About Firstco

The senior management team demonstrate their commitment to the values of the organisation by working very closely with the rest of the company, staying very approachable, and by acting as role models for more junior employees. All of the senior management joined Firstco in a comparatively junior role themselves, so they demonstrate that hard work is rewarded at Firstco. They lead by example, keeping a strong focus on high quality work that both client and Firstco staff are proud of. Because all of Firstco's employees are likely to attend meetings with the senior management team, their principles are key focus points are transmitted directly - for example, the senior management always promote health and safety concerns to be foremost in everyone's minds and the first issue to be discussed in any meeting. Mike Gray, Managing Director, takes a very hands-on interest in the actual production side of the company, chairing the monthly production meeting during which all project managers gather to discuss issues and resourcing. Furthermore, he is not above joining a project team as an engineer, and is currently acting as a lead designer on one of the larger projects, as a subordinate to one of the project managers! They have an open plan office and Mike makes himself approachable to all staff, no matter their level, and regularly attends company social events.

For 15 years, Firstco has had close ties with City University, by engaging with their Professional Pathway Scheme. This scheme allows students, after one year of full time study, to change to a part-time degree (1 day per week) and part-time work (4 days per week). They have had five employees join through this scheme and complete their degrees, all of which have stayed with Firstco after graduation. This allows the students to complete their degree whilst earning a good salary and to have three years' work experience by the time they graduate. For more senior members of staff, they employ an external organisation offering personal and business coaching sessions, whereby development plans are created. During these sessions, employees can discuss strengths and weaknesses and areas of improvement. In addition to the usual fee-earning work, engineers are all able to come up with and work on any R&D projects that they might have in mind which tie in to Firstco's business. They have a process whereby anyone can suggest a prospective project and pitch it to the Technical Innovations Group; they then review it and decide whether or not it's appropriate, then jointly come up with a budget and timeline for it. This empowers employees and gives them an arena in which to be creative, show initiative, develop new skills and work on something that they're passionate about.

At Firstco they have a diverse social committee, made up of a self-elected cross section of employees. The aim of this committee is to organise and arrange a variety of events throughout the year, that all staff are able to attend (either free of charge, or heavily subsidised). They have a budget of £6K available to them each year, with the annual company picnic being one of the most popular and well attended events. Other events include theatre trips, tickets for sporting events, wine tasting, music sessions and barbecues. With a lot of their employees relocating to London for the job, they have found that having a strong social ethos has been pivotal for helping them settle in, make new friends within the workplace and develop ongoing working relationships.