HYMANS ROBERTSON HELPS people plan for the future but is also concerned about the here and now. Each of the pension firm's four offices has a “helping hands” committee with a £10,000 budget to support local charities. Last year, the Glasgow office bought equipment for St Vincent's Hospice and pantomime tickets for child carers. The independent pensions, benefits and risk consultancy, which is also setting up a charitable foundation to provide financial education to those most in need, has doubled its matched funding limit to £500 for individual events and boosted give-as-you-earn donations from employees by 25%. Staff, who get a paid day off to volunteer, give the London-based firm a 90% positive score for encouraging charitable activities and its strong social conscience (84%) is also reflected in its approach to the environment. Green policies include using video links and instant messaging to reduce business travel and replacing plastic bottles in meeting rooms with refillable glass ones. Employees don't think the firm is only driven by the bottom line (74%, a top-10 score) but that's pretty good, too — revenues rose by more than £8m last year to £68.7m with pre-tax profits reaching £21.3m. Founded in 1921 by Howard Robertson, the firm, which employs more than 650 people at its offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham and the capital, advises almost 170 pension schemes on their investments, with assets totalling approximately £140bn. More than 300 employees have clocked up at least five years' service, and people say they wouldn't leave tomorrow even if they were offered another job (76%). The business is run on strong values (84%), according to its workforce. The non-hierarchical, open-plan environment encourages communication between staff at all levels. Regular blogs and roadshows keep employees connected with the leadership team and up to speed with the company's strategy, performance and direction.Staff say senior managers truly live the company's values (76%), which include being straightforward and friendly, and they have a great deal of faith in managing partner James Entwisle (80%). He is highly visible, taking part in the graduate induction programme and playing a lead role in the firm's charitable activities, and can be reached by any employee at any time. All teams have an awayday each year, which in 2014 ranged from clay pigeon shooting to an open-top bus tour of Edinburgh and cocktail-making classes. Rewards range from a newly introduced recognition scheme which awards shopping vouchers for exceptional performance, to fresh fruit, free private healthcare, staff discounts and a share of the profits. Staff, almost half of whom earn between £25,000 and £45,000 a year, are happy with the remuneration package (67%) and think their pay reflects their responsibilities (61%). www.hymans.co.uk
