About 4Com plc

4Com plc's Senior Management Team have been part of the organisation for many years and still like to promote a family feel, despite a continuous increase in its staff base. There is a constant commitment to engagement at all levels and rewarding staff for the contribution towards the success of the business. The business has a culture of 'Excellence at Everything' and there is always the investment of funding or other resource-support for training, research and development, as well as any infrastructure required to do the very best they can. The Best Companies survey acts as a benchmark regarding engagement and wellbeing of staff is at the forefront of everything 4com do. The monthly 'Free Food Friday', company update and staff awards engage staff at all levels and the lunch that follows gives them exposure to senior management. The Chairman and MD Daron Hutt was present at Tough Mudder South West to witness 41 members of his staff tackle the gruelling course for charity, seeing first-hand the camaraderie and all-round effort required to be successful. Every three months a video card is produced and posted to employees and their families detailing the company’s achievements over the last quarter, what the next quarter holds and any charity/community updates. This is particularly useful for those remote workers who rarely get the opportunity to attend the 'Free Food Fridays'.

Last year saw the introduction of a free healthy breakfast bar three days a week, where staff can consume juices, smoothies, fruit and even healthy breakfasts. Throughout the year on the remaining two days 4com offer a salad and noodle bar in the Summer and a soup bar in the colder months. These are free of charge to employees and all healthy options. The company also have had a masseur in the office to relieve back and neck problems and improve posture, as well as free flu jabs for office staff and flu jab vouchers for remote workers. More recently, as part of their annual '4Com's Biggest Loser' campaign, they have linked voluntary staff weight loss with money donated to the Foundation. They regularly invite a nutrition and weight loss coach to provide dietary advice to staff members. The latest initiative they have at 4Com is the introduction of a 'Chill Out' area away from the hustle and bustle of the business, where staff can relax in a quiet environment away from the canteen or pool table areas. They are flexible with break times and maintain an open-door management policy to promote communication at all levels. The staff healthcare package includes confidential counselling as required. As a first this year, the telesales staff have received emotional intelligence training from an external specialist to enable them to control their own mind set and resilience more effectively.

The 4Com Foundation is well established now as the company's focal point for fundraising, charity and community activities. Having recently raised over £36,000 for Diverse Abilities' Lilipad Appeal, this has enabled the charity to completely fund an indoor play area and they will be allowing staff to assist with the build during working hours through tasks such as painting and labouring. 4com also have a partnership with Age Concern and Christchurch Angels, where they regularly invite groups of senior citizens from the community to come to the 4com offices for a hot lunch, music, singing and bingo. They have donated a third minibus to Linwood School via Variety Wessex to assist children with profound learning difficulties and assisted 12 separate charities through the '12 Days of Christmas' event. Assistance to charity and community over the last 12 months, in terms of cash donations and equipment, have totalled over £100,000.