My Team - Employees' feelings towards their immediate colleagues and how well they work together
My team benefits from a high scoring My Manager factor as the manager is key to creating and sustaining a productive and positive work environment.
An employee’s perceived team will be those they work with on a daily basis.
Quiet rooms as a safe space for prayer, meditation and reflection are a feature of many Burns & MacDonnell offices – part of creating a diverse and inclusive environment where “people feel comfortable speaking up and living authentically as themselves.” Monthly wellbeing sessions include breakfasts, toolkit talks, and experience sharing.
Through the MacCulture Recognition programme, employees who demonstrate the company’s values accumulate points to exchange for prizes. There are also one and five-year service awards where employees can choose from exclusive brand merchandise. And staff get a special award package for milestone anniversaries, starting from 10 years.
The manager mentor programme matches those new to management with seasoned managers with similar interests or work-life situations. It provides advice and guidance and gives new managers somebody to bounce ideas off and learn from. It also supports relationship-building with other managers throughout the company.
The organisation provides many opportunities for teams to come tother in both a working environment and a more social setting. Team calls and online company activities provide the opportunity for teams to align on goals, and charity events and team lunch’s provide the chance for team building and the strengthening of employee relationships.
The Leadership Team are transparent in their messaging and regularly communicate the company's performance, challenges, and good news stories, ensuring that everyone is well informed about what's happening. Employees who consistently embody the company values are acknowledged and rewarded. This can include awards, bonuses, or a well done shout out at the Monthly Team Meeting.
Crimson has developed a CPD Pathway for its employees that helps to identify and develop the skills and competencies that are required for their current role, or one that they are aspiring to move into. Some of the training resources that are available to employees include podcasts, articles, and online courses.
Everyone gets two volunteering days a year, working together as a team or individually, for a local cause close to their hearts. And there's always something to do socially, whether its staff netball sessions to build social connections or lunchtime celebrations for sporting events or festivals such as Eid.
Regular learning sessions and opportunities to share successes, including a post-probation period celebration event, connect new recruits with their fellow new starters. There's also a new employee onboarding hub and a checklist managers can customise to ensure they have the right information and can meet the right people to set them up for success.
Mentoring schemes are big at England Netball. Employees can develop their leadership skills as mentors or mentees for underrepresented groups across the sporting sector. And a second scheme pairs mentors with mentees to support specific development goals to help them take the next step in their careers.
The organisation runs a process: "SKIPs". The principle is that employees skip their line manager and provide feedback on the business to the next level up. This process was undertaken by the board of directors and every member of the organisation met with a director where they were asked for feedback related to its vision.
The organisation runs a Living Leader programme. It also provides bespoke training tailored to individuals, such as professional finance qualifications and technical training. One leader at Excalibur Communications is on an external leadership programme and the People Director is training in executive coaching.
Excalibur Communications has a charity committee called "Excalibears" who drive its charity fundraising, donations, and volunteering activity. The organisation recently participated in some grounds maintenance at a local hedgehog sanctuary. The organisation also matches any contributions made via the payroll on a monthly basis.
All managers have received mental health training and stress management training, enabling them to recognise the signs of stress and burnout. This additional level of support recognises that managers may require extra support for their teams and guidance on how to manage difficult conversations, while giving employees the opportunity to have confidential and supportive conversations.
The organisation holds social events, quizzes, drawing classes, dinners, desk yoga, netwalking, and inclusive-tea breaks and it has hosted family events including colouring competitions, shed building, and garden design. It has also introduced Walk Out Wednesdays where employees leave their desks and go on a walk together.
The HLM Academy is designed to enhance progression through a variety of channels to suit different learning preferences. All employees are enrolled from day one. The Academy is uses two frameworks. The Skills framework outlines emotional and technical skills needed. The Behaviour framework sets out core behaviours and how colleagues should engage with each other.
Medicheck's VIBE team is tasked with arranging social events, from those celebrating Pride Month to exercise challenges and fundraising events. There are also the staple Summer BBQs and Christmas parties. And staff are encouraged into the office on wellbeing day for activities like wellness walks or a massage.
All lower-paid employees got a winter cost-of-living salary increase, with all employees getting a higher-than-usual rise in the spring. Performance-related bonus awards are on offer, and staff get £500 once a candidate they've successfully recommended for a role passes their three-month probation.
A new performance management platform supports staff with their development goals. It includes a feedback function allowing employees to give or request feedback from each other, with ‘Feedback Fridays’ encouraging staff to participate. Colleagues can also nominate each other for monthly awards, using the system to select which value they demonstrated.
Its holistic therapy service offers colleagues an opportunity for physical and mental wellbeing. All staff are supported and enabled to take time out within the week to access time for a range of therapies, which promote both physical and mental health agendas. Staff feedback from a short course of massages has been universally positive.
The organisation has introduced 'team in the spotlight' at its membership meetings. Open to all staff and community members, it encourages a deep-dive into a department and service to greater showcase and understand the work of the team along with challenges and good practice they have faced and developed.
As the company supports placements for healthcare professionals, an education and learning environment is evident across its services. Individual development requests are also encouraged. These are peer reviewed by managers, over 90% of personal study leave requests are supported immediately. In the last year, it has appointed two new roles of 'Professional Development' leads.
With access to Spill, employees have easy access to therapy. They can ask a therapist a question about their own wellbeing or how to support others, and they can also arrange one-off counselling sessions. Peak also has trained mental health first aiders and supports employees’ physical wellbeing through its Peak Fit Club.
‘Open’ is one of Peak’s core values. Every Friday, it has a company-wide standup. Peak ensures that these are in-person where possible and provides pastries or lunch as another reason to get together and socialise. The theme for each week is different and are more detailed if at the end of the month or quarter.
Values are core to Peak’s culture. In the last year, it has updated its Culture Manifesto. Innovation and entrepreneurial spirit drive the business to succeed. Employees are included in company initiatives and strategy as its leadership ensures the organisation remains an open and collaborative workplace.
With a recognition-led culture, as well as benefits and salary, Searchability has a range of incentives to reward its employees for their efforts. This ranges from commission, achievers meals, weekend trips away, legend of the month awards, and its most recent Be Sound award – these are all led by colleagues.
As part of its wellbeing programme, Searchability has a weekly boxercise class which has encouraged new connections between colleagues. It has continued to host First Friday events which brings the whole company together for social interaction. It also recently held a charity day that included fancy dress and a bake sale.
Searchability has recently installed eco-friendly lighting systems in its offices and continues to support recycling initiatives. Additionally, it has removed plastic cups from its offices and continuously supports plastic waste reduction, giving all employees access to glass or refillable bottles to prevent single-use plastic.
Sipsmith hosts deep dive workshops led by HR and their managers on their specific team results and with the leadership team to better understand the results and develop an action plan for what improvements could be implemented. The actions taken enabled each team to manage their own engagement improvement plan to their specific needs.
The organisation has a committee dedicated to creating fun for teams to energise and engage them. It organises a monthly drinks event at its own bar on site which is themed differently depending on events, as well as organising an annual team sports day and team awards such as "the values champion".
Everyone in the Sipsmith team sets an annual Sustainability KPI for themselves working with their manager to deliver tangible improvements on their commitment to craft a better future. This means Sipsmith’s teams are actively rewarded through its pay and bonus model for meeting its environmental goals.
