


Qubit offers a number of options for employee development, and they encourage all employees to take an active role in their own development by discussing career options with their line manager. They offer financial support for training qualifications that are for employee's current or future roles, as well as extra skills they would like to learn. For example, they have sponsored a member of the client team to attend an intensive coding course to further his knowledge of how our client engineer team work and to develop his skill set. Furthermore, the company sponsor several members of the finance team to complete their qualifications .They offered our client team several SQL and tableau sessions. The company is piloting a Lynda.com subscription for use in our marketing team. As well as using external providers, they run weekly internal training on our product updates, competitor information, sales processes and other requested topics. The company also run annual peer to peer appraisals, supplemented with the employee engagement survey tool which offers employees to give feedback to their peers whenever they wish.
Qubit runs a monthly bonus scheme named the Voice it, Own it, Do it Award. The purpose of this is to reward employees for work that goes above and beyond their day to day job role and improves organisational efficiency. This aims to reward those that embody the company values- Voice it, Own it, Do it. There are monthly open nominations, where peers nominate their team mates and detail the reasons for nomination. The winner is decided by senior management and announced company wide in the weekly kick off meeting. The company also share why everyone was nominated to all Qubit offices. The winner is also entitled to a monetary bonus of £1000.
Qubit runs a monthly bonus scheme named the Voice it, Own it, Do it Award. The purpose of this is to reward employees for work that goes above and beyond their day to day job role and improves organisational efficiency. This aims to reward those that embody the company values- Voice it, Own it, Do it. There are monthly open nominations, where peers nominate their team mates and detail the reasons for nomination. The winner is decided by senior management and announced company wide in the weekly kick off meeting. The company also share why everyone was nominated to all Qubit offices. The winner is also entitled to a monetary bonus of £1000.


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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Each employee is given a personal development budget which they can spend on whatever they like. This is an annual budget and employee's have spent their budget on a variety of things from drama classes to increase confidence. Life coach, HR training, IT coding, event planning, Prince 2 project management, singing and dance lessons and various software courses


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.
The company hold the Investors in People Health & Wellbeing Good Practice and the Simply Health Healthy workplace award. Health & Wellbeing is integral to the company's culture and sits firmly at the heart of their strategy. The company offer health & wellbeing activities and have policies and practices that support people's wellbeing. There is a strong emphasis on ensuring people enjoy their time at work and be as healthy as they can be. The company offer free membership to Simply Health, a health cash back plan, where employees can claim up to 100% back on a host of medical treatments, that include dental, physiotherapy, osteopathy, homeopathy, chiropody, counselling and gym membership. The company hold an annual health & wellbeing week at work where many activities are provided, free healthy snacks and salad lunches and a team building social. This approach has led to very low staff turnover and very low absence levels, leaving the workforce engaged, committed, happy and healthy. Managers take an active interest in their team's wellbeing and that forms a firm part of the people management culture.


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.
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.


The company have a strong culture of learning within the organisation which is built into their cultural values. Their aim is to deliver unique and tailored learning and development opportunities to all levels of their teams. The have a structured training programmes for all levels joining their teams to the teach knowledge and skills required. The company regularly refresh the knowledge of their restaurants teams through their ‘passion sessions' which are designed to refresh existing team and inspire newer employees. These complement the daily ‘pre-shift meetings'. The aim of both is to keep restaurant team's level of knowledge to the required standard but also to keep maintain the passion and culture for excellence. Organised trips to suppliers eg farms, markets, butchers etc, helps develop knowledge, which can be passed onto the rest of the team. This year's focus has been growing their own chef talent. The company now offer apprenticeships to unskilled chef candidates which include an NVQ 2 qualification is professional cookery. NVQs are also offered to existing chefs who would like to further develop their skills. The company are launching a ‘chef olympics' to allow talented chefs to stretch their cooking and creative skills. Jamie's successfully delivering monthly ‘Foodspiration' sessions, run by their most senior chefs for the junior chefs. They are taught new skills and knowledge on subjects not related to our menu e.g. french sauces, butchery. To ensure chef development is continual we have a unique, practical appraisal system to appeal to chefs ways of learning.
The company have a strong culture of learning within the organisation which is built into their cultural values. Their aim is to deliver unique and tailored learning and development opportunities to all levels of their teams. The have a structured training programmes for all levels joining their teams to the teach knowledge and skills required. The company regularly refresh the knowledge of their restaurants teams through their ‘passion sessions' which are designed to refresh existing team and inspire newer employees. These complement the daily ‘pre-shift meetings'. The aim of both is to keep restaurant team's level of knowledge to the required standard but also to keep maintain the passion and culture for excellence. Organised trips to suppliers eg farms, markets, butchers etc, helps develop knowledge, which can be passed onto the rest of the team. This year's focus has been growing their own chef talent. The company now offer apprenticeships to unskilled chef candidates which include an NVQ 2 qualification is professional cookery. NVQs are also offered to existing chefs who would like to further develop their skills. The company are launching a ‘chef olympics' to allow talented chefs to stretch their cooking and creative skills. Jamie's successfully delivering monthly ‘Foodspiration' sessions, run by their most senior chefs for the junior chefs. They are taught new skills and knowledge on subjects not related to our menu e.g. french sauces, butchery. To ensure chef development is continual we have a unique, practical appraisal system to appeal to chefs ways of learning.
The company have a strong culture of learning within the organisation which is built into their cultural values. Their aim is to deliver unique and tailored learning and development opportunities to all levels of their teams. The have a structured training programmes for all levels joining their teams to the teach knowledge and skills required. The company regularly refresh the knowledge of their restaurants teams through their ‘passion sessions' which are designed to refresh existing team and inspire newer employees. These complement the daily ‘pre-shift meetings'. The aim of both is to keep restaurant team's level of knowledge to the required standard but also to keep maintain the passion and culture for excellence. Organised trips to suppliers eg farms, markets, butchers etc, helps develop knowledge, which can be passed onto the rest of the team. This year's focus has been growing their own chef talent. The company now offer apprenticeships to unskilled chef candidates which include an NVQ 2 qualification is professional cookery. NVQs are also offered to existing chefs who would like to further develop their skills. The company are launching a ‘chef olympics' to allow talented chefs to stretch their cooking and creative skills. Jamie's successfully delivering monthly ‘Foodspiration' sessions, run by their most senior chefs for the junior chefs. They are taught new skills and knowledge on subjects not related to our menu e.g. french sauces, butchery. To ensure chef development is continual we have a unique, practical appraisal system to appeal to chefs ways of learning.


The company have department specific recognition programs. for example in support they have engineer of the quarter and engineer of the year awards who get recognition and rewards for their efforts.
The company communicate via their own communication platform: Pure cloud. This is a system by which they can chat and call and look for specific skills of their employees. The company have a very relaxed and open environment in the office.
The company have department specific recognition programs. for example in support they have engineer of the quarter and engineer of the year awards who get recognition and rewards for their efforts.


MGROUP has a unique and innovative appraisal system which incorporates 360 degree feedback. Staff and managers are able to appraise how the previous year has gone and put together a plan for the year ahead. They use a matrix-based system that measures each individual aspect of the role being appraised (including its skills), and ask staff if they have anything they want to improve on. This process creates a growth plan for every employee, technical or otherwise. Development needs are agreed between the employee and their line manager, and are then communicated to HR to allow them to be built into the annual resourcing plan. This allows employees to be trained to maintain excellence and also provides access for employees to any aspirational or cross-platform development that will help to further their career goals. In this way, they are able to support a wide range of career and development goals, including Microsoft certifications, shadowing, in-house and external training, membership of professional bodies and even part-time college and university courses. On average, each employee has 20 days of professional development per year logged in our timesheet system. There are also regular quarterly reviews to alter and update employee training plans where necessary, making each plan a responsive, constantly evolving document. They encourage staff to meet monthly with their professional development manager to review their ongoing activities. They have also added 'post-project feedback' where employees can give and receive feedback at the end of a project so that individual contributions can be recognised before moving on to the next project.
IMGROUP have introduced the OpenSpaces format, an exciting and unique new methodology that gives employees the space to create new ideas and helps make IMGROUP a better and more innovative place to work. OpenSpaces happens on a quarterly basis, in which employees are invited to submit workplace challenges in advance. Challenges might include, for example, ‘how to improve the office space' or ‘how to improve project management methodology'. An afternoon is put to one side for the event, and each individual who has submitted a challenge with potential to be converted into a development area (as judged by a combination of their peers and senior leadership team members) takes a space in the office and is joined by other colleagues who are interested in the idea to brainstorm on the challenge. Colleagues can join in on multiple sessions. At the end of each session selected individuals take ownership on moving the idea forward, with time deliberately set aside in the working week to encourage this process. For a less formal submission of ideas for improvement, there is also a Suggestions Box in the main London office which can be used anonymously. Innovation and collaboration across teams and hierarchies is further encouraged by the completely open-plan layout of the office. IMGROUP also runs employee engagement surveys. They are recognised as an Investors in People employer and recently won the Investors in People Silver Award after a representative sample of their staff were interviewed about their experiences. Only 6% of companies in the scheme have attained this accolade. They also received recommendations for improvement from the Investors in People survey, many of which they are currently acting to address.
IMGROUP have introduced the OpenSpaces format, an exciting and unique new methodology that gives employees the space to create new ideas and helps make IMGROUP a better and more innovative place to work. OpenSpaces happens on a quarterly basis, in which employees are invited to submit workplace challenges in advance. Challenges might include, for example, ‘how to improve the office space' or ‘how to improve project management methodology'. An afternoon is put to one side for the event, and each individual who has submitted a challenge with potential to be converted into a development area (as judged by a combination of their peers and senior leadership team members) takes a space in the office and is joined by other colleagues who are interested in the idea to brainstorm on the challenge. Colleagues can join in on multiple sessions. At the end of each session selected individuals take ownership on moving the idea forward, with time deliberately set aside in the working week to encourage this process. For a less formal submission of ideas for improvement, there is also a Suggestions Box in the main London office which can be used anonymously. Innovation and collaboration across teams and hierarchies is further encouraged by the completely open-plan layout of the office. IMGROUP also runs employee engagement surveys. They are recognised as an Investors in People employer and recently won the Investors in People Silver Award after a representative sample of their staff were interviewed about their experiences. Only 6% of companies in the scheme have attained this accolade. They also received recommendations for improvement from the Investors in People survey, many of which they are currently acting to address.


The company has an office in India and has opened up secondments to the UK based teams whereby volunteers are able to visit the India office to meet their colleagues, who ordinarily would only be interacted with via telephone, email or video conference. Though that communication takes place many times a day, there is not a replacement for face to face relationship building. The secondment opportunity was open to all levels and all departments, and in fact, the majority of the secondments are very junior level. There is currently a project being undertaken where new functions are being opened up in the India office, and a broad range of employees are travelling to the India office to share their knowledge and working practice and to meet their overseas colleagues face to face. In addition, cross functional meetings have improved knowledge sharing, best practice deployment as well as better working relationships. This is something they will continue to develop as it has been hugely rewarding and successful.
Core principles are communicated through email using examples of individuals who have demonstrated them, as well as having them on posters throughout all their offices. Although they do not have one defined vision/mission, their plans for the future have been communicated to employees through the annual sales conference and through their Friday night meetings.
Core principles are communicated through email using examples of individuals who have demonstrated them, as well as having them on posters throughout all their offices. Although they do not have one defined vision/mission, their plans for the future have been communicated to employees through the annual sales conference and through their Friday night meetings.


To help in the company's recruitment efforts and as an added incentive for their employee referral programme, they offered an all-expenses paid weekend trip to Ibiza for an employee and 1 guest for a successful recommendation. Each month senior management recommend their team's 'innovator of the month' to recognise their efforts to go above and beyond. In the summer the company put all the winners names year to date into a hat and drew 4 names who were sent to the Home House Summer Festival for an all-expenses paid trip. The company also offer spot bonuses to mid-level/ junior team members who they feel have made a significant contribution to the business outside of their key responsibilities e.g. as a reward for new business leads or work on projects which are so outstanding they end up being nominated for an industry award. An added perk of working on an award-winning piece of work is attendance to a glamorous awards dinner.
To help in the company's recruitment efforts and as an added incentive for their employee referral programme, they offered an all-expenses paid weekend trip to Ibiza for an employee and 1 guest for a successful recommendation. Each month senior management recommend their team's 'innovator of the month' to recognise their efforts to go above and beyond. In the summer the company put all the winners names year to date into a hat and drew 4 names who were sent to the Home House Summer Festival for an all-expenses paid trip. The company also offer spot bonuses to mid-level/ junior team members who they feel have made a significant contribution to the business outside of their key responsibilities e.g. as a reward for new business leads or work on projects which are so outstanding they end up being nominated for an industry award. An added perk of working on an award-winning piece of work is attendance to a glamorous awards dinner.
Hanover regularly sends their employees on secondments, in order that they can learn a more holistic view of their role. Currently they have a number of people working on short to medium-term secondments within their clients, e.g one of our Account Directors has just completed a 6 month secondment with Sky. He spent Mon - Weds every week at their office, working with the government affairs team on projects worked on by their agency. He has learned so much as a result of his being 'on the other side' and in a few weeks will be delivering a Lunch & Learn to his colleagues to share his experience. Every 2 months the company also send junior members of the team to their office in Brussels, where they learn about EU politics, get a tour of the European Parliament buildings, meet clients locally and build relationships with their colleagues in this office. Social activities are woven into the schedule and they stay in a furnished apartment within minutes of the office, and sightseeing trips are also offered to those who are not familiar with the city.


Guidance Marine Ltd has a profit related bonus scheme which is up to 4% half yearly. This is paid dependent on the individual employees performance and also that of Guidance Marine Ltd. This scheme reflects the company's intention to share their success amongst their employees.
The company provides a company-wide health shield plan that is available to all staff. Health Shield is an award winning friendly society and market leading provider of health cash plans and health and wellbeing benefits. The cash plan can be used by children of the employees and includes benefits such as: food and entertainment, gifts, dental, optical, shopping etc.
Guidance Marine Ltd supports employees in participating in charitable initiatives within the community and matches any money that is raised. Guidance Marine Ltd was the largest financial contributor to a local Leicestershire school through supplying and fitting solar panels on the school premises. Guidance Marine Ltd has also previously provided reading material for a school in Brazil showing their intention to help projects both in the UK and abroad.


First thing every Monday morning at Genesis Associates an activity is carried out based on interaction and communication, this could be a quiz, a team drawing activity or a team model building activity. The company run frequent individual team building events including dinners, lunches and team incentive rewards. At Genesis Associates they have inter-team competitions such as the ‘Premier League', based on performance as a team, a Premier League ranking is updated on a weekly basis with the top team being rewarded, this encourages team members at Genesis Associates to work together in order to achieve a weekly goal. There is external and internal training in place to help employees achieve as best as they can. At Genesis Associates they have away days where the whole office will undergo training or skill development in an alternative location, they mix up all of the teams to ensure full office integration. The company like to go Go-karting where employees are put into teams of 2 from different sectors of the business for a mini tournament, this encourages team communication and interaction. There is a reward and recognition group- this provides employees from different areas of the business the opportunity to interact and work together. At Genesis Associates they use the feedback from meetings to generate projects for employees to work on in small teams, helping again to integrate employees from different areas of the business enhancing cross team interaction and communication.
At Genesis Associates they ensure that employees in business support have the relevant qualifications and training required to ensure all processes run smoothly and efficiently, 2 examples of this being the learning and development/HR manager completing their CIPD and the Talent Acquisition Manager completing their PTLLS in order to enhance their skills set to training. Both funded by the business and provided with paid time off to study. At Genesis Solutions they also have a learning and development manager who provides a 4-8 week focused induction training programme for new employees, in conjunction with consistent training taking place on an ongoing basis for additional requirements/ refreshers for existing employees. Upon transitioning from the training academy each trainee is provided with a one to one mentor to continue assistance with their development and act as a one to one support. The company also conduct monthly review meetings with each employee where a needs analysis is conducted in order to ensure all training and support requirements are being met. There is also a competency based assessment in place for when employees qualify for promotion. Genesis Associates utilize an e-learning library accessible to all employees suitable from Trainee to Director level accessible 24 hours a day. There is an external course provided to future leaders and current managers to enhance their skill set and transition into a new role. There is also external programme training provided such as Broadbean where businesses come in to train employees on their direct product for optimal utilization. At Genesis Associates they implement PIP- ‘Personal Improvement Plans' these are designed for employees who are behind in terms of targets or competency development level.
At Genesis Associates they have a competency based assessment for their employees to gain promotions. The company work to a meritocratic policy whereby management promotions and opportunities are awarded based on performance and competency based assessment. Each applicant for management has the chance to demonstrate their applicable competencies towards a position, and all employees are eligible to apply for this role. If an employee does not currently possess required competencies for a promotion, then an action plan is developed so they have a detailed plan of what is required in order to get there. At Genesis Associates both internal and external training is provided to management level employees, from coaching on how to carry out reviews of performance with team members, through to external training such as enabling change, on how to become a top performing manager which was delivered to both existing and up and coming management. There is ongoing coaching and mentoring provided from director level, with reviews of performance and action plans based on improvements/skill development. Genesis Associates hold a networking event that 4 different managers will attend on a monthly basis to gain insight and guidance on their future role in leadership.


The company's Vision, Mission and Values are communicated to their internal employees through: On boarding packs, posters and office branding, Intranet and internal newsletters. They also reinforce their values to their clients through client presentations and also communicate their values through their website. The aim is for their colleagues to live and breathe these values and one of the reasons the business was created 10 years ago was to give people the tools to be successful in an ethically, people-centric environment.
First thing every morning the Managing Director runs a daily sales meeting in the middle of the London office. During this meeting all account managers give updates on what they are working on and an overview of important roles they are recruiting for. This encourages all the sales teams to help each other out with roles and share news about clients they are engaging with.
FPG shows it supports employee development by its organic growth strategy. They make clear to employees in the yearly business strategy presentation that opportunities will always be given internally before bringing external resources in. Leading by actions has given a clear message to FPG employees, they open offices around the world but only in locations their staff want to live and work. With each of the 9 overseas offices, the managers of those offices started out in a graduate role in the London office. Training and qualifications are encouraged especially in the support functions such as finance. External leadership and team leading training has been particularly useful to their managers and aspiring managers.


The company focus on clear, open communication that is delivered through a number of methods from traditional management meetings to addressing the whole company every Monday morning and Friday afternoon. Every month and quarter they hold a detailed and fun monthly/quarterly ‘wrap up' and ‘kick off' of the next month/quarter ahead. These company-wide meetings will include awards, recognition of top performance and presentations on key aspects they need to focus on for the following month. All information is documented and presented in a pdf pack so anyone not available for the meetings has access to the details. The company is also fortunate to have our walls covered in white boards and television screens that constantly update the business on the day-to-day news, successes, rewards and our core values throughout the day.
The company focus on clear, open communication that is delivered through a number of methods from traditional management meetings to addressing the whole company every Monday morning and Friday afternoon. Every month and quarter they hold a detailed and fun monthly/quarterly ‘wrap up' and ‘kick off' of the next month/quarter ahead. These company-wide meetings will include awards, recognition of top performance and presentations on key aspects they need to focus on for the following month. All information is documented and presented in a pdf pack so anyone not available for the meetings has access to the details. The company is also fortunate to have our walls covered in white boards and television screens that constantly update the business on the day-to-day news, successes, rewards and our core values throughout the day.
The company use a blended approach to develop their managers, combining a group training programme with individual development plans. The best example is their Management Development Programme. This includes classroom training, peer group sessions, psychometric profiles, mentoring, on-the-job learning and reflective learning. It covers a range of topics from flexing management style to different personalities to performance management. This is a year-long programme that is based on extensive training needs analysis and combines development techniques alongside evaluation to ensure the learning is embedded in the business. Another example is that the company offer tailored training solutions to individuals. One of their managers had been struggling with retention and they saw an unusually high level of attrition in his team. In response to this they discussed a number of options with him and he opted for attending an external management training course as well as coaching. This has really helped him understand his role better so that he can improve the results.


All line managers in Egress undergo regular one to one mentoring by the HR Manager. These sessions complement the ‘on the job' coaching sessions in Performance Management, Recruitment and Retention. Additionally, all managers receive monthly direct feedback from their function's C-level executive, as they are a small company, the flat management structure allows them to do this with high frequency. The business is growing fast and as such, opportunities for personal growth – particularly at the mid-manager level – are constantly arising. They do not recruit mid-managers from outside the business, preferring to promote from within and give existing team members the chance to start their managerial careers in a familiar environment.
All line managers in Egress undergo regular one to one mentoring by the HR Manager. These sessions complement the ‘on the job' coaching sessions in Performance Management, Recruitment and Retention. Additionally, all managers receive monthly direct feedback from their function's C-level executive, as they are a small company, the flat management structure allows them to do this with high frequency. The business is growing fast and as such, opportunities for personal growth – particularly at the mid-manager level – are constantly arising. They do not recruit mid-managers from outside the business, preferring to promote from within and give existing team members the chance to start their managerial careers in a familiar environment.
Whilst some of the company employees have fixed desks, a significant number are encouraged to sit where they like in the office - which is primarily an open plan design with a hot desking infrastructure. For example, rather than having the sales and technical services teams sit in defined spaces, offering them the flexibility to sit next to peers who are working on the same projects means employees collaborate better and produce better results for the business and their customers. In the software development teams – they have recently implemented a version of Scrum (an iterative agile method for managing product development). This has improved communication and resulted in significant improvements to the development process and the quality of the software produced, whilst reducing the time required to produce a customer ready version of the software.


Through their Citygate academy, they have a structured development path for managers to show clearly how they can progress to the next level in their career. They are coached and supported by their managers and are put through structured development modules. There are many examples of employees who have progress and taken the next step in their career with Citygate.
They have created their own City Gate Sales Academy. The Academy of Excellence will help ensure they promote a consistent message and best practice across the entire group while creating and maintaining the best possible standards in customer service. In doing this, they will unlock their people's potential, giving them the best tools to succeed and positively influence and shape their careers. With an emphasis on accuracy and quality, the aim of their academy is to deliver a “world class” customer experience, training their teams in such a way that they can also display their own individual personalities. Every sales person in the company has been enrolled into their academy. They have been issued with their own academy learning folder which contains all of the relevant information and the modules they are required to complete to progress in their careers with Citygate. All new starters are issue with the Academy folder on their first day and their file will grow with them as they attend and complete each of the modules / stages contained within the academy. The modules are designed to allow career progress from sales executive to sales management. The learning journey is a mixture of on e-learning, on job coaching, classroom style training and off site training at the national learning centre.
They have created their own City Gate Sales Academy. The Academy of Excellence will help ensure they promote a consistent message and best practice across the entire group while creating and maintaining the best possible standards in customer service. In doing this, they will unlock their people's potential, giving them the best tools to succeed and positively influence and shape their careers. With an emphasis on accuracy and quality, the aim of their academy is to deliver a “world class” customer experience, training their teams in such a way that they can also display their own individual personalities. Every sales person in the company has been enrolled into their academy. They have been issued with their own academy learning folder which contains all of the relevant information and the modules they are required to complete to progress in their careers with Citygate. All new starters are issue with the Academy folder on their first day and their file will grow with them as they attend and complete each of the modules / stages contained within the academy. The modules are designed to allow career progress from sales executive to sales management. The learning journey is a mixture of on e-learning, on job coaching, classroom style training and off site training at the national learning centre.


CGL implements a number of initiatives to support managers, and to provide development opportunities in the context of the CGL Career Paths. At project junior management level, implementation of formal team structures and clarity of roles and expectations have been set out, and allow the managers to operate within a common framework. They are supported by guidance from senior managers and through the company's quality management procedures. For newly chartered staff, CGL has developed a Management Training Programme, in conjunction with the Chartered Management Institute, which gives these aspiring middle managers an in-depth insight into the practice of management in a live environment. This is a cross office initiative, which has benefits in enhancing communications at this mid-level. The outcome of the programme is a Certificate in Management and Leadership. Line managers from each of the offices gather on a quarterly basis for formal competence training interventions from an external trainer. This is also a forum for peer discussion and mutual support. Senior staff similarly undergoes competence training, and are encouraged to gain accreditation of their management experience through application for Chartered Manager status. Board members participate in formal IoD training programmes for their roles. The Board has a programme of inviting senior managers to participate in meetings. All of this development is set within an environment of twice yearly appraisals, regular updates, mentoring and coaching relationships and feedback surveys which allow a culture of continuous improvement.
CGL implements a number of initiatives to support managers, and to provide development opportunities in the context of the CGL Career Paths. At project junior management level, implementation of formal team structures and clarity of roles and expectations have been set out, and allow the managers to operate within a common framework. They are supported by guidance from senior managers and through the company's quality management procedures. For newly chartered staff, CGL has developed a Management Training Programme, in conjunction with the Chartered Management Institute, which gives these aspiring middle managers an in-depth insight into the practice of management in a live environment. This is a cross office initiative, which has benefits in enhancing communications at this mid-level. The outcome of the programme is a Certificate in Management and Leadership. Line managers from each of the offices gather on a quarterly basis for formal competence training interventions from an external trainer. This is also a forum for peer discussion and mutual support. Senior staff similarly undergoes competence training, and are encouraged to gain accreditation of their management experience through application for Chartered Manager status. Board members participate in formal IoD training programmes for their roles. The Board has a programme of inviting senior managers to participate in meetings. All of this development is set within an environment of twice yearly appraisals, regular updates, mentoring and coaching relationships and feedback surveys which allow a culture of continuous improvement.
From staff surveys there is a clear belief by staff that the SMT are committed to CGL values. The repeated checking each year is a strong message reinforcement. The commitment to openness, honesty and integrity is perhaps best illustrated by the CGL Pulse poster placed each month in public areas in each office which allows every member of staff to see trading performance, recruitment, training key knowledge indicators. Health and Safety is clearly of paramount importance in the work and near miss/incident reporting in a weekly engineers meeting together with new joiner tool box talks and the buddy system all led by the SMT are also a clear messages. CGL invests in technology and people to give them the edge. CGL are committed to listening to one another, whether face to face in regular appraisals, at road shows and team days or via annual questionnaires where we test the feedback from all. Staff is involved with both sustainability and environmental issues and CGL SMT lead from the front in this as final arbiters of the technical consulting output and within the operation of individual offices. Finally, CGL is very aware that to bring in and retain staff it has to provide a fulfilling experience. In this SMT both lead by example and mentor colleagues to progress on the CGL Career Pathway. The 2015 successes in professional exams, the promotions that resulted, and the development of team structures that give aspiring staff a taste of business responsibility have all been crucial.


CBS Butler take part in various company sponsored health related charitable endeavours including: London 2 Brighton and a football tournament. Celebration and fun are very much at the fore and CBS Butler hold regular events throughout the year to cater for everyone's preferences, including a variety of luxury experiences and great team building events. For example, the company hired Kensington Roof Gardens for a company-wide party, organised a river cruiser down the Solent with accompanying jet skis, arranged a weekend in Dublin and host an annual race day at Sandown Park.
CBS Butler sponsors, attends and helps to plan TeenTech and Festival of Science both of which are aimed at exciting/encouraging school children into Science, Technology, Engineering and Math's based careers. The company partners with SATRO who are an educational charity involved in stimulating young people's interests in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering Mathematics). The UK technical sector business is facing a drastic shortage of engineers over the next few years, with experts speculating that 350,000 new engineers are required by 2018 in order to remain competitive. CBS Butler has been working closely with SATRO over the last few years in order to encourage young people of school/college age into engineering careers through a large number of STEM initiatives and events. When the council slashed funding of educational charities CBS butler stepped in to provide over £10,000 so that SATRO could still run their annual Festival of Science. This has since remained an ANNUAL investment.
CBS Butler take part in various company sponsored health related charitable endeavours including: London 2 Brighton and a football tournament. Celebration and fun are very much at the fore and CBS Butler hold regular events throughout the year to cater for everyone's preferences, including a variety of luxury experiences and great team building events. For example, the company hired Kensington Roof Gardens for a company-wide party, organised a river cruiser down the Solent with accompanying jet skis, arranged a weekend in Dublin and host an annual race day at Sandown Park.


Caritas take the training & development of all staff seriously and recognise not only the benefit to the company, but the benefit to the employees themselves and how valued they feel by the business. Critical to identifying any areas requiring further development, each new starter has a monthly meeting for the first 6 months with their line Manager and their Director. These meetings are essential to monitor performance in line with expectations (new starter KPIs), and to identify any areas where an individual may need further support and/or training. Following a successful six month / probation review meeting, team members have a quarterly appraisal with these individuals in order to focus on achievements and to ascertain future goals and the training plan to underpin their appropriate career path. Underpinning these meetings, are weekly one-2-one meetings with line Managers, again with a view to identifying any training support needs. The company have an annual timetable detailing training courses for all staff for the year ahead, delivered by the in-house trainer, with follow up sessions including role play and refresher scenarios. In addition to the identification of staff training needs through regular one-2-ones and appraisals, the company use regular surveys to request opinions from their customers on their experience, so they can tailor their service offerings at a company level and gauge areas for development at a business level.
Through a process of engaging with staff the company have developed a simple set of values that all Caritas employees are committed to. To maintain their personalised quality service to candidates and clients. To build a compliant business they can be proud of . To make Caritas a great place to work. Quality Service: The Senior Management Team each take responsibility for a particular area of the business and act as a Champion to ensure the company is delivering a quality service. These responsibilities include: - Candidate Care - Service to Managed Service Providers - Service to Direct Clients - New Business Development a Compliant Business: As a Social Care specialist recruiter this is crucial to the as a management team. The company have a strict policy that all managers uphold to prioritise safeguarding over profit. As such they strictly enforce their compliance rules and auditing process that ensures that all workers are fully vetted prior to being allowed commences an assignment. This includes a pre-placement audit by the head of compliance. A Great Place to Work: The senior management team are all committed to this principle as it is why they founded/joined Caritas themselves. They understand the value of happy workforce and ensure that they strike the right balance between fun and core work activities, between business rules and empathy for individual circumstances.
Caritas take the training & development of all staff seriously and recognise not only the benefit to the company, but the benefit to the employees themselves and how valued they feel by the business. Critical to identifying any areas requiring further development, each new starter has a monthly meeting for the first 6 months with their line Manager and their Director. These meetings are essential to monitor performance in line with expectations (new starter KPIs), and to identify any areas where an individual may need further support and/or training. Following a successful six month / probation review meeting, team members have a quarterly appraisal with these individuals in order to focus on achievements and to ascertain future goals and the training plan to underpin their appropriate career path. Underpinning these meetings, are weekly one-2-one meetings with line Managers, again with a view to identifying any training support needs. The company have an annual timetable detailing training courses for all staff for the year ahead, delivered by the in-house trainer, with follow up sessions including role play and refresher scenarios. In addition to the identification of staff training needs through regular one-2-ones and appraisals, the company use regular surveys to request opinions from their customers on their experience, so they can tailor their service offerings at a company level and gauge areas for development at a business level.


The company have a healthy working lives group led by staff for staff. This group runs information campaigns and events throughout the year and has, for example, led to a member of staff discovering undiagnosed diabetes.
The company have a healthy working lives group led by staff for staff. This group runs information campaigns and events throughout the year and has, for example, led to a member of staff discovering undiagnosed diabetes.
The company have a healthy working lives group led by staff for staff. This group runs information campaigns and events throughout the year and has, for example, led to a member of staff discovering undiagnosed diabetes.


In circumstances where individuals contribute something exceptional that adds value to the success of the business they will be rewarded with an 'on the spot bonus'. The bonus is paid as and when performance is recognised and staff will be told of their achievement by a Director and receive written confirmation of the bonus. It is an effective way of demonstrating to staff that they are valued and that their efforts are recognised at the highest level. It is high impact because it rewards success immediately as opposed to it being recognised through an annual bonus scheme which could be up to 12 months later when with the passage of time it runs the risk of being perceived as less of an achievement. Examples of where 'on the spot' bonuses have been paid in the last 12 months are for: extremely positive client feedback on a high profile project, successful delivery of an internal IT based project within a tight time frame, for hard work and commitment in securing a new client and project when this is not typical for the job level. This type of bonus is in addition to the formal profit share and bonus schemes operated by the company where 60% of pre tax profits are distributed annually to staff through a variety of profit share and bonus schemes.
In circumstances where individuals contribute something exceptional that adds value to the success of the business they will be rewarded with an 'on the spot bonus'. The bonus is paid as and when performance is recognised and staff will be told of their achievement by a Director and receive written confirmation of the bonus. It is an effective way of demonstrating to staff that they are valued and that their efforts are recognised at the highest level. It is high impact because it rewards success immediately as opposed to it being recognised through an annual bonus scheme which could be up to 12 months later when with the passage of time it runs the risk of being perceived as less of an achievement. Examples of where 'on the spot' bonuses have been paid in the last 12 months are for: extremely positive client feedback on a high profile project, successful delivery of an internal IT based project within a tight time frame, for hard work and commitment in securing a new client and project when this is not typical for the job level. This type of bonus is in addition to the formal profit share and bonus schemes operated by the company where 60% of pre tax profits are distributed annually to staff through a variety of profit share and bonus schemes.
In circumstances where individuals contribute something exceptional that adds value to the success of the business they will be rewarded with an 'on the spot bonus'. The bonus is paid as and when performance is recognised and staff will be told of their achievement by a Director and receive written confirmation of the bonus. It is an effective way of demonstrating to staff that they are valued and that their efforts are recognised at the highest level. It is high impact because it rewards success immediately as opposed to it being recognised through an annual bonus scheme which could be up to 12 months later when with the passage of time it runs the risk of being perceived as less of an achievement. Examples of where 'on the spot' bonuses have been paid in the last 12 months are for: extremely positive client feedback on a high profile project, successful delivery of an internal IT based project within a tight time frame, for hard work and commitment in securing a new client and project when this is not typical for the job level. This type of bonus is in addition to the formal profit share and bonus schemes operated by the company where 60% of pre tax profits are distributed annually to staff through a variety of profit share and bonus schemes.


The company has bespoke one-on-one management training, tailored to the needs, experience and skills of each individual manager. As well as looking at the fundamentals of good management technique and practical skills, the training covers the psychology of different management styles, and focuses on fostering emotionally intelligent, open, positive relationships between manager and direct report. Managers are free to be creative, and capable of motivating and supporting their direct reports in a variety of ways. They run a People Manager Development Workshop called ‘Balance Management' which runs over the course of the year. This is mandatory training that all managers attend. The course focuses on people management foundations, being malleable, managing self & others confidently, handling challenging contexts and developing & inspiring.
The company has bespoke one-on-one management training, tailored to the needs, experience and skills of each individual manager. As well as looking at the fundamentals of good management technique and practical skills, the training covers the psychology of different management styles, and focuses on fostering emotionally intelligent, open, positive relationships between manager and direct report. Managers are free to be creative, and capable of motivating and supporting their direct reports in a variety of ways. They run a People Manager Development Workshop called ‘Balance Management' which runs over the course of the year. This is mandatory training that all managers attend. The course focuses on people management foundations, being malleable, managing self & others confidently, handling challenging contexts and developing & inspiring.
The company has bespoke one-on-one management training, tailored to the needs, experience and skills of each individual manager. As well as looking at the fundamentals of good management technique and practical skills, the training covers the psychology of different management styles, and focuses on fostering emotionally intelligent, open, positive relationships between manager and direct report. Managers are free to be creative, and capable of motivating and supporting their direct reports in a variety of ways. They run a People Manager Development Workshop called ‘Balance Management' which runs over the course of the year. This is mandatory training that all managers attend. The course focuses on people management foundations, being malleable, managing self & others confidently, handling challenging contexts and developing & inspiring.


Banks Sadler actively encourages cross company collaboration, across teams, offices and countries. All new starters have a BIG - Banks Induction Guide. The BIG usually takes the new starter to lunch on their first day and is around to help them integrate into Banks Sadler during the first few weeks. All new employees also have a lunch with the CEO. They actively encourage new employees to join in with Friday socials or quarterly social committee activities to try to engage them with other teams. They also arrange various new start initiatives, to encourage team interaction. One such past event was a speed dating style networking in the canteen over pizza, with set questions to get people talking to other new and existing employees from across the organisation. As an Event Management agency, they regularly have opportunities for all staff to help on site at events. This not only enables them to develop professionally, but also gives them the opportunity to work with other teams. Apart from the social committee, they also have a charity committee and various focus groups, that regularly work together
Our Vision, mission and values are all displayed on the intranet. We encourage a transparent working environment, with an open plan work layout. The managers are also governed by the same work rules of holiday, sickness leave and benefits. As previously mentioned, each year we hold a company conference which provides an excellent vehicle for sharing our vision, mission and values
Banks Sadler actively encourages cross company collaboration, across teams, offices and countries. All new starters have a BIG - Banks Induction Guide. The BIG usually takes the new starter to lunch on their first day and is around to help them integrate into Banks Sadler during the first few weeks. All new employees also have a lunch with the CEO. They actively encourage new employees to join in with Friday socials or quarterly social committee activities to try to engage them with other teams. They also arrange various new start initiatives, to encourage team interaction. One such past event was a speed dating style networking in the canteen over pizza, with set questions to get people talking to other new and existing employees from across the organisation. As an Event Management agency, they regularly have opportunities for all staff to help on site at events. This not only enables them to develop professionally, but also gives them the opportunity to work with other teams. Apart from the social committee, they also have a charity committee and various focus groups, that regularly work together


The company's mission, vision and values are communicated in all that they do, in their actions, what they say and how they say it and in their interactions with one another, and relationships with those they work with.
The company offers a range of learning and development opportunities. At the early stages they contribute between 80 - 100% of the cost of formal qualifications and provide time off for study, as well as making studio facilities available for colleagues and their fellow students. For mid-level colleagues they offer many opportunities to get involved in the day to day activity of practice life, to gain experience, tap into creativity, and to build knowledge through sharing activities. Activities range from weekly CPD events, evening master classes with external experts, team presentations, external led training workshops, and many different fun design competitions. They run surveys asking colleagues to select the topics and areas that they are interested in learning more about and programmes are created from there to included voice coaching, presentation skills master classes, time management sessions, and leadership training. All of these are developed in tandem with the strategic business plan for the UK each year. Most training is open to all colleagues, however there are a few initiatives which are aimed at certain groups or individuals according to skill level or role within the company. Management and leadership training for example is a perfect example of this whereby learning the ropes of people management and team leadership is important to certain colleagues and not others, depending on the stage they are at within their careers.
The company offers a range of learning and development opportunities. At the early stages they contribute between 80 - 100% of the cost of formal qualifications and provide time off for study, as well as making studio facilities available for colleagues and their fellow students. For mid-level colleagues they offer many opportunities to get involved in the day to day activity of practice life, to gain experience, tap into creativity, and to build knowledge through sharing activities. Activities range from weekly CPD events, evening master classes with external experts, team presentations, external led training workshops, and many different fun design competitions. They run surveys asking colleagues to select the topics and areas that they are interested in learning more about and programmes are created from there to included voice coaching, presentation skills master classes, time management sessions, and leadership training. All of these are developed in tandem with the strategic business plan for the UK each year. Most training is open to all colleagues, however there are a few initiatives which are aimed at certain groups or individuals according to skill level or role within the company. Management and leadership training for example is a perfect example of this whereby learning the ropes of people management and team leadership is important to certain colleagues and not others, depending on the stage they are at within their careers.


Addaction aim to recruit employees who have the right mix of skills, experience, attitudes and beliefs to perform their role in a way that matches their values and standards. They then ensure that each employee has the opportunity to develop and learn to enable them to deliver the best possible recovery services. Employee development adopts a blended approach including qualifications, classroom training and online learning. Their classroom training is delivered by qualified trainers who have extensive experience of working in the substance misuse sector. With a focus on skills development, they develop their front line practitioners in using evidenced based psychosocial interventions with their service users. Their holistic approach to providing recovery services means that they also ensure their front line practitioners develop skills to support service users presenting with a range of issues including mental health, domestic abuse and self-harm. The company consistently achieve over 96% positive satisfaction rating for their classroom training. Their classroom training also supports any non-professionally qualified front line employee to gain a QCF qualification working in substance misuse which they have to achieve in their first year of employment. For non-practitioner employees they have worked with an awarding body to develop a new bespoke CQF qualification to raise awareness of substance misuse issues in their wider employee population. Their online learning is a particular success story. Since they started to develop their online learning provision in 2011, Addaction have won numerous awards and recognition for their provision which includes both mandatory and professional development modules.
Addaction aim to recruit employees who have the right mix of skills, experience, attitudes and beliefs to perform their role in a way that matches their values and standards. They then ensure that each employee has the opportunity to develop and learn to enable them to deliver the best possible recovery services. Employee development adopts a blended approach including qualifications, classroom training and online learning. Their classroom training is delivered by qualified trainers who have extensive experience of working in the substance misuse sector. With a focus on skills development, they develop their front line practitioners in using evidenced based psychosocial interventions with their service users. Their holistic approach to providing recovery services means that they also ensure their front line practitioners develop skills to support service users presenting with a range of issues including mental health, domestic abuse and self-harm. The company consistently achieve over 96% positive satisfaction rating for their classroom training. Their classroom training also supports any non-professionally qualified front line employee to gain a QCF qualification working in substance misuse which they have to achieve in their first year of employment. For non-practitioner employees they have worked with an awarding body to develop a new bespoke CQF qualification to raise awareness of substance misuse issues in their wider employee population. Their online learning is a particular success story. Since they started to develop their online learning provision in 2011, Addaction have won numerous awards and recognition for their provision which includes both mandatory and professional development modules.
Addaction is an approved centre with the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) and employs a Management Development specialist to deliver a range of qualifications within the ILM framework. These qualifications contribute to the individual development of their managers as well as helping to ensure consistency of management practices across the organisation. They have also made the Level 3 Award in Leadership & Management available to their aspiring team leaders to help them develop them in anticipation of their career development and many of those have taken up this opportunity have already moved into their first management roles. The company have recently piloted an ILM Award in Coaching and the feedback from this is helping them to shape their future coaching and talent management strategy. Their ILM courses are very well received and consistently achieve a 99% positive satisfaction rating. Their managers also benefit from a wide range of eLearning modules covering aspects of leadership and management as part of their online learning provisions. This includes practical modules covering budgets, health and safety and legislative requirements as well as modules covering leadership styles and team working. In addition, they deliver a range of HR workshops to their managers to support them in their practice in recruitment and selection and supervision and performance management of their employees in addition to the potentially more challenging areas of employee relations and conducting investigations. These are developed by their HR practitioners in collaboration with L&D practitioners and enjoy an average positive satisfaction rating of 95%.


We Are Social share the UK and Global vision with the whole agency and have given real understanding of what the key changes were going to be to staff to ensure they achieve this. The company ensure that the global senior management team physically meet twice a year at summits to ensure they all have an opinion and are part of the vision/strategy/how to execute it all.
We Are Social share the UK and Global vision with the whole agency and have given real understanding of what the key changes were going to be to staff to ensure they achieve this. The company ensure that the global senior management team physically meet twice a year at summits to ensure they all have an opinion and are part of the vision/strategy/how to execute it all.
We Are Social's have an annual Winter Conference and ski trip. All EU offices head to Austria for 3 days, paid for by the agency. The company has quarterly social events; Miami Vice yacht party, who wants to be a WAS-illionaire quiz night (for charity) and an annual Lovebox festival afternoon. The whole agency is provided with festival tickets and refreshments. They have a Christmas party which has a 1920's theme, with make-up artists, hairdressers, casino, agency wide secret santa, awards ceremonies, a photobooth & breakfast the following morning.


The senior management team have a strong work ethic and feel that transparency is key. Everyone at WE has a voice and the senior management team allow and encourage people to be heard. The new daily hot desking initiative also means that the senior management team sit with people at all levels within the business and are available to answer questions and share best practice. The SAM get involved in office fun and encourage others and join in themselves on MaD. The SAM regularly lead training sessions within the business and share their knowledge to the agency as a whole in our all hands meetings.
Annually WE take part in Business in the Community Give & Gain Day. Give & Gain Day is the UK's only national day of employee volunteering. Every year since 2008, it has given companies a unique opportunity to bring community action to life in a celebration of the power and potential of employee volunteering across the world. By getting unprecedented numbers of people out volunteering on one day, they are championing the talent, skill and energy found in business and the role it can play in helping communities prosper.
The senior management team have a strong work ethic and feel that transparency is key. Everyone at WE has a voice and the senior management team allow and encourage people to be heard. The new daily hot desking initiative also means that the senior management team sit with people at all levels within the business and are available to answer questions and share best practice. The SAM get involved in office fun and encourage others and join in themselves on MaD. The SAM regularly lead training sessions within the business and share their knowledge to the agency as a whole in our all hands meetings.


Vision Critical encourage their employees to be active by providing bike racks, a free gym onsite and subsidised yoga sessions and massage - along with shower facilities. The company have changed to a Medical insurance plan that provides rewards and discounts for living a healthy and active lifestyle and actively encourages staff to take time out to rest and relax.
Vision Critical encourage their employees to be active by providing bike racks, a free gym onsite and subsidised yoga sessions and massage - along with shower facilities. The company have changed to a Medical insurance plan that provides rewards and discounts for living a healthy and active lifestyle and actively encourages staff to take time out to rest and relax.
Vision Critical held their Summer Picnic on the 3rd of July from 1pm until late. The picnic was held on Clapham Common and the day involved a picnic lunch with drinks, team events and games to have fun and also team building across departments. It is a celebration of all of the hard work and effort from the entire team over the past year - it is an opportunity for the company to say thank you and for the employees to enjoy some fun and social time together away from the office.


All areas of senior management have spent the last 18 months collaborating on the company's proprietary workflow platform, STREAM, in which they manage the lifecycle of their client and translator relationships. TranslateMedia was extremely keen to develop a service and platform that served the company's needs both in the present and future, by facilitating internal communication and ensuring every employee has a perfect understanding of each client relationship. TranslateMedia's senior management team encourages every area of the business to participate and bring their own unique blend of experience and expertise to drive a system that will not only continue to improve productivity, but will provide each team member the historical prospective and communications that have previously taken place by team members in other areas of the company.
All areas of senior management have spent the last 18 months collaborating on the company's proprietary workflow platform, STREAM, in which they manage the lifecycle of their client and translator relationships. TranslateMedia was extremely keen to develop a service and platform that served the company's needs both in the present and future, by facilitating internal communication and ensuring every employee has a perfect understanding of each client relationship. TranslateMedia's senior management team encourages every area of the business to participate and bring their own unique blend of experience and expertise to drive a system that will not only continue to improve productivity, but will provide each team member the historical prospective and communications that have previously taken place by team members in other areas of the company.
All areas of senior management have spent the last 18 months collaborating on the company's proprietary workflow platform, STREAM, in which they manage the lifecycle of their client and translator relationships. TranslateMedia was extremely keen to develop a service and platform that served the company's needs both in the present and future, by facilitating internal communication and ensuring every employee has a perfect understanding of each client relationship. TranslateMedia's senior management team encourages every area of the business to participate and bring their own unique blend of experience and expertise to drive a system that will not only continue to improve productivity, but will provide each team member the historical prospective and communications that have previously taken place by team members in other areas of the company.


The company recently hosted a stress awareness training course for the Store Managers. Hilary Horton delivered the presentation and activities based on her extensive experience in coaching stress awareness through the NHS, H.M Prison Service and while serving as a Squadron leader with the RAF. Other innovative examples of classes and services they company have organised for their employees to enhance their welling include laughter yoga, massage, mock-tail sampling, healthy picnic lunch at the launch of our new financial year and a wellbeing fair.
The fortnightly Head Office Huddle run by the company's CEO and exec team allows the company to share news from product launches to sales figures in an open forum and casual setting. Similarly, quarterly cross-functional Listening Groups occur where colleagues share thoughts on topics and voice concerns. The CEO meets with each head office team/department every 6 weeks to discuss key topics and listen to any concerns. The company use a variety of methods to communicate with their 242 stores including, ChocSource , postal packs and the Retail Managing Director uses a voicemail system to all stores for key messages. Head of Operations runs quarterly factory briefs to all employees across the 24/7 operation and also sends out a fortnightly newsletter containing news,blogs and competitions. Educational displays are set up in the canteen and reception to enhance learning and encourage employee discussion. For example, “From cracking the cocoa pods to chomping the choc” run by 7 cocoa experts from Cargill to educate employees on the cocoa trail from bean to boxed chocolates. The mock shop displays new products and promotions so colleagues in head office are aware of what the shoppers are experiencing in store. The Factory Tours programme has been running for 4 years where employees who are trained as Tour Guides take great pride in voluntarily sharing the factory experience with fellow colleagues. They also benefit from the cross functional teamwork that is an integral part of the factory tours programme.
The company recently hosted a stress awareness training course for the Store Managers. Hilary Horton delivered the presentation and activities based on her extensive experience in coaching stress awareness through the NHS, H.M Prison Service and while serving as a Squadron leader with the RAF. Other innovative examples of classes and services they company have organised for their employees to enhance their welling include laughter yoga, massage, mock-tail sampling, healthy picnic lunch at the launch of our new financial year and a wellbeing fair.


All of the Directors, in both offices, sit in the open plan space with the wider team at The Test People. This allows for collaboration and communication and a closer relationship with employees. The Senior Management Team are prominent sources of expertise in the TTP Community and also the wider testing community. The SMT commitment to the values has also recently been illustrated by the agreement to include the company values in the new Talent Management framework, which will soon be launched. This will ensure that the values are prominent and reinforced by all of the company's managers to their teams during performance chats. The main way in which the SMT promote their values is to lead by example. At Director level, there is a strong commitment to creativity and ensuring TTP are at the forefront of new initiatives within Testing. Senior Management also empower their teams to work autonomously and find new solutions to complex technical and testing challenges.
All of the Directors, in both offices, sit in the open plan space with the wider team at The Test People. This allows for collaboration and communication and a closer relationship with employees. The Senior Management Team are prominent sources of expertise in the TTP Community and also the wider testing community. The SMT commitment to the values has also recently been illustrated by the agreement to include the company values in the new Talent Management framework, which will soon be launched. This will ensure that the values are prominent and reinforced by all of the company's managers to their teams during performance chats. The main way in which the SMT promote their values is to lead by example. At Director level, there is a strong commitment to creativity and ensuring TTP are at the forefront of new initiatives within Testing. Senior Management also empower their teams to work autonomously and find new solutions to complex technical and testing challenges.
All of the Directors, in both offices, sit in the open plan space with the wider team at The Test People. This allows for collaboration and communication and a closer relationship with employees. The Senior Management Team are prominent sources of expertise in the TTP Community and also the wider testing community. The SMT commitment to the values has also recently been illustrated by the agreement to include the company values in the new Talent Management framework, which will soon be launched. This will ensure that the values are prominent and reinforced by all of the company's managers to their teams during performance chats. The main way in which the SMT promote their values is to lead by example. At Director level, there is a strong commitment to creativity and ensuring TTP are at the forefront of new initiatives within Testing. Senior Management also empower their teams to work autonomously and find new solutions to complex technical and testing challenges.


The Red Consultancy has REDucation which is their internal training programme, run by Board Directors internally as well as external training sessions for all staff. There are 26 sessions catered to different levels and the sessions run throughout the year. The company provide every staff member with a booklet detailing courses and explaining which courses are relevant to their levels of experience. They also run some external training sessions and last year have provided different external training for all staff from their Graduates to their Senior Directors. The Red Consultancy also run a graduate training scheme for our graduate intake - this is run by the Board Directors and comprises of 14 different sessions. All staff are given a "coach" who is a senior staff member, responsible for helping with that persons development. They run the employees appraisal and reviews and generally help to give them advice on their career progression.
The Red Consultancy have quarterly individual, team and long service awards which are announced at their quarterly company meetings and are presented by the CEO. Individual awards; Managers and Directors nominate people for outstanding work and contributions to the company. Individuals receive a certificate and £100 shopping voucher. Team Awards: Teams are invited to present on the work/project they have done in the last quarter and show their achievements. The winning team receive a dinner and drinks evening paid for at a top restaurant. The second prize is a team drinks evening paid for at a bar of their choice. Long service awards - these recognise long service contributions to the business (e.g: 10 year anniversaries) and the company announces these at company meetings and give them a gift.
The Red Consultancy has REDucation which is their internal training programme, run by Board Directors internally as well as external training sessions for all staff. There are 26 sessions catered to different levels and the sessions run throughout the year. The company provide every staff member with a booklet detailing courses and explaining which courses are relevant to their levels of experience. They also run some external training sessions and last year have provided different external training for all staff from their Graduates to their Senior Directors. The Red Consultancy also run a graduate training scheme for our graduate intake - this is run by the Board Directors and comprises of 14 different sessions. All staff are given a "coach" who is a senior staff member, responsible for helping with that persons development. They run the employees appraisal and reviews and generally help to give them advice on their career progression.


Employees can apply to study for the Certificate in Football Management - FA Edition. This has proved very popular and the organisation recently sponsored 23 FA employees, 9 international people and 2 from the counties. The HR team complete a review of their core learning and development needs across The FA Group. They identified a number of key training requirements as follows: handling difficult people and conversations, negotiating and influencing skills, advanced project management, essential skills for team members and managing your wellbeing, effective minute taking, unleash your creativity, advanced handling difficult people and conversations, personal effectiveness and managing your wellbeing, recruitment and interview training, disciplinary, grievance and formal performance training.
Employees can apply to study for the Certificate in Football Management - FA Edition. This has proved very popular and the organisation recently sponsored 23 FA employees, 9 international people and 2 from the counties. The HR team complete a review of their core learning and development needs across The FA Group. They identified a number of key training requirements as follows: handling difficult people and conversations, negotiating and influencing skills, advanced project management, essential skills for team members and managing your wellbeing, effective minute taking, unleash your creativity, advanced handling difficult people and conversations, personal effectiveness and managing your wellbeing, recruitment and interview training, disciplinary, grievance and formal performance training.
Employees can apply to study for the Certificate in Football Management - FA Edition. This has proved very popular and the organisation recently sponsored 23 FA employees, 9 international people and 2 from the counties. The HR team complete a review of their core learning and development needs across The FA Group. They identified a number of key training requirements as follows: handling difficult people and conversations, negotiating and influencing skills, advanced project management, essential skills for team members and managing your wellbeing, effective minute taking, unleash your creativity, advanced handling difficult people and conversations, personal effectiveness and managing your wellbeing, recruitment and interview training, disciplinary, grievance and formal performance training.


To recognise the hard work of Stateside Foods workforce, the company holds a Family Fun Day for all employees and their extended families each year. The day is held at Bolton Arena, a local sports facility and employees are treated to fun activities and a BBQ lunch free of charge. The event is well attended year on year and the feedback is always excellent with employees really appreciating the opportunity to meet with their colleagues' families and socialise. The event is great for young children, as the company provides lots of entertainment such as a climbing wall, inflatable activities, football shoot-outs and face-painting. The workforce are always keen to hear about the dates for the next fun day and planning and preparation for next year's event will begin soon! Stateside Foods also recently rewarded their Employees of the Month with an all-expenses paid trip to London to see Lee Evans at the O2. The Employees of the Month were able to take their partners away to this event to celebrate their hard work and commitment to the Stateside Foods behaviours.
Stateside Foods has a strong record of developing its people and identifying high potential employees for further progression. The company work to an internal recruitment target of 80% and many of their senior team have progressed through the Company from entry level roles. Many managers are often promoted for their technical ability and it is important to ensure that Stateside Food's managers are supported with training in management skills, to ensure that they are equipped to succeed in a management role. To achieve this, all managers participate in a Leadership Development program, externally accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management. Between each module, delegates are required to apply their learning within their departments and take opportunities to develop their new skills. The most effective aspect of the course is the modules 5 workshop; during which participants are given the opportunity to role play some key management conversations supported by the Directors, who attend to play the role of the 'employee'. The event is conducted in a light hearted manner but managers always ensure that they prepare thoroughly for this module, so that they are able to practice their new skills effectively. Feedback has been extremely positive from all participants to date.
Employees at Stateside Foods are given time away from their day to day duties during working hours to become involved in community projects that benefit the local area. Most recently, employees organised and participated in a community litter pick of their industrial estate and local town centre. The pick was so successful that employees could be seen clearing litter from the main roads after reaching their original goal of clearing the estate. The company's next project is to tackle vandalism that has recently occurred at Westhoughton train station. Employees will be given the opportunity to get involved by tidying up the area and planting new flowers to improve the station environment for both Stateside Foods employees and local commuters. Stateside Foods also has a strong relationship with Westhoughton High School. They recently sponsored pupils to attend a Food Science summer school at Nottingham University, giving them experience of living away from home and studying in a university environment. Stateside Foods aim is to promote manufacturing as a career option in the local area and attract pupils to consider the many career options available to them on their doorstep. They have careers boards positioned at the school with staff profiles and they will be hosting a food science visit in November to show pupils their facilities and introduce them to their graduates that have chosen food science as a career path. The company also provide pizzas for sensory work to the food science department.


The biggest company event of the year is the two day company away day which this year took place at Centre Parks, Suffolk, when they closed the office and all 479 employees attend. The Away Day provides a fantastic opportunity to bring everyone together to update them on the latest news in the agency. This year they also had a specific focus on inspiring creativity and creating the environment for creativity to thrive as they prepare to move into a new building in 2015.
They are constantly looking at ways to develop their industry leading learning and development programme. This year they introduced Myers Briggs Type Indicator team sessions into the business. These sessions are about supporting individual growth and ensuring that teams gain a greater understanding of working styles and to ensure further cohesion and harmony in their work. They have taken over a 100 people through the sessions. These are facilitated by the Regional HR Director and Head of Learning and Development, both of whom are qualified MBTI practitioners and bring their own experience and creativity to the sessions. They developed the programme from an initial half a day workshop exploring preference type to a full day session that explores the impact of the different preferences on one another at work. These sessions have been invaluable as they have taken senior teams, client teams and board members through these practical, fun and experiential workshops. This is some of the feedback received “I found it very interesting not just learning about my own typology but also about my peers. I will definitely have some new added perspectives now when managing my team and pitching ideas.”
They are constantly looking at ways to develop their industry leading learning and development programme. This year they introduced Myers Briggs Type Indicator team sessions into the business. These sessions are about supporting individual growth and ensuring that teams gain a greater understanding of working styles and to ensure further cohesion and harmony in their work. They have taken over a 100 people through the sessions. These are facilitated by the Regional HR Director and Head of Learning and Development, both of whom are qualified MBTI practitioners and bring their own experience and creativity to the sessions. They developed the programme from an initial half a day workshop exploring preference type to a full day session that explores the impact of the different preferences on one another at work. These sessions have been invaluable as they have taken senior teams, client teams and board members through these practical, fun and experiential workshops. This is some of the feedback received “I found it very interesting not just learning about my own typology but also about my peers. I will definitely have some new added perspectives now when managing my team and pitching ideas.”


Spark44 hold an annual Summer Event and this year they arranged a ‘sports days' themed event at a country house in Oxfordshire for the London and Birmingham Offices. Separated into teams, people tried their hands at everything from egg and spoon races to backwards jeep driving. The day culminated in a BBQ. They also held a company party including both UK offices providing transport and accommodation in London for the Birmingham team.
Spark44 aim to always fill positions internally. Their quarterly appraisal programme is objective driven enabling them to identify areas for development. They also support professional training and study leave.
Employees at Spark44 are asked to contribute their ideas of what the company values should be, and then their values were defined using the feedback and thoughts.


They continuously encourage staff to let them know of any other benefits they may like and how they can improve the ones they have. They have increased the amount of football the staff can play during the week and introduced discounted yoga sessions earlier in the year. They have recently expanded into a new office and this will allow them to create a dedicated chill out area with, pool/snooker, games, chess, computer consoles and general space to relax for staff.
Once all the feedback is in, management will sit down and go through all the ideas that have been put forward. These are then divided up into the relevant teams and that team head is then responsible for implementing their teams ideas. They produce documents that can be viewed by staff across the company so they can see the progress being made. A list is put up on the internal intranet so staff can see in real time what has been achieved and what is still to be done.
Once all the feedback is in, management will sit down and go through all the ideas that have been put forward. These are then divided up into the relevant teams and that team head is then responsible for implementing their teams ideas. They produce documents that can be viewed by staff across the company so they can see the progress being made. A list is put up on the internal intranet so staff can see in real time what has been achieved and what is still to be done.


They had a summer team event where all clinics had to work as a team to put together a band and perform. Everyone had a lot of fun and enjoyed themselves.
The buddy system allows employees to buddy up with a more experienced member of the team to learn more and to have a mentor. Both parties are able to learn and develop their skills. They also invest £1500 per physio for their CPD training in order to develop themselves.
The buddy system allows employees to buddy up with a more experienced member of the team to learn more and to have a mentor. Both parties are able to learn and develop their skills. They also invest £1500 per physio for their CPD training in order to develop themselves.


A pub bell. Someone suggested that they were not around when everyone went off to the pub so they now announce it on Yammer and have bought a ship bell, so they ring the bell when they go to the pub on a Friday!
Flu jabs are offered, return to work discussions and in one case they offered a taxi for someone to get in and back from work. They provide fresh fruit every day in the office and sustainably sourced drinks. They also have access to the health care scheme.
Flu jabs are offered, return to work discussions and in one case they offered a taxi for someone to get in and back from work. They provide fresh fruit every day in the office and sustainably sourced drinks. They also have access to the health care scheme.


The best example of how their organisation supports employee development is through their award winning Graduate scheme. Savills recently came first, for the third year running, in the Property category of the 'Graduate Employers of Choice' at The Times Graduate Recruitment Awards. Their graduate recruitment programme identifies exceptional candidates who represent a core investment in the future of their business.
A long service award was introduced when employees attained 10 years service and for every 5 year milestone reached after that. This was in the form of additional 5 days holiday which could be taken anytime during the anniversary year,
A long service award was introduced when employees attained 10 years service and for every 5 year milestone reached after that. This was in the form of additional 5 days holiday which could be taken anytime during the anniversary year,


Proxama allow their employees to learn in all elements of their work, not just formal training but peer knowledge sharing and keeping technical experts in the business who are great at mentoring.
Proxama had an all staff 'Away Afternoon' in December 2013. This included strategy updates, training, networking, team building and collaborating on business decisions.
Proxama allow their employees to learn in all elements of their work, not just formal training but peer knowledge sharing and keeping technical experts in the business who are great at mentoring.


Junior consultants are given rewards such as tailor made suits, watches and pens when they achieve certain milestones in their career. This has proven particularly successful allowing them to feel successful and to have visible reminders of their success. These rewards are very sought after. They have also run incentives for colleagues around additional training and enhanced training personal budgets for individuals which have proven popular.
Junior consultants are given rewards such as tailor made suits, watches and pens when they achieve certain milestones in their career. This has proven particularly successful allowing them to feel successful and to have visible reminders of their success. These rewards are very sought after. They have also run incentives for colleagues around additional training and enhanced training personal budgets for individuals which have proven popular.
Potensis's internal coaching is very strong. New starters receive 6 months of training and development with a buddy/mentor, formal training, training assignments, weekly reviews and personal projects. This scheme has been really well received by their new starters and has allowed them to hire people with no previous recruitment experience.


All staff, along with their partners and children (under 18) are invited to an away weekend at a 5 star hotel each Summer. The weekend is informal and all activities, accommodation, and entertainment are provided by the Company. This assists in enabling a growing company to get to know each other informally and enormously improves day to day communication. The employees and their family really appreciate the weekend and feel that the wider family is acknowledged for their support of their employees.
All staff, along with their partners and children (under 18) are invited to an away weekend at a 5 star hotel each Summer. The weekend is informal and all activities, accommodation, and entertainment are provided by the Company. This assists in enabling a growing company to get to know each other informally and enormously improves day to day communication. The employees and their family really appreciate the weekend and feel that the wider family is acknowledged for their support of their employees.
Pension Insurance Corporation provide the following: Daily delivery of fruit, Offer private healthcare with Pruhealth, which offers proactive well-being management scheme, as well as discounts for gym membership. Provision of access to a local doctor based a walking distance away from the office for emergency visits. Offer an influenza inoculation once a year to all employees, their company doctor comes into the office to do this.


Penrose have an Employee Assistance Programme that is available to all staff 24/7 and refer to Occupational Health when a condition arises that prevents an employee from working to their full potential. Penrose encourage staff to make healthy choices by offering cycle to work interest free loans and environmental choices by encouraging using public transport (they no longer offer company cars).
Penrose have an Employee Assistance Programme that is available to all staff 24/7 and refer to Occupational Health when a condition arises that prevents an employee from working to their full potential. Penrose encourage staff to make healthy choices by offering cycle to work interest free loans and environmental choices by encouraging using public transport (they no longer offer company cars).
Penrose operates an effective supervision and appraisal process which involves staff creating and maintaining their own Personal Development Plan which helps staff reach their own individual and as well as organiational needs. Following feedback from their staff conference, when they are seeking training, both internal and external, they try, where possible, to source training that is accredited which sits alongside their mandatory core training.

OrderDynamics have launched a Talent Management Programme which recognises future Leaders of the business to build on their achievements and develop the strengths of the top 5% of future Leaders in the company. Currently, the CEO hand writes anniversary cards for all employees commending them for their achievements over the past year. 5 year anniversaries are spend with the cofounders and other employees over dinner.
Founding partner has set up Labs workshops for all analysts to mentor and develop talent. Senior management don't ask anything of their teams that they would not do themselves. Senior Management encourage work across departments and readily share their resources across depts. for the greater good of the company.
OrderDynamics provide Time Out Tuesday's - a complimentary massage service for all staff every Tuesday in the office. They also provide complimentary fresh fruit smoothies all year round made on site. They provide a keeping fit allowance that's not just a Gym subsidy. It's an allowance of £25 each month that employees can use towards anything they do which makes them feel healthy - taking the kids swimming, paying for Boris Bike fees, even towards their family fresh veg & fruit bill each month. We pay 50% of onsite Yoga class fees.


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.
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.
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.
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.


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 the end of every month each of Networkers International's offices gets together to round up the month. Within these meetings they recognise those who have performed particularly well over the month as well as those who have hit personal milestones, be it someone who is new getting some success for the first time, those who have been promoted, or someone with a significant achievement. Within these meetings they also promote social activities, charitable events and everyone gets an update on the progress of the business. The event will culminate in an early finish for the staff and a few drinks together. It's a great opportunity to get everyone together and share news.
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.
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
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.
In 2011 Mindshare launched their Future Leaders Programme which was open to all Account Managers. The purpose was to offer 10 selected Account Managers a unique modular learning programme (over a period of 12 months) to accelerate personal and professional development and ultimately to nurture their Future Leaders giving them exposure to new exciting areas. The selected Future Leaders have also the opportunity to work on a live project briefed by their CEO, have the opportunity to network with senior members of the WPP group and are mentored by the Leadership Team. The programme has been a great success for developing junior talent and has also helped to reduce their turnover at this level.
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.
Contributions and promotions are announced in MBA's monthly agency meetings. Hard work and agency successes are celebrated on a Friday evening with free drinks. Senior employees are incentivised through profit related pay.
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.
At present, the majority of Lucion Environmental Ltd's workforce is made up as trainees. The company train these employees who have no industry qualifications and knowledge to become fully qualified asbestos surveyors/analysts. For example, in order to service a recent contract awarded by Circle Group, they opened an additional office in Cambridgeshire and recruited six new staff members. Four of these recruits were previously unskilled trainees, who have gone through Lucion's Learning and Development Programme to become fully qualified asbestos surveyor/analysts. The qualifications they hold are national, industry standard, and are the basis of providing long term, sustainable local careers for their new employees and therefore supporting their commitment to social sustainability. Everyone at Lucion, from trainee office admin to senior site surveyor, has a Personal Development Programme which must be updated on a regular basis. This is monitored by Lucion Environmental Ltd's dedicated Learning and Development team. They also encourage employees to take responsibility for their own continuous personal development. There are ways in which they are able to plan their personal development, which takes place via many types of learning experiences. These can be formal, by attending an organised training event or workshop, studying for a formal qualification or being taught to acquire a new skill by a manager or a colleague. Furthermore, employees are encouraged to agree future goals with their Manager in order to keep themselves updated and progress into higher roles within the company.


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.
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.


The company has the Liebherr "Future Faces" incentive scheme which is designed to reward current employees that take an active and personal interest in the development and progression of Liebherr, by introducing individuals they feel have the ability to succeed as future team members.
Last year, the company paid for each employee to have a cash plan with BUPA, this gives each individual a pot of money to which they can claim against in areas such as dentistry, physiotherapy and prescriptions. This benefit also included up to 4 children under the age of 21, each with their own pot. This has now been extended to spouses. Liebherr-Great Britain Ltd have also worked closely with Hampton Knight last year in terms of occupational health; putting together a matrix showing critical areas that should be assessed on a regular basis.
Last year, the company paid for each employee to have a cash plan with BUPA, this gives each individual a pot of money to which they can claim against in areas such as dentistry, physiotherapy and prescriptions. This benefit also included up to 4 children under the age of 21, each with their own pot. This has now been extended to spouses. Liebherr-Great Britain Ltd have also worked closely with Hampton Knight last year in terms of occupational health; putting together a matrix showing critical areas that should be assessed on a regular basis.


Hunter Adams' Managing Director leads from the front in every aspect of their business. His style of communication is open and transparent and he has openly shared the business strategy with all employees. For the past two years Hunter Adams' number one strategic objective has been the retention of the team and the Managing Director puts employee engagement at the forefront of the agenda to ensure they continue to do this. He provides honest and transparent monthly business updates on how they are performing to plan and invites comments and questions from the wider team that he is happy to answer in an open forum. He is passionate about communication and engages with the wider team using a variety of communication mediums. His drive and energy acts as a real motivator to the team and his commitment to growing and developing the business is evident from his actions. The development of the team is also one of his priorities to ensure that Hunter Adams attract, develop and retain the very best HR talent in the markets they operate in. He was instrumental in the creation of their own HR Academy helping to develop their own talent. He empowers his Leadership team and challenges them to be accountable for the growth of their service area whilst providing an entrepreneurial vision for the future growth of the organisation.
Hunter Adams social committee put together a wide range of events with several of them focused solely on the wellbeing of their team. They have entered teams into several 10k races. Their main charity event was a kayaking expedition with a total combined distance of 96 miles. Managers have set their teams pedometer challenges and have organised local hill walking trips. The team also take on personal challenges such as the London Marathon and two of the team have successfully completed the trek up Kilimanjaro. Hunter Adams encourages their team to be fit and active and live healthy lifestyles.
Hunter Adams social committee put together a wide range of events with several of them focused solely on the wellbeing of their team. They have entered teams into several 10k races. Their main charity event was a kayaking expedition with a total combined distance of 96 miles. Managers have set their teams pedometer challenges and have organised local hill walking trips. The team also take on personal challenges such as the London Marathon and two of the team have successfully completed the trek up Kilimanjaro. Hunter Adams encourages their team to be fit and active and live healthy lifestyles.


By creating an environment that is informal and friendly, and where people genuinely love coming to work because they get on with the people and like doing the work.
By creating an environment that is informal and friendly, and where people genuinely love coming to work because they get on with the people and like doing the work.
Hugo & Cat are a straightforward company where great people really count. For the right people there's a real opportunity to make a difference and to be given real responsibility. Their structure is non-hierarchical, and they listen to their staff to create an environment and culture that everyone has helped shape.


Hoxton work very closely as a team when qualifying, implementing and communicating ideas. They encourage people to make the bold decision and not the easy one which goes back to their value - only dead fish swim with the current. Hox-in-a-Box, a pop-up hotel container at BoxPark which came from an idea the brand director had. They then ran this for a limited period, got the whole team involved in coming up with ideas for events in the box and PR'd it to great effect.
Employees will get £50 - tax paid by employers, as bonus when they are recognised for their outstanding service by their guests.
Hoxton are happy to and encourage their employees to seek out training courses, both external and internal which they will then pay for.


Hangar Seven run an Employee of the Month award whereby everyone votes for a crew member who has really gone the extra mile and delivered against their company values. It's a great accolade and the winner receives £100 to spend as they wish. They also have a yearly overall winner who receives £500. This is a person with the most votes over the year. Hangar Seven operate a company wide profit share scheme and they have the most elaborate fully paid for Christmas parties in the industry.
Hangar Seven run an Employee of the Month award whereby everyone votes for a crew member who has really gone the extra mile and delivered against their company values. It's a great accolade and the winner receives £100 to spend as they wish. They also have a yearly overall winner who receives £500. This is a person with the most votes over the year. Hangar Seven operate a company wide profit share scheme and they have the most elaborate fully paid for Christmas parties in the industry.
Hangar Seven's leader speaks with everyone as much as possible on a daily basis. He knows about their families and their social life outside of work and he misses nothing. He picks up when they are struggling and if possible offers help. This might be financial or time off, or simply a word in the right manager's ear. He is extremely caring and treats everyone with respect.


Golin/Virgo have ‘G4 Superhero' and the ‘Veritable Virgo' awards. These awards are announced publicly at team meetings and the winners are chosen from a short-list of peer-nominated candidates which are reviewed by the leadership team to find the winner. The awards recognise and reward individuals who model the company values and behaviours to achieve exceptional results. The winner receives a bottle of champagne, and the choice of an experience, either dinner in a top London restaurant, a spa day, a trip to see a west end show, a flight in a hot air balloon or a chance to drive a top sports car. The overall winner at the end of the year gets the opportunity to travel to one of their global offices - recent winners have travelled to New York and Chicago for a week of cross-office/cultural learning.
Golin and Virgo are led by President Matt (Golin) and two CEOs/MDs Sarah and Angie (Virgo). All three are all very well respected in the communications industry and this is a definite draw for employees who choose to join Golin/Virgo. They are all very hands on and accessible, encouraging team members to come and pick their brains about any challenges they may be facing as well as actively mentoring junior members in order to nurture their raw talents. They all bring the values to life setting an example to the team and perpetuate an environment where hard work and outstanding performance is rewarded and success is celebrated on a regular basis. The senior leadership has high visibility at team meetings in both office locations, presenting, sharing and demonstrating excellence and best practice across the company.
Golin and Virgo are led by President Matt (Golin) and two CEOs/MDs Sarah and Angie (Virgo). All three are all very well respected in the communications industry and this is a definite draw for employees who choose to join Golin/Virgo. They are all very hands on and accessible, encouraging team members to come and pick their brains about any challenges they may be facing as well as actively mentoring junior members in order to nurture their raw talents. They all bring the values to life setting an example to the team and perpetuate an environment where hard work and outstanding performance is rewarded and success is celebrated on a regular basis. The senior leadership has high visibility at team meetings in both office locations, presenting, sharing and demonstrating excellence and best practice across the company.


At Global Reach Partners they ensure all of their staff receive a comprehensive induction programme, to give them all the skills to be successful in their role as well as giving them the training and exposure to understand what the organisation does and how departments work together to produce the end result via their job swap timetable. Their induction programme is made up of a variety of line manager training, departmental job swaps, education on company policies and procedures and a session about the companies mission, vision, core values and culture. Global Reach Partners' sales team are currently going through an internal, in-depth training programme which has been hosted by a number of senior sales managers and team members. So far they have covered off communication filters, buying signals and will cover products and security of funds for the remainder of the year. They encourage their sales team to continue their own development by using the resources and experience around the business by planning training such as call coaching and meeting preparation.
At Global Reach Partners they ensure all of their staff receive a comprehensive induction programme, to give them all the skills to be successful in their role as well as giving them the training and exposure to understand what the organisation does and how departments work together to produce the end result via their job swap timetable. Their induction programme is made up of a variety of line manager training, departmental job swaps, education on company policies and procedures and a session about the companies mission, vision, core values and culture. Global Reach Partners' sales team are currently going through an internal, in-depth training programme which has been hosted by a number of senior sales managers and team members. So far they have covered off communication filters, buying signals and will cover products and security of funds for the remainder of the year. They encourage their sales team to continue their own development by using the resources and experience around the business by planning training such as call coaching and meeting preparation.
Global Reach Partners reward their credible employees in more ways than one and focus on these awards not only throughout the course of the year but month by month. Every Monday afternoon the management team gather to discuss and vote for a member of the admin team who stood out above all others for the previous working week. Over the course of the month, the votes are counted to establish the winner for a very competitive place of ‘Admin of The Month'. This is then announced at their monthly “Round Up' where the companies successes for the month prior are discussed and the top performers from sales, dealing and admin are presented with congratulations and a trophy where their name will be engraved and will be placed on their desk for the remainder of the month. They receive a £400 bonus and an invitation to an exclusive ‘over achievers' breakfast with their CEO at a top London venue to kick start their working day.


The company offer complimentary healthy breakfasts, lunches and snacks and as previously mentioned offer access to exercise. They are looking into a new idea of giving each employee a pair of slippers to show that we care about them from head to toe
The company provide personal rewards for their employees. Upgrade holiday booking, upgrade hotel, upgrade flights. They also do spontaneous parties on top of the quarterly, monthly and weekly socials. Training - they allow employees to do training that is not necessarily linked to their role.
The company offer complimentary healthy breakfasts, lunches and snacks and as previously mentioned offer access to exercise. They are looking into a new idea of giving each employee a pair of slippers to show that we care about them from head to toe


Excelian understand that in the current economic climate getting the most out of their people is more important than ever. Due to the nature of their business, almost half of their employees are not from the UK. This means that many of them are not registered with a GP, therefore Excelian provide there employees with unlimited access to a top private GP practice with offices across the city. They also offer healthy breakfast at their London HQ, providing a selection of healthy cereals and wholemeal bread for toast, to set them up for the day.
The nature of Excelian's business means that they have a variety of career paths open to staff. This may be as a technical subject matter expert, project manager or future leader of a division/practice. For this reason, they have introduced ‘Excelian Academies'. These are a series of long term L&D programmes designed to support their staff in whichever career path they choose. The Excelian Leadership Academy is a two year programme for those wishing to follow a management career path, the Excelian Project Management Academy is a 12 month programme for those who wish to develop their project management skills and possibly become project managers in the future and the Excelian Capital Markets & Commodities SME Academy has a selection of courses available for staff to choose from to allow them to develop the skills required to continue to develop as an SME in their chosen field. This is open ended, with courses being repeated throughout the year to allow for attendance between client assignments. The Technology Leadership Academy is a three year programme open to all consultants working within the Technical Consulting Practice. Those enrolled within the Leadership, Project Management or Technology Leadership academies are assigned a mentor from their ranks of senior staff to provide additional support. For ad hoc courses, relating to business objectives or client requirement, Excelian offer both classroom and online options, allowing the flexibility required in a consultancy business.
Excelian's two year partnership with Inspire has allowed all staff to volunteer throughout the academic year helping primary school students gain knowledge in presentations and marketing. They also offer work experience to secondary schools. These schools are all within their working community the students are vulnerable learners with multi-agency involvement, many of whom are statemented or on school action plus. These include learners who have been excluded from mainstream school or other Pupil Referral Unit provision or who are school refusers. Excelian also have a partnership with Careers Academies where staff volunteer to mentor a student over an 18 month programme assisting them on coursework, reinforcing classroom learning with real life examples, expanding their understanding of business culture and workplace etiquette. They practise employability skills such as time management, problem solving, CV writing or interview techniques and widen their network of business contacts for the future.


Employee development is supported through Paid Training Active Succession planning, in which 4 out of the 5 general managers and 3 out of the 5 head chefs have worked their way up through the ranks to these senior positions. They have a rising stars initiative where they develop and train individuals at junior level who have been identified as having the potential to grow into their future managers. 60 senior and middle managers have completed an inventory of individual work attitude, motivation and behaviours assessment and as a result have then had a personal development and training plan specifically designed around their needs and skills shortages. From this process around 20 management development training modules have been drafted and are open to all people within the organisation, regardless of their position level. There are training journeys in place for each and every position level in the business with a series of core and developmental training modules which act as steps on the ladder to their next promotion. Such courses are run with sufficient frequency on the monthly training calendar so that everyone can take their journey at their own pace.
Employee development is supported through Paid Training Active Succession planning, in which 4 out of the 5 general managers and 3 out of the 5 head chefs have worked their way up through the ranks to these senior positions. They have a rising stars initiative where they develop and train individuals at junior level who have been identified as having the potential to grow into their future managers. 60 senior and middle managers have completed an inventory of individual work attitude, motivation and behaviours assessment and as a result have then had a personal development and training plan specifically designed around their needs and skills shortages. From this process around 20 management development training modules have been drafted and are open to all people within the organisation, regardless of their position level. There are training journeys in place for each and every position level in the business with a series of core and developmental training modules which act as steps on the ladder to their next promotion. Such courses are run with sufficient frequency on the monthly training calendar so that everyone can take their journey at their own pace.
The organisation seeks to reward employees through supplier and cultural trips on an annual basis where approximately 160 staff have the opportunity to go on overseas trips to places such as France, The Netherlands, Italy and The Czech Republic, to meet at first hand the producers of the food and beverages that they prepare and serve in the restaurants and hotels. This is a highly prized reward and has numerous benefits: it feeds the passion their staff have for their product; it increases their product knowledge; it engages them in a relaxed and social environment with other staff from other locations that they perhaps do not know; allows them to learn from each other; fosters friendships and team spirit and it creates opportunities for career advancement, exposing staff to possibilities in the other restaurants. The trips are highly prized. Staff are nominated by their Heads of Department and decisions on the final nominations are made by the Directors.


The Buzzacott Stuart Defries Memorial Fund (the Fund) – in 2003, the Partners set up a charitable trust in memory of a former Partner, Stuart Defries, who was killed in a tragic accident. Volunteering initiatives and community programmes under the auspices of the Fund. These include The Access Project, which helps bright but disadvantaged teenagers to improve grades and access to university, New Horizon programmes for NEET youngsters and a local primary school reading programme. One-off volunteering activities/team events this year included activities with KidsCo, with a local football summer school and with a city farm. The Fund also awards grants every year to charities, chiefly supporting disadvantaged communities in boroughs bordering the City, with a particular focus on children and young people and also through the staff suggestion and matched giving scheme.
Instant recognition: Employees are nominated for and awarded a bottle of champagne or a gift voucher for exceptional performance contribution, in particular living the Firm's values. Awards are communicated on the intranet.
Instant recognition: Employees are nominated for and awarded a bottle of champagne or a gift voucher for exceptional performance contribution, in particular living the Firm's values. Awards are communicated on the intranet.


Everyone across the agency impacts on the success of their business, whether cost-savings, improving cash flow or creating award-winning work, so each month individuals can nominate themselves for the Impact of the Month Award. The board short-lists the best nominations, they then present their work to the rest of the company at the first Monday morning meeting of the month. Each member of staff is given a voting sheet with a list of the nominations so that they are all able to vote on a winner of each category. At the following Monday morning meeting the winners of each category are announced, and presented with retail vouchers from one of the Co-Founders. This contributes to the Star of the Month. Each month the Board vote for the Star of the Month. Star of the Month recognises employees from across the agency who have gone “above and beyond “to achieve success at work. At the end of the year, each month's winner's name is placed into the Star of the Year draw to win a chance to work in the international office of an Oriella PR network partner for two weeks. Previous winners have chosen Australia, India and San Francisco.
Everyone across the agency impacts on the success of their business, whether cost-savings, improving cash flow or creating award-winning work, so each month individuals can nominate themselves for the Impact of the Month Award. The board short-lists the best nominations, they then present their work to the rest of the company at the first Monday morning meeting of the month. Each member of staff is given a voting sheet with a list of the nominations so that they are all able to vote on a winner of each category. At the following Monday morning meeting the winners of each category are announced, and presented with retail vouchers from one of the Co-Founders. This contributes to the Star of the Month. Each month the Board vote for the Star of the Month. Star of the Month recognises employees from across the agency who have gone “above and beyond “to achieve success at work. At the end of the year, each month's winner's name is placed into the Star of the Year draw to win a chance to work in the international office of an Oriella PR network partner for two weeks. Previous winners have chosen Australia, India and San Francisco.
Brands2Life encourages an open, honest and collaborative agency culture. None of the directors, including the co-founders, have offices. The office is one open plan space which means an open door policy is in place at all times, enabling staff to feel they can approach and collaborate with the co-founders at any time. The co-founders believe that they should lead by example and from the front. They take weekly company meetings, still work on client accounts, participate in company events and always take a vested interest in everyone's careers no matter what level. They hold quarterly review meeting sessions with the Board to enable them to be kept informed about the performance of all staff. In addition to this they also run training sessions and company introductions for all new starters. Both co-founders take the Q&A session with all levels twice a year because they want to hear first-hand from people how they feel about the company. If everyone has had a tough busy month it is not unheard of for them to arrange surprise lunches to thank everyone for their hard work.


blu eCigs have a fairly relaxed environment, which means their employees feel able to offer feedback and regularly suggest ideas openly and they do this in a variety of ways. They conduct SurveyMonkey online questionnaires, encourage people to send ideas using their postbox and make the most of iPad technology. Every Friday, when they meet at the end of the day for a blether over a glass of wine or beer, they have an informal Q&A session, opening the postbox and answering the questions posed on the postcards. Originally they only had a few questions asked, but it's really snowballed with people wanting to find out anything from how much money they made that week to what the weather's going to be like at the weekend. blu eCig's SurveyMonkey questionnaires generate a great response too, and whenever they're unsure of the right direction to take, such as where to book for the Christmas night out, they put it to the vote. They are a democracy after all! At their September all-staff, they used iPads for staff to vote on questions posed throughout the session. This was the basis for a competition and kept the audience alive and engaged throughout the entire day.
blu eCigs changed “you time” to “blu time.” As a thank you, they give each employee £100 to spend on themselves as part of their new wellbeing scheme. This money, which will be awarded every year, can be put towards anything that keeps people healthy and happy. This could be anything from playing sports, cooking classes, yoga or dance lessons. They also provide a healthcare scheme for employees offering gym memberships throughout the UK as part of their private healthcare account.
blu eCigs changed “you time” to “blu time.” As a thank you, they give each employee £100 to spend on themselves as part of their new wellbeing scheme. This money, which will be awarded every year, can be put towards anything that keeps people healthy and happy. This could be anything from playing sports, cooking classes, yoga or dance lessons. They also provide a healthcare scheme for employees offering gym memberships throughout the UK as part of their private healthcare account.


Employees have the opportunity to feedback at monthly staff meetings and company off site events. As well as this individual teams welcome direct feedback. In addition, there are regular e-mails seeking feedback as well as annual employee surveys.
Employees have the opportunity to feedback at monthly staff meetings and company off site events. As well as this individual teams welcome direct feedback. In addition, there are regular e-mails seeking feedback as well as annual employee surveys.
They have put together a group which comprises people at all levels within the investment team to focus on the specific development needs of their investment professionals. This group is in the process of consulting directly with all members of the investment team about what they consider to be their individual training needs and the needs of others.

In their last companywide team building event the whole company was put into teams randomly so that teams were mixed with people who don't normally work together on a daily basis. Each team were given iPads and an array of props and asked to create a short film entitled 'A Day in the Life of a Badooer', with a view to winning the grand prize and a self-styled Oscar award. After a couple of frantic hours running round, filming and editing, there was a film screening and prize giving, followed by dinner, drinks, music and dancing well into the night! Since then, they have concentrated on departmental team builds to foster good relationships within teams. These have included taxi treasure hunts around London, Go Ape zip-lining and Hint Hunt (a fun live escape game where you get locked in a room and have 60 minutes to solve the clues and get out!)
A really good example would be the training scheme they have in place for the Finance team. They encourage employees in the finance team to undertake professional qualifications such as CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants). Currently three employees in their finance team are studying such qualifications. I think this really shows that they encourage employees to better themselves and that they are happy to invest in employees so that they can flourish in their roles.
A really good example would be the training scheme they have in place for the Finance team. They encourage employees in the finance team to undertake professional qualifications such as CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants). Currently three employees in their finance team are studying such qualifications. I think this really shows that they encourage employees to better themselves and that they are happy to invest in employees so that they can flourish in their roles.


Building the leadership capacity and capability within the organisation. This has been a key priority for the last two years. The organisation is in the process of developing a leadership competency framework for managers and this will be used to assess all managers to identify key strengths and development areas. Each manager will then receive a development plan for the next 12 months. Directors will be working closely with managers to ensure that development activities are undertaken.
The leader of the organisation attends each directorates team meeting to talk about the delivery plan. The leader has an open door policy. The leader attends all Corporate Induction Training sessions to talk about the key objectives of the organisation. The leaders meets with all new staff individually for half an hour. The leader takes a keen interest in staff and presents certificates to staff who have undertaken training or achieved a qualification, and most recently presented the winners of the fitness challenge. The leader delivers breakfast briefings.
The leader of the organisation attends each directorates team meeting to talk about the delivery plan. The leader has an open door policy. The leader attends all Corporate Induction Training sessions to talk about the key objectives of the organisation. The leaders meets with all new staff individually for half an hour. The leader takes a keen interest in staff and presents certificates to staff who have undertaken training or achieved a qualification, and most recently presented the winners of the fitness challenge. The leader delivers breakfast briefings.


Arrows Group's values rely on total company commitment to being United, Open, and Bespoke. All Arrows Group managers, including Directors, work on the floor of the refurbished open plan offices, making themselves available at any time for their teams. This physically displays their intentions to ensure Arrow Group is completely open internally. Their employees benefit from such accessibility to managers by tapping into their knowledge when they need it, so they can deal with any challenges they face, personally or professionally. Management also lead from the front, in terms of commitment and timekeeping, ensuring they set the tone at the top that their teams can incorporate into their daily habits. Managers are also managed by behaviour and productivity to ensure they are leading by example. They achieve this through daily ‘stand ups' each morning with their teams. The stand ups are short meetings, typically 15 minutes, for teams to update each other on their key priorities, any issues they might face, and sharing any expertise that helps others overcome challenges.
Arrows Group held its inaugural Arrows Group Sales Conference in October, bringing together the current and future leaders from all offices. The overall aim of this conference was to revisit the group strategy, explore best practices across the business and gain some in depth feedback from each division around how they are doing and how Arrow Group can improve. The event focussed on representing everyone within the company and the majority of the work done on the day was designed to take away practice improvements that were shared with everyone, so all colleagues can participate in building a world-class company. One of many reasons for appointing Greg Searle as Board Advisor for Coaching and Development, was to ensure Arrow Group could use his expertise in eliciting maximum engagement from employees to achieve the company's vision. One method involved offsite sessions for two days with team leaders, spending time with them to share the company's vision and performance goals, and encouraging participants to commit to actions and processes that contribute to these goals. These were then fed back for review against ongoing initiatives. The company's Personal Development Plans provide the primary route for a tailored approach to developing Arrow Group's employees' careers. Feedback is a critical component to the PDPs, ensuring the employee has a voice in their career path, and how their career contributes to the company's success. Feedback is gathered by each manager, and implementation is assessed in terms of practicality, relevance, and scope.
Arrows Group held its inaugural Arrows Group Sales Conference in October, bringing together the current and future leaders from all offices. The overall aim of this conference was to revisit the group strategy, explore best practices across the business and gain some in depth feedback from each division around how they are doing and how Arrow Group can improve. The event focussed on representing everyone within the company and the majority of the work done on the day was designed to take away practice improvements that were shared with everyone, so all colleagues can participate in building a world-class company. One of many reasons for appointing Greg Searle as Board Advisor for Coaching and Development, was to ensure Arrow Group could use his expertise in eliciting maximum engagement from employees to achieve the company's vision. One method involved offsite sessions for two days with team leaders, spending time with them to share the company's vision and performance goals, and encouraging participants to commit to actions and processes that contribute to these goals. These were then fed back for review against ongoing initiatives. The company's Personal Development Plans provide the primary route for a tailored approach to developing Arrow Group's employees' careers. Feedback is a critical component to the PDPs, ensuring the employee has a voice in their career path, and how their career contributes to the company's success. Feedback is gathered by each manager, and implementation is assessed in terms of practicality, relevance, and scope.


As a direct result of feedback from staff that they wanted an area where they could go and sit and eat away from their desks and also to take breaks, AKA have invested in additional floor space and turned one of the floors into a 'Diner' where staff can go to prepare lunch, eat and socialise. As a result of staff feedback they have undertaken a significant redecoration operation of the entire office and in some departments have involved a staff committee to lead and make suggestions for the design and feel of their department.
AKA have a full company meeting on a monthly basis where Adam the Group Chief Executive addresses all the staff with updates on new and existing business and also progress on key business objectives and information sharing. At their Annual Management presentation to the full company there is a Q&A session with Adam. Questions are submitted anonymously and asked of him sight unseen, as well as taking questions from the floor. They have an open plan office and Adam frequently walks around the full company, as well as operating an open door policy. Every 3 moths they have a drinks reception for all new staff which is hosted by Adam, where he and the board meet new starters
AKA have a full company meeting on a monthly basis where Adam the Group Chief Executive addresses all the staff with updates on new and existing business and also progress on key business objectives and information sharing. At their Annual Management presentation to the full company there is a Q&A session with Adam. Questions are submitted anonymously and asked of him sight unseen, as well as taking questions from the floor. They have an open plan office and Adam frequently walks around the full company, as well as operating an open door policy. Every 3 moths they have a drinks reception for all new staff which is hosted by Adam, where he and the board meet new starters

AgilityWorks have annual training budgets of £2500 for every employee and encourage training and development at all levels. They encourage employees to book training courses to ensure they use their allocated budget.
AgilityWorks have annual training budgets of £2500 for every employee and encourage training and development at all levels. They encourage employees to book training courses to ensure they use their allocated budget.
AgilityWorks have annual training budgets of £2500 for every employee and encourage training and development at all levels. They encourage employees to book training courses to ensure they use their allocated budget.


Adobe has a unique 'KickBox Innovation Workshop' programme that gives employees free reign to bring an idea to life. KickBox is a new approach for empowering employees to innovate inside an enterprise. KickBox is a way of innovating. The KickBox Workshop teaches it in fast-paced, hands-on fashion. Employees are given a red box. Inside is everything they need to become an Adobe Innovator including $1,000 on a pre-paid credit card with a step-by-step process to originate an innovative new concept and then use that money to validate the concept. No proposal, no committees, no approval. You just do it. KickBox is not limited to one idea. Employees learn techniques and gain skills that will be useful throughout their career.
Adobe's reward philosophy is to provide market-competitive rewards allowing them to attract and retain great talent and to differentiate based on exceptional company and individual performance. They provide competitive compensation and benefits programmes as appropriate in each country in which they do business. A critical part of the integrated benefits offering, is their relationship with their UK health insurance provider, PruHealth. In addition to providing market leading medical insurance in the unfortunate event that their employees fall ill, a key part of PruHealth's partnership with Adobe is their focus on how they can make it cheaper and easier for their members to lead a healthy lifestyle, and earn some great rewards by doing so. Their integrated wellness programme, Vitality, provides members with significant discounts with leading gyms, health screening centres, bike retailers and entertainment groups, as well as paying non-smokers cash back directly into their bank accounts. Adobe and PruHealth recognise that many employees never use their Private Medical Insurance, meaning it can often be seen as a cost to you as an employee, rather than a benefit. PruHealth's approach to integrated wellness ensures first class medical insurance provision to those who need to claim, but also provide tangible benefits to those who don't, meaning that everyone can now take advantage of their cover.
Adobe's reward philosophy is to provide market-competitive rewards allowing them to attract and retain great talent and to differentiate based on exceptional company and individual performance. They provide competitive compensation and benefits programmes as appropriate in each country in which they do business. A critical part of the integrated benefits offering, is their relationship with their UK health insurance provider, PruHealth. In addition to providing market leading medical insurance in the unfortunate event that their employees fall ill, a key part of PruHealth's partnership with Adobe is their focus on how they can make it cheaper and easier for their members to lead a healthy lifestyle, and earn some great rewards by doing so. Their integrated wellness programme, Vitality, provides members with significant discounts with leading gyms, health screening centres, bike retailers and entertainment groups, as well as paying non-smokers cash back directly into their bank accounts. Adobe and PruHealth recognise that many employees never use their Private Medical Insurance, meaning it can often be seen as a cost to you as an employee, rather than a benefit. PruHealth's approach to integrated wellness ensures first class medical insurance provision to those who need to claim, but also provide tangible benefits to those who don't, meaning that everyone can now take advantage of their cover.


Adjust Your Set held a company away day which involved all staff spending the day away from the office. People were seated at tables which mixed up different teams and departments and each table worked together on a number of tasks and challenges throughout the day. The company also took part in a Tough Mudder event. It was open to all employees and a team of 14 participated and a similar number coming along to spectate and support the team.
Adjust Your Set held a company away day which involved all staff spending the day away from the office. People were seated at tables which mixed up different teams and departments and each table worked together on a number of tasks and challenges throughout the day. The company also took part in a Tough Mudder event. It was open to all employees and a team of 14 participated and a similar number coming along to spectate and support the team.
Adjust Your Set have put together a collection of exercises called Deskercise that employees can incorporate into their working day and do at their desk and around the office. They also offer a Stretch and Tone class one lunchtime each week run by one of their employees to allow staff to exercise during their lunch break. They have introduced a couple of standing workstations to encourage standing meetings or to allow employees to work standing up as much of their jobs are very sedentary.


David and all senior managers at AAT ensures they are always accessible and visible by working and spending time at all of their work locations. David and all senior managers also attend local team meetings and keeps in touch with employees via the Intranet. David also keeps everyone informed via Twitter and our Ability Facebook page.
David and all senior managers at AAT ensures they are always accessible and visible by working and spending time at all of their work locations. David and all senior managers also attend local team meetings and keeps in touch with employees via the Intranet. David also keeps everyone informed via Twitter and our Ability Facebook page.
Ability Housing continually review how they can support their employees whilst at work. They believe by having and creating a work life balance, their employees will continue to give excellent support and service to their customers. All employees are aware of their health care cash plan as well as the support and advice which can be accessed by their Employee Assistance program. All Managers are empowered to listen and seek feedback and to take appropriate action. In addition as part of AbilityPOSITIVE+ they have set up a Wellbeing group which has enabled them to review their current practises and reward schemes. A Wellbeing group as been set up as part of AbilityPOSITIVE+ to review their current practices and benefits. Recently they enhanced their health plan to include an Employee Assistance Program as well as enhanced gym membership.


Walker Prestons Solicitors offers total flexibility to employee development, allowing employees to take sufficient time off for their training. Significant paid training allows them to further their development.
Walker Prestons Solicitors offers an enjoyable and positive working environment with regular team-bonding and building exercises.
Walker Prestons Solicitors regularly rent out function halls and put on a party for all members of the organisation to help build morale and as an introduction for new staff to enjoy.


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.
W L Gore & Associates have a lattice structure which means that they have no hierarchy and can go directly to whoever they want /need to talk to with feedback, or questions and using a range of media. This seems like a simple answer, but it works. There is no need to ask permission and it is just a natural every day occurrence for them to challenge decisions, share ideas, seek clarity on strategy. No need for secret suggestion boxes, they support open communication instead. The company teaches listening and communication skills so that the direct communication is not confined to those who are eloquent.


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.
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.
Their appraisal process is robust; it encompasses 3 elements: 360 feedback from colleagues and clients, self review and the appraisal meeting with the manager. Embedded into the appraisal process is a ‘training needs analysis' where they identify where gaps exist in employees knowledge/experience and they aim to fill those gaps with recommended training, be it external/internal training courses, mentoring, job shadowing, etc. They have approved and supported most training requests; ranging from short courses, degree courses, right through to MBAs. The appraisal process is focused on enhancing professional development by encouraging all employees to consistently deliver results, capitalise on successes, learn from failures and grow in their position.
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.
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.
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.
The organisation seeks to reward employees for their efforts. They reward employees for business ideas they contribute that are implemented in the company. The reward is twofold; a financial reward and a public acknowledgement in the company newsletter.


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.
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.
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 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 have started to record their weekly stand-up sessions so that those who cannot attend or are in different time zones can see what is said. The company has also introduced new wiki sites to accompany this.
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.
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