At the end of every quarter all employees attend a company presentation given by the CEO in which the CEO goes over the last quarter's results, the company's direction going forward, and any other interesting company news. At the end of the presentation, awards are given out for two categories: Customer First and Team Player. Nominees for the Customer First award demonstrate commitment to supreme service, quality delivery, solution innovation and creative problem solving that has a measurable positive impact on customers. ControlCircle Team Player Award nominees are consistently supportive, creative and always finding ways to add value to their colleagues and the company, ensuring that both ControlCircle and their customers reap the many benefits of them all moving in the same direction to deliver a common set of goals and objectives. Employees are encouraged to nominate team members from across the business for both awards and winners are chosen by the number of nominations. Winners receive up to £100 to spend on an experience day of their choice.

The senior management team work closely with managers to ensure that they are aware of targets and objectives and have the resources at their disposal to achieve the required end result. Clients often acknowledge a job well done. This client communication is shared throughout the Company.

Whilst the team building events always contain a social element and are memorable due to their uniqueness, the most memorable event is the “Monthly Muster”. This is a free form social held at the end of the day on the fourth Thursday of every month in the London office. CloudSense provide simple food and some drinks, but the organisation and content of the get together is run entirely by the employees in a democratic manner. They use the internal collaboration social tools to discuss and promote the "Monthly Muster". The majority of employees work remotely or on customers' premises so this is very much a monthly social, and what makes it so memorable and enjoyable is the enthusiasm people have for it and the bonding it creates beyond normal work.

The company have a comprehensive Performance Management policy which supports individual growth and development in line with the company's requirement for skills. Performance Management for CloudSense is a continuous process that starts the day an employee commences employment, from on-boarding through to probation review, regular one-to-ones and yearly annual appraisals. The process is designed to evaluate performance in 3 ways: 'Skills Assessment' to define their skills, 'Behaviours Assessment' to ensure that not only do employees develop the right skill sets for their current role and achieve a desired career path, but they also do their job in a way that is consistent with CloudSense brand values, and an 'Objectives Review' to assist in personal development the achievement of wider company goals.

People are motivated and engaged by working with other smart people. The way managers implement this is to not compromise during recruitment, and keep a consistently high level of motivated and intelligent staff.

People are motivated and engaged by working with other smart people. The way managers implement this is to not compromise during recruitment, and keep a consistently high level of motivated and intelligent staff.

Their corporate behaviours of Empowering & Motivating and Striving For Excellence both set the corporate expectations of how Managers and staff should perform and when they should challenge unrealistic expectations. The corporate PDR process outlines the number of performance objectives that should be set using the SMART principle. The HR team conduct a sample of all PDR objectives to ensure that they are fair and consistent across the organisation and free from any bias towards staff. Effective performance is rewarded within the PDR process with the bonus payment scheme. A corporate validation exercise process is undertaken to ensure that the performance ratings given to staff are evenly distributed and also free from bias.

Their corporate behaviours of Empowering & Motivating and Striving For Excellence both set the corporate expectations of how Managers and staff should perform and when they should challenge unrealistic expectations. The corporate PDR process outlines the number of performance objectives that should be set using the SMART principle. The HR team conduct a sample of all PDR objectives to ensure that they are fair and consistent across the organisation and free from any bias towards staff. Effective performance is rewarded within the PDR process with the bonus payment scheme. A corporate validation exercise process is undertaken to ensure that the performance ratings given to staff are evenly distributed and also free from bias.

CBG Consultants have all the standard good practice processes in place to gather feedback face to face, with regular formal meetings, presentations and informal conversation etc. They believe their open door policy and no blame culture provides the right environment to encourage honesty and transparency. The company also have a dedicated feedback
e-mail address which gives staff the opportunity to provide feedback in an anonymous way. This year CBG have also undergone their Investors in People re-assessment and they are delighted to have achieved BRONZE status.

CBG Consultants have all the standard good practice processes in place to gather feedback face to face, with regular formal meetings, presentations and informal conversation etc. They believe their open door policy and no blame culture provides the right environment to encourage honesty and transparency. The company also have a dedicated feedback
e-mail address which gives staff the opportunity to provide feedback in an anonymous way. This year CBG have also undergone their Investors in People re-assessment and they are delighted to have achieved BRONZE status.

In addition to the thousands of pounds raised over the years by their people through activities such as jeans days, raffles, donations at the annual Christmas carol concert and firm quiz, profits raised from book and CD sales, clothing collections and sponsored events, Browne Jacobson has established the Browne Jacobson Charitable Trust which is funded by the partnership and enables employees to apply for grants for their chosen charities. In the last financial year, ended April 2012, they have distributed £12,000 to worthy causes across the Midlands.

Browne Jacobson recognise that people work hard on their behalf and they aim to provide them with recognition for their efforts. They provide a range of core benefits available to every employee from the day they join the firm. These are income protection, a group pension and life assurance which give their employees peace of mind during their time with the company. In addition to these core benefits they also offer a range of flexible benefits and the employees were consulted on what they wished to be able to flex their salary for before the scheme was launched. The flexible benefits are the pension, private medical care, childcare vouchers, cycle to work, critical illness, dental insurance, travel insurance and the ability to flex their life assurance up or down. If someone reduces the amount of life assurance they enjoy, the firm gives them the money back into their salary. Brown Jacobson also hold annual Wellbeing and Benefits Fairs. This year all of the benefit providers were able to attend to inform and educate as well as to pamper. Free manicures, cycle repairs, commute planning, head massages, healthchecks and hand massages were offered. The feedback was excellent.

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.