Officially a Very Good
Company to Work For
Officially a Very Good
Company to Work For
Officially an Outstanding
Company to Work For
Officially an Outstanding
Company to Work For
Officially a World Class
Company to Work For
Officially a World Class
Company to Work For
Officially a Good
Company to Work For
Officially a Good
Company to Work For
WE WANT YOU to shine, this PR and communications agency tells all its employees — and sure enough, they are positively glowing. Last year's top small company, and a leading light on the Best Companies list since 2009, Shine Communications holds second place among small firms for My Team and Personal Growth (both positive scores of 92%). “Restless brilliance” is the London agency's mission, and employees feel that all their skills are used, in first place with 80%. Last year the business grew by 9% and won 47 industry awards for outstanding work for clients such as Paramount Pictures, Sony, Evian, Homebase and eBay. The firm invests 10% of annual profit in its Shiney Happy People training programme, spending £36,000 on individual sessions. Staff can apply to take professional courses or use a personal development fund to learn a language or conquer a fear. People agree their training is of great personal benefit (90%, third) and they don't feel restricted in their opportunities to learn and grow (88%, third). Every January, colleagues take a two-day trip to plan the year ahead and prizes are awarded at a “Shoscars” ceremony. Last summer everyone joined in a summer sports day followed by a barbecue at the home of Richard Brett, the recently promoted managing director. Rachel Bell, who set up Shine 14 years ago and won our Best Leader accolade last year, vacated the post to become chief executive and took on a mentoring role for middle managers. It has paid off: staff say managers help their team members fulfil their potential (92%, the top score) and take an active interest in people's wellbeing (also 92%, third). The company's Smile team plans pick-me-ups such as a red rose on Valentine's Day and baking contests. It also masterminds charity efforts, helping local elderly people in “random acts of loving kindness”. Employees vote Shine into first place for fun (96%) and say their jobs are never boring (94%, the top score). Where Shine fell down was in helping staff to balance their work and home lives (67%, in 81st place) although its perks include four weeks of fully paid paternity leave, a six-week return-to-work bonus for new mothers, flexible hours and a 3pm finish on Fridays. Employees are proud to work here (96%, in second place).
I am inspired by the person leading this organisation
Shine has the most outstanding group of Account Directors who operate between the account manager and associate director levels. They hold an enormous wealth of knowledge on best practice account management, client handling, as well as being great custodians of company culture. In 2012 founder, Rachel Bell, moved to a CEO role and promoted Richard Brett to Managing Director. The leadership team created a 'shadow board' out of the long-standing account director team and Rachel took on a mentoring role to develop the leadership skills and business acumen of this middle management level. The team meet monthly over breakfast with the CEO who plays a mentoring role in helping them hone their leadership skills and business acumen. The monthly meetings allow them to shape and discuss how to progress these plans. It is also a great forum to share coaching tips around negotiation issues either with team members or clients.
I believe I can make a valuable contribution to the success of this organisation
The ‘personal growth' of staff is something Shine takes very seriously; all employees are encouraged to adopt an entrepreneurial approach to self-empowerment. Central to Shine's employee charter is to encourage its team to never miss an opportunity to learn. Training and development is a major focus of the agency, with an investment of 10% of annual profit into bespoke training programmes for every member of staff. Every training request from reviews is facilitated in the ‘Shiney Happy People' training programme and Shine Business School. This is further supplemented with a £36,000 fund for individual sessions designed to tackle specific development areas. Testimony to the success of this approach is the fact that 38% of staff were promoted in the year and, perhaps most notably, four new ‘home grown' Associate Directors were welcomed onto the Board. Over and above Shine's structured training programme and its ‘Shine Business School' for senior managers, the company offers all staff the chance to apply for professional development courses such as CIMA accountancy qualification or a CAM Degree (Communications, Advertising and Media).
My organisation encourages charitable activities
The annual two day January away day not only allows the whole agency to hear and be involved in hearing, presenting and writing the agency's plans for the year ahead, but also allows for a highly memorable two day bonding event. After a morning of presentations, the agency then broke into teams to play famous TV quiz shows, including 'Deal or No Deal'. In the evening the annual 'Shoscars' took place, an event that celebrates all the agency's work and people over the past year. Ten campaign awards were given, including Campaign of the Year, Account Team of the Year, Idea of the Year and Event of the Year. Then 'people' awards were given in a second round of hotly contested awards called the HotShots which include Shiner of the Year, the Founders Award (someone who has made an outstanding contribution to the agency's values) and Communicator of the Year (outstanding excellence in their work). There is no greater accolade at Shine than being voted for an award by an outstanding group of peers.
Companies offering at least 10 weeks’ full pay or generous alternative.
At least 40% of senior managers are women.
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