ALL THE MEN at Mando Group turn into a hirsute “Team ManMo” for a month to grow moustaches for the Movember campaign, supporting men's health charities. The Liverpool IT firm, which creates online applications for businesses, comes second among small companies in our survey for encouraging charitable activities, with a 96% positive score. The 58 employees at Mando Group are impressed with this new entry's social conscience (95%, third). The firm, which has clients such as Jaguar Land Rover and Vodafone, donates 10% of net profits through its charitable foundation and aims high: it wants to transform local and global good causes. Staff feel it makes a positive difference in the world (82%, a top 20 score). Mando Group's four leaders run the company on a sound moral basis (95%, in fourth place), giving equal weight to “digital passion”, commercial performance and principles such as honesty and transparency. Employees say the senior team is good at listening to people rather than simply telling them what to do (87%). There is a new learning and development department, spending almost £2,000 a head each year on training and sponsoring work-related qualifications. Those who have become “accidental managers” are the focus of a recent training drive. Teams operate well together (78%). Everyone works around core hours of 10am to midday and 2pm-4.30pm, so people can create the working day most comfortable for them. Last year the company held its first “play day”, when colleagues got a budget to spend on an unusual project. The results included a range of fruit smoothies and a personal hovercraft, and the firm hopes to make the day an annual fixture.
