God forbid being born on February 29. Staff at Alexander Mann Solutions get their birthday off, just one upside at a dynamic company where, our survey reveals, 88% of employees are proud to work, a score bettered by just five other SMEs.
Founded in 1996 under the vast umbrella of the Alexander Mann Group, Rosaleen Blair, now global managing director, spotted a gap in the recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) market. A decade later, it manages the recruitment life cycle for international clients such as Prudential, Egg and Fujitsu.
New recruits — 106 last year, mostly graduates, out of a total staff of 193 — meet Blair within their first three months: 91% of all staff are inspired by her (the second highest score among the 100 best SMEs), while 90% are excited about where the company is going (the third highest score). Most employees (80%) work on client sites across the UK, with more than 70% of staff aged between 21 and 34, while two-thirds are female. Two service management centres, in Bracknell and Warrington, oversee their needs, in sync with London headquarters.
Social events often involve sport and alcohol: "rounders tournaments with celebratory drinks afterwards" being a typical example. The company recently hired a private cinema to celebrate one of 13 new contracts won in the past year. At the annual conference, the person elected best employee jets off to Las Vegas, all expenses paid.
Benefits include a bonus varying from 10% to 40% of base salary, depending on role, free private healthcare and a share option scheme. There are many opportunities for those who want to work abroad and people have opted for Australia, Germany and Poland. The company also adopts a flexible approach to supporting working parents.
The business has links with Youth at Risk, a charity helping young people with social difficulties. This year, it is sponsoring a project to provide 300 "life coaches" for them and will help promote a performance of Romeo and Juliet by the teenagers with the Birmingham Royal Ballet.
While staff score the company among the very highest for its leadership and personal growth, just two SMEs score lower than the 49% recorded at Alexander Mann for happiness with work-life balance.