A WEEK-LONG OFFICE Olympics that featured speed typing, a treasure hunt and a putting tournament among the herculean activities proved to be one of Boots Opticians' more memorable team-building events last year. Even staff members with heavy workloads took the time to take part, realising the importance of forging closer bonds. Our 2011 Best Big Company to Work For scored highest this year for My Team questions, with a positive 78% score, surpassed by just one other big company. A group of 85 senior managers and office workers broke the ice recently with a speed dating-style event where staff had 45 seconds to share their name, job and key facts before changing partner. There is a strong sense of family within teams (77%) and people go out of their way to help colleagues (80%). Boots Opticians spent £2.4m on employee training in the past year and made level 2 NVQ programmes compulsory for all new recruits — thus creating more than 400 apprentices a year. Employees, four-fifths of whom are women, feel they can make a difference in the organisation (76%) and say work is stimulating (74%, two more top two scores). Women occupy about 70% of management posts. The company's mission, purpose and values are on display in branches and Andy Ferguson, the managing director, and bosses further down the chain frequently refer to the values in meetings. Staff feel that senior managers truly live the values of the organisation (73%) and that the business is run on a strong set of principles (75%). Employees are among the happiest in our survey for maintaining a balance between a good work-life balance (65%, ranking ninth) and their health is not suffering due to work (75%, seventh). What is expected of employees is made completely clear to them (78%) and people do not use intimidation to get what they want (71%). Although the average salary for optical consultants is just under £10,000, staff are generally happy with their pay and benefits (57%). People feel that their pay is fair for their responsibilities (55%). www.bootsopticians.com
