What are companies doing with regards to 'Personal Growth'

Long service awards - This is an annual event which rewards and recognises staff contribution through long service, loyalty and commitment. At the annual Long Service Awards Banquet, Botanic Inns recognises 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years service, through the awarding of additional holidays, presentation jewellery, holidays and cash rewards. This event is attended by staff receiving the awards, their partners and the Senior Management Team. To recognise the importance of this event and to emphasise the contribution made by staff, the Lord Mayor is invited to say a special word of thanks and to underline the part that staff play, not only toward company success but also to the community in which they work.

Long service awards - This is an annual event which rewards and recognises staff contribution through long service, loyalty and commitment. At the annual Long Service Awards Banquet, Botanic Inns recognises 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years service, through the awarding of additional holidays, presentation jewellery, holidays and cash rewards. This event is attended by staff receiving the awards, their partners and the Senior Management Team. To recognise the importance of this event and to emphasise the contribution made by staff, the Lord Mayor is invited to say a special word of thanks and to underline the part that staff play, not only toward company success but also to the community in which they work.

As a company Berkeley Scott strives to ensure that all of its employees are set challenging targets to get the best out of them, that are both realistic and achievable. The Managers of the business are given the autonomy and freedom to set their own financial targets, budgets and Key Performance indicators, which are benchmarked internally across the parent company and then externally across the sector. All managers are encouraged to operate an open door policy to facilitate open and approachable relationships with their teams. The Managing Director has individual 1:1s with each employee at least twice a year, to ensure that they have a clear understanding of how they feel within their role, which is then cascaded to the managers.

Reward for performance is a key facet of the remuneration strategy and therefore there is an opportunity for each employee to achieve a significant amount of their annual compensation through commission on sales. This is, however, a fairly rigid scheme and does not really achieve the relevant in company recognition desired. In order to address this the business has for some years run an annual incentive. This is launched each year at the annual conference and takes the form of the top ten employees/managers going on an all expenses paid overseas trip for four nights. The purpose of this trip is to engender healthy internal competition, create a high achiever business forum - one day of the trip is devoted to a business improvement workshop and recognise performance within the business. Every employee, whether in sales, administration or management is included in this incentive and there are regular monthly updates as to how each employee is doing against their objectives. For the first time in 2012 Berkeley Scott also introduced a silver and bronze level to reward individuals who over performed but did not make the overseas trip. This involved cash prizes and extra holiday days and was extremely well received

Armajaro run a not for profit organisation called Source Trust that supports and promotes sustainable farming pratices throughout the developing world. They focus on solutions which enhance the farmers ability to trade, help farmers living in poverty to improve crop yield and quality, to create sustainable livelihoods and improve the long term welfare of themselves and their communities. Armajaro also own a company called 'GeoTraceability Ltd which creates transparency around the sourcing of commodities to ensure that their customers can reassure consumers that products are fair trade.

The Leader of the organisation is open and approachable to all staff. He is passionate about their business, the history of it and the capability of his staff to continuing building the business globally.

In the UK Appsense hosted their kick off in July which was attended by the majority of the UK employees and the EMEA/ROW staff. It was a great day despite the rain - a very competitive afternoon of their own version of the Olympics followed by a wild west night and the first ever presentation of long service awards to staff with 10 years service. It was an emotional and highly motivating event.

In the UK Appsense hosted their kick off in July which was attended by the majority of the UK employees and the EMEA/ROW staff. It was a great day despite the rain - a very competitive afternoon of their own version of the Olympics followed by a wild west night and the first ever presentation of long service awards to staff with 10 years service. It was an emotional and highly motivating event.

Alongside the introduction of a resource library which contains textbooks on a variety of subjects which all employees can utilise to take ownership of their ongoing professional development. As a business the company long since focussed on the growing from within and ensuring that junior employees receive the support and coaching they require to succeed. However, the senior managers may have been slightly overlooked and as such the Management Training Programme was developed to ensure that they too receive ongoing professional development opportunities.

Managers hold regular weekly team meetings to ensure mutually defined objectives are clearly understood, individuals are clear on why they are important and have the support they need to achieve them. The company empower their managers and employees to feel comfortable raising issues with senior management, as well as adopting their own flexible approach to recognising individual achievements. All managers receive training and development support to assist them in running appraisals, coaching for high performance and to understand how to motivate and develop their teams. Managers across the business go out of their way to get to know staff and take an empathetic approach to their needs and the Executive Team also makes a point to get to know all new starters individually which builds the foundation for the open-door approach.

Absoft continue to commit to graduate recruitment and development. They have taken on 10 graduates over the course of this year and as a management team devoted considerable time and energy into a development programme to support this.

Absoft continue to commit to graduate recruitment and development. They have taken on 10 graduates over the course of this year and as a management team devoted considerable time and energy into a development programme to support this.

There is an annual allowance of £200 to spend as the employee chooses on an activity that they feel will aid their personal development in some way. Ths could be learning a language, help with quitting smoking, learning to drive, music lessons, an evening class or something of a similar nature. It needs to be a genuine development or learning of a skill not just an activity.

Angie Moxham, founder of 3 Monkeys, set out to create a culture where people can be themselves. Creativity was free to be expressed and everyone was treated as an individual, not just an employee. Nine years on, those sentiments still guide everything Angie does and this permeates the culture from top to bottom. Angie is accessible to all staff and continues to encourage, inspire and guide the team every day to do the best work, with the best brands and with the best people. Her humanity and humour are as valued as her big brain and her even bigger contacts book.

In addition, RCHL internal trainers make arrangements to customise workshops for individual staff teams and groups to best reflect their needs. Staff may also identify specific external courses that meet a particular need and arrangements are made for individuals to attend for example, National Assistive Technology/Telecare training, Developing Outcome monitoring. They are currently piloting a number of e-learning programmes focusing on core mandatory training, to ensure staff are regularly updated, for example Fire safety, Food Hygiene, Manual Handling Staff that wish to undertake an NVQ qualification in Care must have completed all the relevant induction and developmental training before they will be considered to undertake an NVQ with RCHL. The delivery of NVQs to staff is subject to funds received from the external providers. However, funding the Leadership & Management in Care (LMC) (formerly known as the Registered Managers Award) and NVQ4 in Care will be a priority for the organisation. RCHL also supports and funds the Learning Disability Qualification accredited via the Open College Network, the Leadership in Management and NVQ4 in Care qualifications. For staff who already hold an NVQ Level 2 in Care and wish to progress onto the Level 3. This will be subject to the scheme manager's approval in line with the service development plan. All successful applicants will be given support and guidance for attainment of their care qualification from their approved LSC training provider. Senior Management Team continue to source funding opportunities, with the support of external providers and are committed to staff gaining an appropriate qualification that will meet the organisation's core values and CQC requirements. RCHL are also a recognised training Centre with the Open College Network and have reached the highest standards enabling reassessment to be every two years.

In addition, RCHL internal trainers make arrangements to customise workshops for individual staff teams and groups to best reflect their needs. Staff may also identify specific external courses that meet a particular need and arrangements are made for individuals to attend for example, National Assistive Technology/Telecare training, Developing Outcome monitoring. They are currently piloting a number of e-learning programmes focusing on core mandatory training, to ensure staff are regularly updated, for example Fire safety, Food Hygiene, Manual Handling Staff that wish to undertake an NVQ qualification in Care must have completed all the relevant induction and developmental training before they will be considered to undertake an NVQ with RCHL. The delivery of NVQs to staff is subject to funds received from the external providers. However, funding the Leadership & Management in Care (LMC) (formerly known as the Registered Managers Award) and NVQ4 in Care will be a priority for the organisation. RCHL also supports and funds the Learning Disability Qualification accredited via the Open College Network, the Leadership in Management and NVQ4 in Care qualifications. For staff who already hold an NVQ Level 2 in Care and wish to progress onto the Level 3. This will be subject to the scheme manager's approval in line with the service development plan. All successful applicants will be given support and guidance for attainment of their care qualification from their approved LSC training provider. Senior Management Team continue to source funding opportunities, with the support of external providers and are committed to staff gaining an appropriate qualification that will meet the organisation's core values and CQC requirements. RCHL are also a recognised training Centre with the Open College Network and have reached the highest standards enabling reassessment to be every two years.

St Wilfrids participate in activities promoted by the Dying Matters coalition which aims to promote increased awareness of the need to discuss issues relating to end of life and encourage everyone to plan for this and discuss their wishes and plans with their loved ones. An additional campaign was launched by Help the Hospices this October and Hospice Awareness Week was marked here by an open afternoon with the theme 'Be Surprised'. This event was held to promote better understanding of hospice care as well as encourage members of the public to discuss end of life issues.

St Wilfrids participate in activities promoted by the Dying Matters coalition which aims to promote increased awareness of the need to discuss issues relating to end of life and encourage everyone to plan for this and discuss their wishes and plans with their loved ones. An additional campaign was launched by Help the Hospices this October and Hospice Awareness Week was marked here by an open afternoon with the theme 'Be Surprised'. This event was held to promote better understanding of hospice care as well as encourage members of the public to discuss end of life issues.

Staff are able to access corporate membership of the local leisure centre and this is very popular with individuals. The increased flexibility around working hours helps staff use these leisure facilities and a number of staff exercise, before, during and after work. The organisation pays for level one of the Simply Health scheme, a cash back health savings scheme. They have also introduced a counselling service for staff which provides for up to six free counselling sessions for staff. Pembrokeshire Housing Association have entered into a contract with a local Occupational Health service which provides valuable advice to help support staff remain in, and return to work during illness.

Pembrokeshire Housing Association has held IIP status for over 10 years, and despite growing considerably over the past 3 years, they continue to meet this standard. They are active supporters of L&D and took the decision to appoint two apprentices in 2010. In addition to this they recruited a Trainee Accountant and are committed to supporting them through their ACCA accreditation. Pembrokeshire Housing Association provides support in terms of time off, payment of professional subscription fees, course materials, travel expenses and exam fees. In addition to this, the organisation has study leave for assignments/exams. Pembrokeshire Housing Association have recently been awarded Platinum status by the ACCA due to their commitment and support for learning and development. For those staff who show commitment to their personal development, the Housing Association pay a Learning and Development supplement if they are successful in obtaining a qualification that is not an essential requirement of their role.