaboration and creative thinking. In the afternoon, the whole company was split into groups and each employee had the opportunity to apply some of the learnings from the morning and to share their personal story of transformation, and the changes it brought to their lives. The most inspirational story from each group was selected and as a result a 'Book of transformation' was produced. This was not only a fantastic event where people from different areas of the business had the opportunity to bond, have fun and be inspired, but was also our first step towards changing people's behaviours to further embrace collaboration and creativity.

MBA created #MBAgoodtimes to help build really positive relationships internally and to ensure that their agency is a really fun place to work. Initiatives include: - Friday nominations: They select someone who has done a particularly good job that week, a new starter, or someone celebrating a milestone to choose the lunch time pub destination and Friday afternoon Spotify theme. They go to a different pub every Friday so they are making the most of the amazing location of their office, And everyone suggests their songs that go with the Spotify theme which are played from 5pm. - Monday work out sessions: Over summer they had a boot camp every Tuesday night. To keep everyone fit and healthy! - Summer Party: The London and Brighton agency teams donned their finest nautical dress-up gear and they were on a boat for the afternoon cruising around Brighton. And this was followed up with a BBQ on the beach in the evening. Lots of fun in the sun. - Beer pong: They are the proud owners of some beer pong tables that get a serious work out. Competition is tough – people take their beer pong very seriously at MBA.

MBA have begun to share the business performance index in order to update employees on new business on a regular basis. They have also been increasingly encourage staff across the business to share their work in Monday assembly. MBA have continued to introduce more social activities, with a dedicated social budget throughout the year. They introduced Slack so people can share amongst each other and socially connect. They have decided to give staff a day off after the Christmas party to give back to them.

Lucion's Managing Director, Patrick Morton delivers a directors message in each newsletter. Every month Patrick will focus on a different sector and discuss the progress within this sector. He also makes reference to the company values and praises employees on their abilities to act in accordance with these. Regional Manager calls and Commercial calls take place weekly, with Patrick attending both. This enables smooth communication between all departments and ensures that employees are aware of what we are working towards as an organisation. These minutes are all saved onto Google drive, which all employees can access and make comments on. In all our offices throughout the UK there is a strategy board which shows how the company aim to progress from 2015 to 2018. For those working on site this company strategy is available on the Google drive. This strategy has been rolled out and been widely communicated, with Patrick discussing the company strategy in the monthly newsletters and highlighting key points which will help us to reach our goal in 2018. This strategy comes directly from board of directors at Lucion and helps employees to understand the plan of action and where the company has the potential to achieve.

Lucion's Managing Director, Patrick Morton delivers a directors message in each newsletter. Every month Patrick will focus on a different sector and discuss the progress within this sector. He also makes reference to the company values and praises employees on their abilities to act in accordance with these. Regional Manager calls and Commercial calls take place weekly, with Patrick attending both. This enables smooth communication between all departments and ensures that employees are aware of what we are working towards as an organisation. These minutes are all saved onto Google drive, which all employees can access and make comments on. In all our offices throughout the UK there is a strategy board which shows how the company aim to progress from 2015 to 2018. For those working on site this company strategy is available on the Google drive. This strategy has been rolled out and been widely communicated, with Patrick discussing the company strategy in the monthly newsletters and highlighting key points which will help us to reach our goal in 2018. This strategy comes directly from board of directors at Lucion and helps employees to understand the plan of action and where the company has the potential to achieve.

Every quarter Limelights hold company wide meetings that take place during the working day. The purpose of these meetings are to act as a knowledge sharing platform, provide an opportunity to celebrate success and create a platform to ensure the team are aligned to their strategy. The format of these meetings vary according to the content but are always interactive, participative and provide a unique platform for the team to input into wider strategies or projects as well as share ideas. Many of the sessions will have an element of sport built into the day, for example in March they held a session for the team at Fitness First's Fusion gym. As sport is what they do, the team are passionate about sport and physical activity and therefore, they use as many opportunities as they can to allow the team to take part in sport and try new fitness or sporting opportunities. Once a year they also hold an annual summit, which across three days and has previously been held at Watergate Bay, Cornwall. This provides an opportunity for team bonding, sharing of new strategies and the team to input new initiatives as well as a chance for them to celebrate success and reward employees for their hard work throughout the year. These quarterly meetings have proven invaluable over the past three years that they been in place in terms of team building, cross department integration and celebrating success.

An example of how Limelight support employee development was demonstrated with Alice. Alice was working as a co-ordinator in the CRM team and in the middle of 2013 she expressed an interest to develop her technology skills and asked that if there was an opportunity to work in the Technology Department, could she be considered. Following conversations between Department Heads it was decided that Alice should be given the opportunity, as she demonstrated passion, commitment and a desire for excellence and was transferred to that department at a co-ordination level. Whilst working in that team it was soon recognised that Alice had an aptitude for UX Designing and therefore, an opportunity was created to allow Alice to become a UX designer. She was put on a 5 day intense UX designing training course, which resulted in her achieving 88% in her final exams. Supporting staff who have a desire to develop in other areas is a key part of their talent management strategy and they will openly support and encourage employees who wish to develop their skills in other areas of the business. This was also seen with Rachel, now a Project Manager in their experience team who had expressed her desire to develop her live event management skills whilst working in the Marketing team. As a result she attended a CIPD course that introduced her to management and helped her to develop the skills she would require to manage a team.