WHY HAVE JUST one trip to Ibiza? Last year ChapmanBlack recruitment consultancy rented an apartment on the island and sent out 10 groups of target-busting employees, with free travel, VIP club entry, drinks and boat trips. About half of the executive recruitment company's 62 people are under 25, and this young team feels it can make a valuable contribution to the organisation's success (a positive score of 97%, top for this measure). The London-based business was founded in 2007 and finds executives for the consumer goods, digital strategy, manufacturing, communications and automotive industries. Many of its clients are based in Germany so for their convenience the company has German telephone numbers, too, and most employees travel to the country every three months. The training provided by the business is of great personal benefit to staff members (94%, another top score), with two half-hour sessions a day, four days a week, from internal industry experts. Managers and the senior team members mentor and coach employees, too, taking an active interest in their wellbeing and job satisfaction but also making it completely clear what's expected of them (both 94%). There's no job too small for senior people — from creating a PowerPoint document to marking up a whiteboard with gridding tape — so staff don't feel managers take advantage of them (92%). Company spirit is another strength. During a recent team-building weekend at an activity park in Suffolk people had a lot of fun navigating swamps, transporting liquid across tricky terrain and abseiling. Every Friday there are free drinks at the in-house bar before everyone goes out together, so the place has a real buzz (92%). ChapmanBlack is proactive (85%). It runs a “pulse check” employee survey four times a year and people are split into groups to come up with three improvements at “town hall” meetings. The resulting innovations have included a social committee, areas for making Skype calls and a function to text candidates from the firm's email system. The business wins our special Best Improver award this year. Nobody uses intimidation to get what they want (92%), so employees don't shy away from challenging the chief executive, Barry Trout, at the annual vision meeting. They can walk into his office with their ideas any time. www.chapmanblack.com
