Officially a Very Good
Company to Work For
Officially a Very Good
Company to Work For
Officially an Outstanding
Company to Work For
Officially an Outstanding
Company to Work For
Officially a World Class
Company to Work For
Officially a World Class
Company to Work For
Officially a Good
Company to Work For
Officially a Good
Company to Work For
Officially a Global*
Good Company
to Work For
Officially a Good
Company to Work For
Globally*
THE GOVERNMENT MIGHT have published the country's first "happiness survey" last year, but the marketing capability consultancy Brand Learning has been running a something similar for years. Our Best Companies survey shows there are plenty of smiles among the 89 staff, with the company coming top in eight key questions and securing top 10 outcomes in 59 out of the total of 70. Team spirit overall gains a positive score of 95% among staff at the Kingston upon Thames office, which assists marketing teams in companies worldwide. British clients include the Cabinet Office, the Football Association and the NHS. Staff find plenty of opportunities to let their hair down, memorably with Bollywood dancing lessons and a book character fancy dress awayday, where Alice in Wonderland talked business with the Cat in the Hat. Employees have fun with their teams (97%). They care about each other (98%) and go out of their way to help colleagues (95%) — both top scores. The firm was co-founded 12 years ago by Andy Bird and Mhairi McEwan, the managing directors, and they are inspiring leaders (98%, in second place). With 46 other senior managers they truly live the values of the firm — expert, engaging, inclusive and inspiring change — reflected in a 96% score, also in second place. Last year Bird and McEwan began hosting monthly "round table" discussions with a cross-section of employees to discuss the business, and the company uses an online forum on the social network site for enterprise, Yammer, to share ideas. Brand Learning prefers the term "supporter" to "manager" and staff feel supported by their direct bosses (96%, another top score). Managers care for people as individuals (95%), and take an interest in workers' job satisfaction (93%) through lunches, meetings or catching up with people informally. Unusually, the firm is female- dominated at every level, but it doesn't assume women bear all of the responsibility for their families. Maternity leave includes 13 weeks at full pay and new fathers can take two weeks on top of the statutory fortnight. Directors are trusted to manage their time and way of working, within reason, and there are reduced work options of 2, three and four-day weeks. The support team has a system of "earlies" and "lates" and occasional days working from home too. Employees are happy with the balance between work and home life (87%) and say they love working for the consultancy, putting it in first place for that indicator with a score of 95%. www.brandlearning.com
I feel that my manager talks openly and honestly with me
Supporters regularly refer to the role profiles ensuring that the employee is clear about their role and responsibilities and the company's expectation of them, recognising the effort and contribution everyone makes by saying thank you at Team Meetings and away days.
My team is fun to work with
In March the company had an away day at Foxhills Golf Club in Ottershaw, Surrey. The day's theme was 'World Book Day Characters' and the whole team came in fancy dress. There were all the characters out of Alice In Wonderland, Charlotte's Web, Winnie the Pooh, Where's Wally? and The Cat in the Hat to name a few. The day's activities focused on developing their Knowledge Management systems and processes as well as sharing information and best practice. The evening's activities involved pre-dinner drinks, team quiz and a dinner. Everyone sat on round tables with people they don't normally work with to increase connectivity. There was a tremendous spirit all day and everyone came away feeling energised.
I have a great deal of faith in the person leading this organisation
At an Away Day in April the Senior Management Team spent the day facilitating the whole team in the development of the 5 year plan. This was done by first asking the team to step into the tardis, and via various stimulations, come up with their vision of the future both professionally and personally. The team were then split into groups and each group had a lense to explore the future through and brainstorm what the business would look like in that area. The groups were then asked to present their thoughts back to the whole team at the end of the day. These thoughts and ideas were then used back at the office by the Senior Management Team in the final write up of the 5 year plan. The inclusiveness of the day had a huge impact on the team which was reflected in the very positive verbatims recieved in their bi-yearly employee engagement survey.
I feel that my manager talks openly and honestly with me
Supporters regularly refer to the role profiles ensuring that the employee is clear about their role and responsibilities and the company's expectation of them, recognising the effort and contribution everyone makes by saying thank you at Team Meetings and away days.
My team is fun to work with
In March the company had an away day at Foxhills Golf Club in Ottershaw, Surrey. The day's theme was 'World Book Day Characters' and the whole team came in fancy dress. There were all the characters out of Alice In Wonderland, Charlotte's Web, Winnie the Pooh, Where's Wally? and The Cat in the Hat to name a few. The day's activities focused on developing their Knowledge Management systems and processes as well as sharing information and best practice. The evening's activities involved pre-dinner drinks, team quiz and a dinner. Everyone sat on round tables with people they don't normally work with to increase connectivity. There was a tremendous spirit all day and everyone came away feeling energised.
I feel that my manager talks openly and honestly with me
Supporters regularly refer to the role profiles ensuring that the employee is clear about their role and responsibilities and the company's expectation of them, recognising the effort and contribution everyone makes by saying thank you at Team Meetings and away days.
Companies offering a minimum of 26 days annual leave to all employees.
Companies offering at least 10 weeks’ full pay or generous alternative.
At least 40% of senior managers are women.
If you like what you see here and would like to know more about working for a
3 Star
organisation, simply click the link for further information about careers with
Brand Learning
.
