About Business in the Community

Business in the community now bring all of their staff together, face-to-face, on an annual basis for an "All Staff" event. The latest was in February 2015 when colleagues gathered in for a day at Porcester Hall in London for networking, table discussions, interactive presentations from senior managers and stakeholders and learning. These activities were interspersed with videos made by individual teams, introducing themselves to the rest of the organisation. These were brief but innovative and entertaining. Our 2015 ‘All Staff’ was preceded by the company’s evening AGM at Camden's Roundhouse. All of the staff were invited to the event which was followed by an evening meal, "Pink Flamingo" staff awards and an evening party. Business in the Community booked staff into local hotels so that they were all then able to join our both the evening and daytime activities.

Every member of staff at Business in the Community can have up to two paid days a year to volunteer, in addition to any volunteering activities they take part in with their team. The company have supported Corelli School in Greenwich, through staff volunteers (e.g. 3 staff volunteers and a Business Connector supported their Arts festival). Business in the Community offer work experience placements to students in schools local to their offices e.g in London, they work with Hackney's EBP, "Inspire" to offer placements to students who would not otherwise have the opportunity to work in a similar organisation. Across Business in the Community they have a number of staff who volunteer as job coaches for their Ready for Work programme, which involves providing weekly coaching to individuals who face significant barriers to work and helping them to find employment. This takes place within work hours and often within the company offices. Staff also volunteer to help facilitate Ready for Work training, such as interview skills. Each regional office has its own programme of initiatives, usually team volunteering challenges, but also other approaches that support local community organisations. The Northern Ireland team, for instance, share volunteering opportunities with their Charity of the Year, Nexus so that clients (survivors of sexual abuse) have the opportunity to build confidence and workplace skills. The company finance team volunteered with at a community garden and the head office supports local projects with collections including Project Shoebox to provide toiletries for women arriving in refuges over Christmas.

Business in the Community are proud of their staff involvement in the ongoing process of simplifying and focusing their vision, values and core messages so that they better meet the needs of staff. They have been through a process of developing and refining these which has been highly consultative. The company hold conversations at annual road shows so that everyone has had the opportunity to be involved. This work has fundamentally changed how they represent themselves externally and communicate what they do internally. Being an organisation that operates from a number of locations, involving and communicating with staff is challenging. Business in the Community are particularly proud of their annual 'All Staff' and their Roadshows in achieving engagement. These include the Staff Awards "Pink Flamingos", which are based around the company values with awards for collaboration. Business in the Community continue to refine the way they build their values into their performance review and recruitment processes and provide workshops and coaching to managers in applying their values. The company also run a session at National Induction focusing on their vision and values which includes a discussion exercise around real-life examples of their values in the workplace. The company’s business plan is shared publically through their website and is structured around their 5 key issues; Environment, Employment, Enterprise, Employees and Education.