The college normally holds staff events at Christmas and the end of June when staff break up for the summer holidays. Last year a group of staff led by the Head of HR, got together and organised an end of term event in June 2011. On the last working afternoon of term, staff got together in the Union for a Fun Afternoon. The College had dominoes, a pool competition, bingo and races (three legged, space hopper and egg and spoon). The bar was open and burgers and chips were on sale. This event lasted about four hours with a large number of staff continuing the party mood by going out to the pubs in the town. It was a great success and lots of fun.

As well as the formal processes implemented by the college the managers within the college are tuned into the college culture of recognition and praise for a job well done. The college also has a thank you card system and the Christmas Stars which allow managers to recognise outstanding staff members. Managers meet regularly with staff to ask for feedback both at a team level and on an individual basis. The teams are relatively small which allows line managers to be able to pick up on any issues quickly and discuss these and find workable remedies.

The company offers a broad range of development opportunities and programmes. There are online programmes that are available to all staff, including a business development programme which was developed especially for their staff. Their online Skills Guide provides development help for all individuals in the firm who can both plan their development and access a range of media to use themselves or in their teams. All staff have access to learning portals with development resources. One of the learning portals is produced by one of the UK's leading business schools and they customise part of it for their staff. There are also conferences and away days which often involve an element of sharing vision, development, teamwork and fun. Each person has a minimum of twice yearly appraisal discussions with their line managers to talk about their achievements, appraisal objectives, performance and to set their objectives or development points for the forthcoming year. The majority of their people will also receive regular feedback following work with clients or regular one to one meetings.

They take a genuine interest in their people and want to encourage every individual to be the best they can be. If someone has a disability or medical concern they will look as far as is reasonably possible to support that person. They understand it can be daunting to speak out and some people could be worried about how the firm, or their manager, might react if they asked for help. Therefore, last year we introduced Disability Champions who are available to help fellow employees by offering confidential, non-judgmental support and encouragement. This support will vary depending on the individual's situation and wishes but may just be providing a sympathetic ear or offering practical support by knowing where they can get appropriate help and guidance. They also support employees who are going through fertility treatment, which is an exceptionally stressful time, by offering confidential support by way of someone to talk to who has some understanding of what they are going through and time off for treatment and flexibility for appointments.

Quarterly Core Values Awards: The company ask for peer nominations of employees who uphold their Core Values. They recognise winning nominees in their newsletter and in company meetings. They give winning nominees a small reward, such as a gift voucher to Amazon.

The company organises bi-weekly 'retrospective' meetings where employees collectively look at what they have been working on - what went well, what could be improved and any other areas that employees would like to discuss. The company gives quarterly Core Values awards to staff members who demonstrate behaviours that are consistent with their Core Values.

Each new member of staff at Summit Media, both at the Wolds and at the Farm, undergoes an initial four week intensive training period provided by their line manager and colleagues. A tailored personal development plan is put together which is then reviewed at weekly one to one sessions with their individual line managers. These sessions are designed to monitor progress and to provide guidance. They also have regular coaching sessions covering topics and disciplines specific to the industry. There are bi-weekly training sessions at group level specifically aimed at improving industry knowledge. External training is carried out by Google and MSN and the company's tracking and analytics provider. New staff are also encouraged to participate in online webinars and to undertake personal training in their own time to gain the Google GAP and Microsoft qualifications.

Each new member of staff at Summit Media, both at the Wolds and at the Farm, undergoes an initial four week intensive training period provided by their line manager and colleagues. A tailored personal development plan is put together which is then reviewed at weekly one to one sessions with their individual line managers. These sessions are designed to monitor progress and to provide guidance. They also have regular coaching sessions covering topics and disciplines specific to the industry. There are bi-weekly training sessions at group level specifically aimed at improving industry knowledge. External training is carried out by Google and MSN and the company's tracking and analytics provider. New staff are also encouraged to participate in online webinars and to undertake personal training in their own time to gain the Google GAP and Microsoft qualifications.

They support local charities in their area. One example is that Springfield has, over the last two years, been working on constructing a £200k Moray Hydrotherapy Pool building in Forres. This has been a huge challenge, but extremely rewarding to now see the pool utilised and benefiting so many local people.

They support local charities in their area. One example is that Springfield has, over the last two years, been working on constructing a £200k Moray Hydrotherapy Pool building in Forres. This has been a huge challenge, but extremely rewarding to now see the pool utilised and benefiting so many local people.

Specific Media's new office has created an onsite gym for all staff to use, complete with full changing room and shower facilities. These facilities are open to staff all day from 6.00am until 9.00pm and at weekends. Each employee received a health check and gym induction prior to using the gym. Personal training sessions are also available upon request. Specific Media also provides complimentary massages for all employees. On a monthly basis, employees can book a number of treatments including back, shoulder, hand or facial massages, which are carried out during work hours at no cost to the employee.

Specific Media recently moved into a new office and to say farewell to the office that had been their home for over 3 years, the company held a 'farewell Strutton Ground' party. Specific Media invited all employees and also members of the local community to join them for a barbeque and charity auction, selling off furniture, white goods, pieces of Specific Media memorabilia and a charity tombola where all items were donated by staff (which had accumulated in the office from various events/client presents). Members of the local community included the local newsagent and her family, their fruit delivery man, the staff at Pret A Manger and the company's office maintenance and cleaning team. It was a fantastic event to say goodbye to their office and thank you to everyone who had made it the company's home.

The Hotel is aware that rewards and recognition are vital as they help the teams feel a sense of personal accomplishment and with this comes confidence in their ability to perform successfully in their roles. Three times a year the company holds a communication meeting for all of staff in which they honour recipients of the MBE (Member of the Brand Experience) and OBE (Order of the Brand Experience). These are employees that really have stood out for going above and beyond the call of duty. However, to ensure that recognition is kept close to the surface, all employees are encouraged to give out “stars” to colleagues they think have done a great job. Stars can be traded in for a chocolate bar, or collected for a gift voucher. To ensure stars are given and to keep it high on the agenda, HR will raise this in the morning meeting every day, and then display on a recognition wall in the Heart of House areas along with an employee picture.

Learning and Development supports business performance improvement at Sheraton Park Tower, and the key strategic goals of the business, as well as contributing to the growth of individual associates and offering rewarding opportunities to learn and grow. Associates see a clear link between their own development and the goals of the business. The company focus on ensuring that associates experience a robust on-boarding process which prepares them thoroughly for their role within their teams. This includes an on-brand induction, service culture training, and personalised departmental induction plans, to ensure a consistent quality of training for the company's new starters.

Managers conduct meetings and prepare the task list which is forwarded on to the relevant Partner/Director. All staff are aware of the management meetings and each Manager will discuss with their team prior to the meeting, any points/ideas/suggestions that they would like discussed on their behalf. Each Manager will then put forward any relevant points to all managers at the meeting.

SFP Group is absolutely committed to supporting employee development. At the start of every year, the company identify the training needs for every individual, and determine what courses are most appropriate and the associated costs so that budgets can be agreed. The best example in recent times is the support SFP Group gave to three of their team to take their respective JIE insolvency and accountancy examinations that required long periods (more than one month) of study leave. All three passed. Indeed it is important to stress that prior to joining the SFP Group, two of the three individuals had no experience or qualification in insolvency. Now they have gone from juniors from Managers who, in the next few years, will be office holders. There are other similar examples across the group and in different departments, from broking to marketing.

Managers at Roevin have daily reviews, weekly review meetings, regular appraisals and one to one meetings with staff. Managers develop personal development plans with employees which is part of Roevin's appraisal Acquire, Ascent & Aspire programme. Managers also encourage employees to have and develop clear career paths.

Roevin supports employee development is through their specific role based learning plan. For example, an inexperienced recruitment consultant joining the company will attend a residential 3-day Training Academy. Back in branch, they have a specific 6-month Post-Academy training programme that is delivered on the job by the Branch Manager. Going forward there are specific skills based courses that cover all levels in their career, up to and including Roevin's Management Development Portfolio. Additionally, Roevin have a year-long leadership development Programme for those aspiring to Operational Director roles, as well as Executive Education programmes for their senior staff in conjunction with both IMD in Lausanne and INSEAD in Paris. In addition to Roevin's Instructor Led Training courses, through their Learning Portal, all employees have access to a range of internally-designed e-learning modules, as well as 13,000 externally-designed courses, including material on PRINCE-2, Lean Six Sigma and multiple versions of the Microsoft Office package.