MD Jim Moseley places enormous value on the vision, culture and values of the company, and puts the company's continuing success down to the way people are empowered to do their jobs. He has previously said that as the company grows his biggest concern is to retain the family feel of the business, as losing this would be more of a danger to its long-term success than not hitting commercial targets. To prove his commitment to this philosophy, Jim takes an active role in ensuring that the company's family feel is safeguarded, from 'walking the floor' to regularly chat with employees, to attending regular company breakfast meetings where employees can publicly - or anonymously by written questions - ask him anything they like. He also takes an active role in welcoming all new employees, who are invited to a breakfast with the Executive Team. This has proved exceptionally successful as not only do new starters meet the MD and members of the Executive Team in person, they also see for themselves how the company lives its vision and values each and every day. His care for employees is evident as he makes sure that he gets to know all of the people personally.

Line managers are charged with continuing to reinforce including making the link between each employees personal objectives with those of the business in order that all can see their role in delivering the business ambition. Creating a culture of openess where all are encouraged to express their views - in 121's, small groups/teams, functional and all employee sessions. Mechanisms to name the "elephant in the room" so that all conversations are transparent no matter how uncomfortable they might be. Constant ongoing training/workshops; recognition through peers twice yearly Special Achievement Awards, leaders, Breakfast Club, emails, thank you, functional sessions, line manager thank you, performance rating, feedback etc . Coaches/trains line managers re role/expectations; Encourage work/life balance policies/communications.

Their effectiveness comes from understanding the local community in which they are based and focusing efforts there. Hillingdon is a deprived community where school age literacy is low and there are few amenities for after school activities. They have been running many successful schemes in the local community for many years, and continue to look for new ways to make contributions. Most recently, they extended the fleet of mobile youth clubs that they finance and run, by adding the first water bound club for local children and teenagers. The Floating Classroom is a converted Dutch barge that offers young people the chance to learn in an unforgettable way. So far, more than 30,000 children have visited their buses, and their new water bound version offers the opportunity for many more youngsters in the Borough of Hillingdon to learn in an innovative new way. General Mills also sponsor the Hillingdon Book of the Year event. This involves a competition where school children vote for their favourite book and present on why this is the case. These activities have played a part in contributing towards the reduction in crime by providing something for children to do after school and an increase in childhood literacy. One of the most important considerations about General Mills' local charity work is that is long-term, so all the resources they provide will be there not only now but for future generations also.