What are companies doing with regards to 'Personal Growth'

A recent memorable social event that was held by the organisation was the staff Halloween party, where they also raised money for charity. The event included a Halloween themed quiz, best fancy dress prize and charity raffle. They hired and decorated the event to get the teams in the mood and also provided catering and drink.

The organisation listens to employees and seeks their ideas and feedback. They have an on-going Idea of the Month suggestion box and staff are encouraged to put their ideas forward at any time. If chosen they are given the opportunity to take control of the idea and see it through as a personal project. Rewards are given to the staff members whose ideas are taken up and have included TVs, shopping vouchers etc.

KPMG's Employee Recognition Programme Encore remains leading edge and provides an effective way to recognise the company's employees. With reward budgets remaining tight, it is a relatively low cost, yet highly valued way of keeping employees feeling valued and appreciated. KPMG's innovation this year was to align the tool with their new global strategy, so that KPMG could directly reward individuals who demonstrated the attributes that are key to driving the business forward. KPMG were placed in the shortlists for the Personnel Today Awards 2012 ‘Award for Excellence in HR Through Technology or Social Media' and CIPD Awards 2012 ‘Excellence Through Technology' categories. When an employee is nominated for an award, the reason given will relate to one of the company brand attributes and this is clearly communicated to both the individual who receives the award and their line manager.

KPMG's Employee Recognition Programme Encore remains leading edge and provides an effective way to recognise the company's employees. With reward budgets remaining tight, it is a relatively low cost, yet highly valued way of keeping employees feeling valued and appreciated. KPMG's innovation this year was to align the tool with their new global strategy, so that KPMG could directly reward individuals who demonstrated the attributes that are key to driving the business forward. KPMG were placed in the shortlists for the Personnel Today Awards 2012 ‘Award for Excellence in HR Through Technology or Social Media' and CIPD Awards 2012 ‘Excellence Through Technology' categories. When an employee is nominated for an award, the reason given will relate to one of the company brand attributes and this is clearly communicated to both the individual who receives the award and their line manager.

International Craft Skills is a unique week long residential program that takes place annually at the end of JWT graduate recruits' first year. It consolidates and tests their learning, develops them as individuals and potential leaders and above all connects them and makes them feel truly part of an international community, not an abstract network. In 2012, 34 delegates from London, Lisbon, Milan, New York, Moscow, Dublin, Cairo, Beirut and Tunis gathered in JWT Portugal. The week kicks off with a Myers Briggs workshop, so delegates can then apply their understanding throughout the week in their pitch teams. In parallel, the teams receive daily presentation skills coaching and are encouraged to step out of their comfort zones and take creative risks in their final pitches to clients.

JWT London makes it mandatory for all staff to have an annual 360 appraisal. Managers are trained in this important skill and we are seen as a beacon of best practice in this respect. Managers are also trained in the thorny issue of how to deal with poor performance for when a difficult conversation needs to take place.

iris supports employee development through their 'Me, Myself & iris' Programme. This ties in objectives, which then feeds into training, and also pay rise & promotion review board.

iris supports employee development through their 'Me, Myself & iris' Programme. This ties in objectives, which then feeds into training, and also pay rise & promotion review board.

Interdean has an annual end of summer party to thank all the staff for the hard work done throughout the peak season. This year's event saw the Best of British on show with costumes, food and drinks, music, and an appearance by the Pearly Kings and Queens. Interdean also rewards individuals using performance related rewards. This is measured through Customer Satisfaction Survey scores whereby individuals will receive incentive payments on a monthly basis if they deliver exceptional service to their customers.

In 2011 Interdean introduced the Great Ideas Forum. They invited employees to submit their ideas to improve the way they work and incentivised participation by rewarding employees whose ideas were chosen to be implemented. When the results are published, Interdean plan to widely publicise the detailed information to all of their staff. They also plan to run a series of workshops to discuss the results of the survey, which will focus on sharing what they are doing well and acknowledging and coming up with action plans on how they can improve employee engagement. They plan on proactively asking for input from all departments and job levels on how they can make positive changes in the company.

Imparta offers a profit-share pool to all members of staff. 5% of profit is shared out amongst the employees, excluding senior managers and staff on commission, on an annual basis. This rewards people for their hard work and helps to align their individual interests with the success of the organisation as a whole.

The process is set at organisational level but the managers bring this alive through their day to day management style - managing by walking around, being open and available to coach staff. Regular formal and informal reviews of progress and achievement against goals give opportunities for recognising success. Impromptu 'tokens' e.g. flowers for staff who have worked particularly hard in a specific instance

Hogarth runs an annual peer recognition scheme which involves employees nominating their peers who they feel have shown outstanding qualities in a number of categories including the Shooting Star Award for Most Inspirational Employee, North Star Award for Best Leadership Skills, Sirius Award for Brightest Star, Phoenix Award for Best Rising Star and Alpha Centauri Award for Unsung Hero. A huge amount of buzz is created across the company during the nomination rounds in the run up to the announcing of the winners at an awards ceremony held before the Christmas party each year. The ceremony is a celebration of employees contribution and the company recognising people who have gone over and above their roles over the previous 12 months as voted for by their peers. Prizes are awarded to the top three winners in each category with the winners receiving a weekend away for two as the first prize. It is an informal recognition scheme but is extremely popular with employees and creates a real buzz in the build up to announcing the winners. The Awards ceremony is followed by the Christmas party with lots of dancing and fun.

In 2012 Hogarth launched their internal training programme called ‘Bitesize' training. The ‘Bitesize' training programme involved employees from each department of the business getting together to identify the biggest training requirements in their teams and developing 30 minute training modules to help meet those requirements. The initial task was to develop an induction programme that gave an overview of each department and how they interact with each other through the workflow. To date, they have run 20 different training courses ranging from ‘MS Excel Training to ‘Computer Aided Translation' to ‘Media Formats Demystified'. Due to the phenomenal popularity of the ‘Bitesize' training modules both from employees who are keen to get involved in developing and presenting modules on their particular subject matter to those who are keen to attend, Hogarth have commenced Stage 2 of the project.

Small businesses and social enterprises play a vital role in creating jobs and driving economic growth in the UK. The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses UK programme offers leaders of small businesses and social enterprises business knowledge, skills and national support network to help them maximise their businesses' growth potential and create employment. Launched in Leeds in 2010, the programme has expanded to Manchester, Birmingham and London with approximately 400 participants. Delivered by leading business schools, the programme offers 100 hours of curriculum through which participants develop tailored business plans designed to guide strategy and secure capital. The programme is offered on a fully funded basis to small businesses and social enterprise leaders, who desire to grow their businesses, create local employment and have scalable business models.

The Co-CEOs of Goldman Sachs in EMEA, supported by the European Management Committee, this year committed to hosting quarterly region-wide Townhalls to which all their people are invited and encouraged to attend. These one hour sessions serve as a point of reflection and allow senior management to discuss how their businesses and divisions are performing, the firm's forward strategy and to answer in person any questions or concerns. A new initiative this year has been to invite members of the European Management Committee to join their Co-CEOs at the Townhall sessions to provide a more in-depth look at some of the key themes and recent developments in their particular division.

The company is a socially focused organisation and rewards employees with an annual Christmas and summer party. For the 2012 summer party the company wanted to really involve every member of staff and gauge exactly the type of party they would enjoy rather than making any assumptions. They ran a competition called ‘The Best Party Proposition' where they called for party themes and ideas. They have a superb response rate that really shed light on the type of social event staff would enjoy. The winning idea was executed (incorporating elements of other suggestions) and the person that submitted the winning idea received a prize on the evening. The evening took place at a Central London rooftop venue and the ‘Festival' themed party was a night to remember. Employees were entertained from the moment they left the office – with rock n roll bingo, a fortune teller, a magician, karaoke, live music, a photo booth, a bbq and cocktails.

GPJ prides itself on its corporate culture, which can be summed up as highly collaborative, team-orientated and supportive. People do work incredibly hard, but they ensure that for long hours work that discretionary time off is given. In addition, flexible working enables people to balance their work commitments to their personal commitments, whatever they may be - family, personal interests, travel.