IT IS ALL about engagement at First Direct, and you can't get engagement without teamwork. Sitting in baths of strawberry jelly, walking homeless pooches for the Dog's Trust, packing food parcels for homeless people and cycling 200 miles through driving rain for ChildLine — it's all part of building camaraderie while putting something back into the community at the same time. There are also weekly buzz sessions for each team to engage, motivate and develop team spirit, as well as monthly meetings which include icebreakers and team-building exercises. The bank's staff believe colleagues go out of their way to help each other (an 81% positive score, ranking 13th). Significantly, the organisation also ranks 13th for the conviction that the bank provides a great service to its customers (89%). Employees feel a strong sense of family in their team (77%) and care for each other (82%, ranking 21st). They also say that they have the support they need to provide a great service (73%). First Direct employs 2,806 people with a typical job being a customer representative on an average salary of £16,499. The average age of employees is 37 and 1,832 people have worked for the organisation for more than five years — 475 of them for more than 15 years. Perks include performance-related pay, share options, an on-site crèche, vouchers for childcare, free sports facilities, an occupational health and wellness programme, extra holidays, dental insurance, critical illness cover and concierge services. Staff are happy with their pay and benefits (69%) and believe they are paid fairly for the work they do relative to people in similar positions in other organisations (65%). Employees do not feel exhausted when they come home from work (52%, ranking 24th) and do not spend too much time working (63%, 20th). The job does not interfere with responsibilities at home (72%, 24th) and people are happy with the balance between home and work life (71%). A best place to work team tries to make work a "fantastic experience". For example, during the World Cup, there was a keepy-uppy challenge with giant size footballs across departments as well as a wag week with a nail and beauty bar and beauty gift stalls, while the company celebrated its 21st birthday with street entertainers, music, cake and bubbly. The bank's annual Amazing People Dinner offers awards for employee of the year, amazing idea, amazing leader, amazing act of giving and amazing team. firstdirect.com