The way W L Gore & Associates do business within their unique culture means the individual makes their own choices and is able to take control of themselves and the work they do. On a practical level and for real peace of mind, for every single associate they provide private medical insurance, dental insurance, and on site occupation health nursing as well as on site massages. They also have a PHI scheme, and an EAP for every person and EAP covers family members too. Another key aspect of wellbeing is via their sponsor, who gives focussed help for their development. Sponsors are chosen by the individual and in 95% of cases a strong personal trusting relationship develops where you can go and talk about anything such as work or personal matters in a safe and confidential environment.

The people at Gore have a deeply held fundamental belief in the potential of individuals to be creative, solve problems, and exercise judgment and initiative. Their freedom principle succinctly captures the essence of their philosophy of development. They want to encourage associates to grow and to maximise their true potential. Embedded in that wording is the assumption that the ultimate responsibility for an associate's development lies with the associate. The role of other associates, including sponsors and leaders, is to encourage and support the associate in their efforts. Within Gore, they do not have pre-defined career paths or roles that ensure associates' success. Associates must find their own path that enables them to maximise their contributions to the enterprise. Ultimately, the contribution process is the primary determinant for measuring an associate's overall contribution. Associates can grow in a variety of ways. Once established, they can increase their "depth" - become experts in a certain specialised field or they can increase their "breadth", assuming broader responsibilities within the enterprise. The journey for each associate is dynamic and may change over time, but key is the idea that they should all encourage each other in a path of development that helps each individual associate to succeed, increase their ability to contribute, and thereby help the enterprise succeed.

Managers at Unruly will arrange for international secondments for employees who wish to develop their skills and see how the company works in other territories. This generates job enrichment, engagement and is a form of reward. Their managers have a management style that is a product of their company culture and as such, talking to people as individuals and demonstrating care for their needs comes naturally, rather than this being a process or requiring a formal intervention.

Unruly offer spot ‘superhero' bonuses to team members who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. These £1000 bonuses are given each quarter to nominated employees. Managers globally are given the opportunity to nominate Unrulies for a superhero bonus, and these nominations are reviewed by the executive team to ensure senior Unrulies are aware of special contributions team members have made. In addition to monetary rewards, Unruly provide a mentoring programme which partners team members based on skills, this is not about hierarchy, it's about subject matter experts providing support to team members seeking development in this area. If someone has delivered wow in a spectacular fashion they are given a pair of tickets to an exclusive film preview, hosted by the NSPCC in Mayfair. This helps the company to reward Unrulies who have delivered wow and to share the love with the NSPCC. They always try to make sure their most dedicated Unrulies are given lots of high profile networking and speaking opportunities, which have included lunches at #10 Downing Street, appearing on stage at the Barbican theatre, industry leadership dinners and invitations to the opening of the market at the London Stock Exchange.

Flexible working and flexi-hours – they have a progressive approach to staff working flexible to ensure that their work/life balance and to reduce the likelihood of stress – whether it be due to arranging childcare or rush hour commutes. Fruit Tuesdays – they encourage healthy eating by providing free fruit every Tuesday morning.

Human Resources has been given full responsibility to take appropriate action following the results from the survey. Firstly they plan to communicate the overall results to all. Where appropriate, they will run focus groups to dig deeper and gain insight on the areas that they will work together to translate the results in more concrete action plans. A senior member of the team will be assigned to take ownership of each area. Employees will be given updates on a regular basis on how these things are progressing. They will also take notes on the areas they scored well in and ensure these are maintained and enhanced further.

The combination of three actions seems to work exceptionally well at TRO. Firstly, their anonymous, online staff surveys allow the management to identify issues (good and less good) which staff want to raise. Secondly, in 2012 they initiated their ‘Time Out with Rob' sessions. These are opportunities for any member of staff to chat with Rob, their chairman, about any topic they wish to raise. The sessions are voluntary and can be conducted one-on-one, in pairs or larger groups and it is for members of staff to set the agenda, time and venue. Thirdly, as a result of combining the learning from the two above activities, TRO set up action groups to address the key issues and ideas arising. This process has given voice to a number of staff initiatives including their desire to look at further flexible working arrangements and broader job descriptions, to overcome the ‘summer spike' in work load, reshaping office layouts and relocating a client service team from one site to another.

Michael WB, TRO's managing director, joined TRO 18 years ago as a seasonal event executive. Everyone at TRO appreciates that Michael started at the bottom of the ladder and has worked his way up through a series of well-earned promotions to join the board and subsequently become the MD. Michael's style of operation, his decisions, actions and overall involvement in the business are hugely influenced by his organic development. Staff feel a great respect for his achievement; they have empathy for his views because he has been where they are and covered the ‘hard yards'. Furthermore, they are inspired by the thought that TRO is the kind of place where internal development is encouraged, as evidenced by Michael. It is because Michael knows his way around every single job within the business and because his natural style is open and accessible that TRO staff find him easy to deal with.

All employees have a strong focus on results and relationships. Through continuous development of their human resources they ensure good business performance and profitability for their customers. Teamwork and an independent mind-set are two qualities that they encourage. The company hold numerous events which enable employees to socialise outside of work. They held a summer party in August 2013 where they had a team sports day. There is usually a Christmas part too.

Managers recognise employees in various ways. Employees are praised within the team circle; there is an employee of the month and rewards are given such as dinner on the company and gift vouchers. They offer feedback in regular one-to-ones, through formal performance appraisals, personal development plans and training needs analysis. They provide flexible working hours, work/life balance and working from home on occasion under special circumstance. Managers set targets and lead by example, work with team rather than directing, think outside of the box and encourage new ideas.

The company has created a new operational management team (OMT) that now runs the business on a day to day basis. The OMT has been created from staff promoted within the business. Any quality issues that arise from people, processes and systems are handled by the team. The major benefit to all staff is faster and more accurate decision making; this has increased both employee engagement and satisfaction. Charles Davis leads by example. He is passionate and committed to the company and its employees; employees respect him and his 'open door' policy ensures they also find it easy to approach him both professionally and socially.

The company has created a new operational management team (OMT) that now runs the business on a day to day basis. The OMT has been created from staff promoted within the business. Any quality issues that arise from people, processes and systems are handled by the team. The major benefit to all staff is faster and more accurate decision making; this has increased both employee engagement and satisfaction. Charles Davis leads by example. He is passionate and committed to the company and its employees; employees respect him and his 'open door' policy ensures they also find it easy to approach him both professionally and socially.

They have for some years run a working group of staff as a forum to raise and discuss ideas and act as a sounding board for management decisions. Since the new Chief Executive started in April they have introduced monthly “exchange sessions”, which any member of staff or volunteer can attend to raise any questions or issues with him. These have been very well attended and have not only enhanced the sense of senior management visibility and engagement amongst staff, but also given the Chief Executive vital insight into the feelings of a wide range of our people. Their ability to engage with their people will be greatly improved in the new year when the new intranet comes into force. As a charity they have not previously had the resources to invest in a comprehensive intranet, but they were recently very fortunate to be donated the development of an intranet pro bono by Interact, a leading developer. They are very excited by the opportunities the new intranet will provide for engaging and communicating with their people.

With over 500 staff and a child-friendly ethos, there are often memorable social events. Recently the staff of one of the residential children's houses climbed to the roof of London's O2 as a teambuilding and fundraising exercise. When the Chief Executive heard about the day he asked if he could come along too! The annual summer barbecue for staff and volunteers is always well attended and gives people from across the organisation a chance to mingle with colleagues from other parts of the charity who they might not see regularly. An excellent big band played at the event and staff were served their lunch by members of the senior management team. More recently, Halloween provided an opportunity for every department to host a spooky, multisensory experience which was enjoyed not only by the children and young people staying with them, but was also their staff.

In 2011 SwiftKey introduced special effort awards. These are peer nominated awards made to employees who have 'gone the extra mile', for example to meet a demanding deadline or just for a job extremely well done. There are no restrictions on who can nominate who; SwiftKey wanted to encourage wide adoption of the scheme and a culture in which all employees think about how they can recognise the contributions of their peers, whether 'junior' or 'senior' to them and whether part of the same department or a different department. All nominations do require at least one seconder, to ensure that they are appropriate for the scheme and to prevent unfair bias. They believe the scheme is both unique and effective because it doesn't rely on a restricted or formulaic choice of gift (such as a cash bonus or shopping vouchers). They get to know their employees and their personal interests and values, so that they can select a well-considered gift that's particularly meaningful to them. This also encourages people to nominate their colleagues, because they know that the gifts are carefully selected. Examples of gifts that they have previously given are jazz show tickets for a music fan; a copy of a hard-to-find author-published book on 'Arch Linux' for an enthusiastic software engineer; a hamper of locally brewed beers for a CAMRA member; and a 'go pro' camera for a tech enthusiast who's always got a new geeky project on the go.

In 2011 SwiftKey introduced special effort awards. These are peer nominated awards made to employees who have 'gone the extra mile', for example to meet a demanding deadline or just for a job extremely well done. There are no restrictions on who can nominate who; SwiftKey wanted to encourage wide adoption of the scheme and a culture in which all employees think about how they can recognise the contributions of their peers, whether 'junior' or 'senior' to them and whether part of the same department or a different department. All nominations do require at least one seconder, to ensure that they are appropriate for the scheme and to prevent unfair bias. They believe the scheme is both unique and effective because it doesn't rely on a restricted or formulaic choice of gift (such as a cash bonus or shopping vouchers). They get to know their employees and their personal interests and values, so that they can select a well-considered gift that's particularly meaningful to them. This also encourages people to nominate their colleagues, because they know that the gifts are carefully selected. Examples of gifts that they have previously given are jazz show tickets for a music fan; a copy of a hard-to-find author-published book on 'Arch Linux' for an enthusiastic software engineer; a hamper of locally brewed beers for a CAMRA member; and a 'go pro' camera for a tech enthusiast who's always got a new geeky project on the go.

The Supply Group offers various incentives/rewards to employees. They understand that each employee has different ways that they are motivated by and they adapt their rewards to each individual.

The Supply Group have a 'break out' area which has table tennis, free vending machines, basketball and football goals. This encourages employees to exercise and have a well-deserved break.

Somo try to understand what the issues are, get a team together from all areas of the business to come up with ideas on how they can address them and try to agree how improvements can be measured.

Somo hold team building days for all new starters as part of their induction. This is a full day which is held offsite and looks at their values and also the way in which the company works. They also hold a summer and Christmas team building event, which includes a full day of information sharing and then an evening social event.