Congratulations to the
2022 Inspiring Workplaces in EMEA

Ranking #1

In 2021, to further underline its commitment to creating seamless end-to-end processes, TBS launched a dynamic people experience (Px) strategy centred on its aspiration (“We are committed to creating an exceptional experience where you feel supported & confident in our solutions”).

To ensure its vision, aspiration and strategy (its “purpose”) were not only adopted by teams but could actively shape its culture, TBS needed to embed them across its activities with consistency – making them its north star. To achieve this, it sought to:

• Make it Authentic – To bolster adoption, TBS’ Leadership Team focused on designing a purpose that resonated with employees, creating a vision, aspiration and strategy that were clear, inspiring and authentic. This encompassed an operating model centred on Px and agility.
• Put Its Values Into Practical Action – TBS sought to intertwine its purpose throughout the end-to-end employee experience. It formed a golden thread across internal communication, employee engagement and employer branding activity. In doing so, TBS quickly made its purpose part of employees’ everyday language, ensuring they were empowered to live and breathe its vision.

Ranking #2

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
PagerDuty empowered their people to develop their own D,E & I policies with results that speak for themselves.

‘A critical component of our connection to each other and our communities are the Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) at PagerDuty. ERGs are self-organized, employee-run, company-funded communities focused on advancing a sense of inclusion and belonging at PagerDuty. Currently we have six ERGs: Array (Black and Latinx), Illuminate (Asian and Pacific Islander), PageAble (visible and invisible disabilities), RainbowDuty (LGBTQIA+), PatriotDuty (military and veterans), and SisterDuty (women, non binary, agendar, and genderqueer). Areas of focus differ by ERG and could include any of the following pillars: career development and professional networking, community building and support, allyship education, and partnerships with recruiting and social impact.

PagerDuty.org and the ID&E team collaborate with our ERGs and Community Responders to activate and inspire employees through a continuous cadence of opportunities throughout the year. In 2021, Dutonians supported 412 causes and 92% of Dutonians participated in our social impact programs.’

Ranking #3

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
A catalyst for better health and healthier workplaces – the NHS has created a thriving, diverse and inclusive culture for its people.

‘Our colleague Lived Experience networks are communities for people who identify as BAME, disabled and/or neurodiverse, LGBTQ+ and women. Advice, awareness, and training have been provided for and by all networks to upskill them and to share their experiences with the wider colleague audiences.

Virtual Pride Cafes for LGBTQ+ colleagues take place bi-monthly where colleagues come together and connect. This was a response to the loss of LGBTQ+ community space during lockdown and is now a regular feature of support.

Our Disability & Neurodiversity Network encourages colleagues to have open conversations and feel safe to declare disabilities, by role modelling, sharing their lived experiences and peer support.

We also have a Shadow Board initiative. A seat is reserved for people who identify with the lived experience identities ensuring collaboration with our Leadership Team and Board. The Shadow Board mirrors the NHSBSA Board in numbers. It provides an opportunity for us to proactively address the under-representation of some equality groups at senior levels within the NHSBSA.’

Ranking #4

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Places for People surveyed 800 of their colleagues to find out what they could do better – and from this, a people-first culture was born.

‘Over the past year, Places for People has been driving cultural change as part of our ‘People First’ approach – a new way of thinking that puts colleagues, customers and clients at the heart of everything we do.

Supported by specialist training, innovative digital tools and sales collateral, People First is empowering our colleagues to do what is right for the customer. This approach is improving engagement across the organisation, making colleagues feel valued and enhancing their experience.

Our People First approach is supported by our People Promise, accredited by the Clear English Standard: ‘Places for People companies put People First. We treat everyone honestly, courteously and fairly.’’

Ranking #5

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Computacenter raise the bar in workplace wellbeing with transparency, flexibility and extraordinary efforts in protecting not only the wellbeing of their employees, but also that of their children.

‘The pandemic has shone a light on how important it is for parents to understand and acknowledge children’s mental health, and as an organisation, the mental wellbeing of our staff is of the utmost importance, but so is that of their families. Through this series of webinars, we were able to explore and offer support on how to cope with anxiety and stress in children, a parent’s survival guide and a parent’s mental health toolkit. The webinars were attended by over 150 people and were received with gratitude. Many attendees were parents of children with mental ill-health and were able to ask questions, get advice and support from professionals.

Wellbeing is essential to our business success, it affects our staff productivity, recruitment, and retention rates. Our people are our greatest asset, and we know that staff who are happy and healthy are at their most productive.

The most important thing to mention is we listen to our people. Wellbeing was absolutely critical during 2020 and 2021 – when most of our staff were working from home. We ran regular surveys, we created information specifically relating to working from home, we provided information on how to stay in touch, and we ran healthy leadership training. Although there was a work from home if you can order, we kept our offices open for those that couldn’t comfortably work from home or had wellbeing needs to be in the office. Our wellbeing offerings were tagged into all of our posts, and communications and there were reminders of wellbeing champions.’ 

Ranking #6

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
MediaCom have embedded their philosophy of ‘people first = better results’ into the core of its culture to create a fully inclusive workplace in which everyone is has a voice and every voice is heard.

‘Our aim to be the most inclusive agency means we make brave decisions and face into inequity. We know it is important for our leadership teams – the people responsible for making MediaCom a safe place – to understand how systemic oppression, racism and inequities manifest if they are going to be able to change things. So with this in mind, we undertook an intensive learning programme for 250 of our most senior people to understand how racism, sexism and all bias arise and show up at work, and how to deal with them.

We have 8 ERGs – employee-led employee resource groups making sure diverse voices are heard. The ERGs cover Faith, Ethnicity, Age, LGBTQ+, Gender, Mental Health, Disability and Sustainability. They communicate directly with our leadership team on a regular basis to express and work on how MediaCom can better understand and represent these communities and identities.

We have set targets for each department based on the current representation of Black, Asian, and ethnic minority staff to accelerate diversity at all levels.’

Ranking #7

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Blood Cancer UK perfectly demonstrate the bottom line value of fully engaged teams.

‘We’ve focussed on ensuring our employees have been able to thrive rather than just survive the pandemic, and stay connected to our mission of beating blood cancer in a generation. The objectives for our wellbeing strategy are to ensure that wellbeing is embedded into our organisation, rather than a ‘nice to have’ or an ‘add on’. We aim for our wellbeing offer to be attractive to both people who might want to join our team, as well as practical for existing staff, and to be a world-class wellbeing organisation’

‘Our retention rate has stayed at a high of 94% for the past 24 months, from a low point of 66% in December 2018. And even now, when there is a lot of talk in social media about ‘the great resignation’, we’re not seeing that issue. We ask our staff in our pulse surveys about what makes them stay with Blood Cancer UK, and they say it is a combination of our agile flexible working culture, our wellbeing focus, and how committed everyone is to the cause of beating blood cancer. Over the past two years, this level of retention has saved us an estimated £196,000 in recruitment costs- equivalent to just over two week’s worth of research costs. 

Ranking #8

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Grosvenor empower their employees by reducing the feedback gap between inception and implementation.

‘Grosvenor empowers employees by clearly aligning their goals to company KPIs, listening to their feedback, giving them flexibility and facilitating innovation.

To feel empowered, our people need to know that we listen to them. One way we demonstrate this is ensuring that employee survey results are shared within 2 weeks and organisational and team-specific action plans are created and shared within 6 weeks. This creates an experience of empowerment by maintaining a short feedback loop and providing a clear link between receiving feedback and tangible changes, both in their own teams and (in the medium term) organisational action.

For specific or confidential wellbeing needs, employees have access to two anonymous peer support streams – Mental Health First Aiders and Speak Up Allies. Both are publicised to employees to discuss anything concerning them, and we receive anonymous, aggregate feedback on any recurring themes to address. 

Ranking #9

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
TimeXtender are leveraging their hybrid model to strengthen their culture through greater representation and diversity.

‘TimeXtender has pinpointed that one of the key benefits of having a fully distributed workforce that works remotely from anywhere is that it enables us to recruit people from different backgrounds, with different perspectives, and various upbringings and experiences. Our company has a statement set in stone that we “support initiatives that promote social connections and well-being in our local communities across gender, colour, culture, and religion.”

‘All Xpeople, individually, are inspired to share knowledge with others to empower teammates. Our company favours autonomy, accountability and ownership and has high trust with an open environment that is proactive for executing initiatives. At TimeXtender, everyone has a voice.’

Ranking #10

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Bursting the bias bubbles – The Unmistakables challenged their own biases to create an all inclusive culture.

‘To ensure we continue to challenge ourselves and instil contrasting perspectives (i.e. inclusive not exclusive) across the business, we host fortnightly structured debates to encourage a more considered take on inclusion. Two sides speak alternately for and against a particular contention usually based on a topical issue. The subject of these disputes are prearranged so, we as ED&I professionals, may find ourselves having to support opinions with which we might not normally agree. This forces us out of inevitable bias bubbles and ensures that we are thinking, at least sometimes, like people right across society (and not just within an ED&I consultancy). We are forced to argue against our most natural points of view, and, as a result, better understand that arguments, like coins, always have at least two sides.’ 

Ranking #11

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Libraries, leadership, mindfulness and meditation – success and engagement the Nexio Projects way.

‘Our leaders inspire by listening, creating a tight-knit community, and sharing the success of the business. Furthermore, it is important to mention how clarity/transparency from management empowers our company, as sharing opportunities, successes but also areas of improvement inspire us to constantly improve. Leadership goes beyond management, as team leaders are empowered to create the best possible platform for feedback-sharing, learning and development of employees.

On a personal level, our leadership aims to be open and bring learning to the team. Gratitude is an important part of our culture, as well as learning. We bring these values into the office by encouraging gratitude journaling, and we also have our very own library at the office, which is packed with inspirational content and focuses on topics like mindfulness, healthy sleep and meditation.’

Ranking #12

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Globalization Partners are cultivating a culture of wellbeing with their ‘Love and Kindness’ model.

‘Globalization Partners understands that the key to engaged employees is ensuring that they feel heard, recognised, rewarded and can grow. Senior management ensures that every employee’s voice is heard, and by demonstrating that their opinion matters, Globalization Partners’ employees are more engaged and invested in seeing the company succeed.

‘Our commitment to employee wellbeing is part of the fabric of our organisation and has been important in times of crisis, perhaps most notably during the Covid-19 pandemic. As a global employer, we recognised the wide-ranging impact of COVID and made space for our employees to manage their situations accordingly – whether caretaking, home-schooling or other responsibilities. Our ‘Love and Kindness’ policy at G-P enables us to support our team members in their major life events – whether that is a graduation, engagement or marriage, new home, illness or loss of family, friend, or pet and personal illness among others. We want to make it clear to our team that they come first and we are here to support them during both the challenging moments and the celebrations.’ 

Ranking #13

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
From pottery classes to football tournaments; virtual activities to Bring Your Dog to Work Day – Cooper Parry has excelled with a bespoke approach to employee wellbeing.

`We believe well-being is increased tenfold when people grow and learn which is why we also run in-house pottery classes, calligraphy workshops and British sign language courses. Growing as a person is about much more than just teaching individuals skills to do their job.

‘We have a broad social calendar- with a variety of in-person and virtual activities to support a hybrid workforce. From legendary Christmas parties, Bongo Bingo, football tournaments and themed lunches. Every Friday is free breakfast and bring your dog to work day, both are hugely popular.’

‘One of the things that our people have told us is that having the opportunity to give back to the local community is extremely important to them.

So in addition to having a nominated charity each year to raise funds for, we also have an annual volunteering day, where we close the whole office for the day and everybody takes part in a community volunteering activity. We also signed up to ‘OnHand’ an incredible volunteering app that allows our people to take part in various volunteering missions throughout the year, from calling a lonely person to have a chat, taking part in eco cleans and litter picking, or supporting a local charity, the opportunities to make a difference are endless.’ 

Ranking #13

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Flo Health prevailed through lockdown to become the number one women’s health app worldwide, and a recent survey revealed that 91% of their people say that they feel proud when someone finds out that they work for the organisation.

‘When the world went into lockdowns from March 2020 we didn’t think we could pull homeworking off, our speed of delivery and excellence in execution was built on our tight-knit culture of togetherness in the office. But we were proven wrong. In September 2021 we asked employees what they wanted to do, and saw that there was no single solution, but 400 different solutions to 400 individual lives and lifestyles. So we are now fully flexible and accommodate everything from permanent remote home working to full office presence, and everything in between. Our employees say that it is a key attractor of talent, and is especially appreciated by parents and single-parent families. We work across 7 time zones and do not enforce working hours, whether you’re an early bird or a night owl – you do you, because personal well-being comes first.’ 

Ranking #14

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
AbilityNet have encouraged a learning culture within their organisation in order fully support the needs of their clients.

‘AbilityNet is a technology charity that exists to remove barriers for disabled people at work, in education and in day-to-day life. 

We offer Workplace and Student needs assessments. These are transformative for our clients and can make the difference to their lives and careers and our assessment team are highly motivated by this.

We also offer a range of services to organisations with the goal of supporting them to create customer and employee experiences that are accessible and inclusive by design.

We have a large team of digital accessibility consultants that can provide accessibility audits, user testing and training and we also have a team of workplace inclusion consultants providing advice, training and consultancy across the employee journey from recruitment, to onboarding, ways of working, career development and customer facing.’

Ranking #15

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Every member of Aico’s senior management team has been promoted from within, testament to their dedication to developing their employees.

‘Aico are passionate about developing people, recognising talent, and giving colleagues opportunities to continuously develop their skills and progress. After expressing an interest in specific departments, many colleagues have moved horizontally within the business, transitioning into other teams while gaining vast experience and key skills. Aico’s Senior Management Team consists of 13 colleagues, all of which have been promoted from within. This pathway into leadership has a strong impact on the business, as our managers have witnessed the company develop over a number of years, they have a true understanding of the business and what we want to achieve. Each of our managers are passionate, innovative and driven, with their positive attitude inspiring those within their teams.

Managers are encouraged to make their own decisions and be accountable for them. With no middle management, colleagues from all levels of the business are brought closer together, no matter the role.’ 

Ranking #16

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
I am Spartacus! Kid-A empower their colleagues to channel their inner Spartan.

‘People in our business at Kid-A are always empowered to make decisions and act how they need to in order to grow our business. We had an example of working with a very high-profile brand on a proposition where at the eleventh hour, they had to require sign off their side to complete the deal – which impacted our timelines. We really chewed on this and came to a diagnosis – if you aren’t empowered to make decisions, you’ll feel powerless, create unnecessary hierarchy and likely to not enjoy what you are doing. So what did we do? We created a value called “I Am Spartacus” (yes from the film)– which explicitly and proactively encourages decision making – this way people get empowered and don’t create choke points or hierarchies and we are able to flex and move as a team in real time. Of course, there are guard rails but most of these are common sense and should serve as help – not as the police rules.’

Ranking #17

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Boom! Meet Reward Gateways part social digital workspace, part Employee Engagement platform.

‘Reward Gateway people can expect leadership to be transparent with the ‘what, how and why’ of decision making, and leadership trusts colleagues to give them open and honest feedback. 

Open and honest communication is core to our engagement strategy. It underpins everything we do and our high trust culture is only possible through the delivery of communications that are honest, timely and meaningful to our people. 

To engage our audience, our communications should… Inform, Educate, Inspire, Connect, & Entertain. These themes are linked to the delivery of daily communications throughout the business each week, where we harness the energy of the day and reflect it in the way we talk to our people.

The majority of our communication is centralised around boom!, our Employee Engagement platform that also acts as our social digital workspace. It connects over 500 employees across the globe with our company news, recognition, team communications, culture, strategy, diversity and every other aspect of their employee journey with us.’

Ranking #18

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
No More Vouchers! Financial Services Compensation Schemes Smart Reward – A meaningful employee reward system.

‘We believe that empowerment is key to employee experience. We have been on a transformational journey. We have delivered more than we might ever have thought possible – and that is thanks to the people that work here. We openly and regularly recognise this, and always seek to empower people to be at their very best.

A key focus for 2022 will be continuing to evolve our approach to recognition and reward – what we like to call Smart Reward. Smart Reward covers all aspects of work: Career Pathways, personal development, flexible working (your day, your way), being recognised contributions to our success, and the employee benefits we offer. Going forward, we want Smart Reward to be central to our strategic approach – fully interwoven with our commitment to wellbeing, and our Responsible Business focus.

Our new Smart Reward approach includes the launch of our brand-new Special Recognition Awards. This refreshed, flexible approach has been designed to recognise and celebrate fantastic achievements more meaningfully throughout the year.’

Ranking #19

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
BBC studios are creating a culture of inspiring leadership with fair, open and inclusive policies.

‘Our leaders inspire teams to high performance through their actions. In our response to what has been an unprecedented and uncertain period globally, our leaders started the year by galvanising the commitment of our team to our shared purpose and offering absolute clarity on our ambitious growth strategy. Crucially, our leaders shared how putting people first would be a key enabler to making it happen.

Our leadership also from the CEO downwards, have an open door/email policy. Anyone, no matter their level, is encouraged to get directly in touch if they have an issue or want to share feedback. We have Town Halls and ‘Ask me anything meetings’ in the same spirit.

Leaders are unlocking talent and supporting their teams to build their careers by taking a consistent approach across the organisation to ensure fairness and support mobility; incorporating a new talent review process that aligns targeted development to skill and capability requirements. Our future leaders are supported with a 12 month, tailored development programme that includes multiple touchpoints for getting feedback and learning from experts.’ 

Ranking #20

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Al Jazeera Media Network has created a purpose driven culture with strong leadership. The result? 100% staff retention rate in 2022.

‘The purpose of Al Jazeera Media Network is to inform and empower people with accurate and in-depth content that upholds the value of truth, elevates the human spirit and maintains integrity and respect.

Al Jazeera’s vision, mission and values are communicated to employees through all internal channels, linking to strategic objectives, which reflect in every leader’s decisions. Al Jazeera ensures having a purpose-driven culture, having all employees know that their job is important, and understand that they make Al Jazeera different from other news outlets. As the work culture rallies behind a shared purpose, that purpose is reflected from the inside-out to the viewers. That is, a purpose-driven culture – proving to all; customers, employees, suppliers and communities that Al Jazeera is what they see it is. Al Jazeera earned its brand credibility and customers’ loyalty through hard work and dedication of its leaders and content creators.’

The direct impact of our leaders exhibiting influence and skill is reflected on several aspects, employee retention being one of the most important one. In the last 3 years (2019-2021), Network’s retention rate is at 96.5%. Current retention rate for 2022 is 100%.’

Ranking #21

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
SupportYourApp place emphasis on the importance of collaboration through effective communication.

‘Communication at SupportYourApp is part of a general culture of openness. Its best example is the implementation of the People Experience Manager position. Our consultants and the members of the management team can turn to them to:

1. Talk about their experiences at work.
2. Share their thoughts on their working processes and offer the ways to improve them.
3. Resolve possible roadblocks.
4. Provide honest feedback about their work.

The talk with the People Experience Manager is first scheduled when the consultant reaches 1 month in the company. This allows them to meet in person and get to know each other. When consultants reach 4 and 9 months in the company, they receive an email from the Manager, asking how’s everything going. These emails contain a link to the Manager’s calendar, which they can use to schedule a meeting if needed.

Communication is the key to efficient collaboration. That is why the entire team of SupportYourApp puts so much emphasis on it.’

Ranking #22

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Career satisfaction, flexible working and office perks – three key components to a healthy employee experience that ICS-Digital have mastered.

‘While many marketing agencies purposefully build an intense, relentless culture with Mad Men-style drama and personality clashes, ICS has always stood apart with growth based on positive word-of-mouth and an ability to deliver that comes from high staff retention, team trust and continuous learning. 

Team wellbeing is heavily and meaningfully invested in with a variety of formal and informal initiatives to support team members both professionally and personally.

One of our most important team consultations was during the pandemic.

During this time managers made a concerted effort to check in with each team member and discuss their situation, identifying how to support them as an individual – and the requirements varied very widely.

This resulted in the allocation of a flexible budget to support hybrid working based around team needs – a truly individual response to a challenging time.

In everyday terms, there are a range of positive initiatives from office breakfasts, Perkbox, prize giveaways and socials, through to coming together for charitable giving and events.

These initiatives add up to a friendly, supportive environment where wellbeing is a living, breathing priority.’ 

Ranking #23

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Government Business Services have created a portal to success – empowering people with technology for better wellbeing.

‘The creation of a Government Business Services (GBS) Wellbeing Group, where the group takes over the staff newsletter routinely, was the springboard for lots of ongoing wellbeing support. They feature regular updates in internal channels and host bespoke sessions led by staff for staff. The Group created a newsletter and hosted roundtable conversations to unearth key issues, which are flagged and resolved. In support of this, we brought in external speakers, inspiring speakers in senior positions from across government and showcased the wellbeing support. We collated all wellbeing offers into one place in a bespoke wellbeing space on our GBS Information Portal. A wellbeing question was incorporated into the annual People and Pulse surveys, and wellbeing checks were introduced by line managers as standard which compliment existing one-to-ones and team meetings.

At away days, staff representatives share the latest on wellbeing, encourage staff to join upcoming initiatives and seek feedback on what’s important to them.’

Ranking #24

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
For Rackspace Technology, Contribution + Purpose = Employee Engagement.

‘To help Rackers realize their own inspiring missions, we invest in Racker careers and growth through robust, comprehensive technical certification programs. We encourage Rackers to invest at least 52 hours every year on intentional growth and learning. We focus the third Thursday of every month on innovation, inviting Rackers to spend time away from meetings to explore new, creative approaches to work and customer problems. We give Rackers at least 40 hours of paid time off per year to invest in community organizations and causes they care about

These efforts are recognized and appreciated by Rackers, as Rackers’ understanding of how their work contributes to achieving Rackspace Technology’s goals (Contribution) and belief that the work they do is meaningful (Purpose) both scored in the top five categories on our most recent Employee Engagement survey.’ 

Ranking #25

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
With an emphasis on personal development and top down inclusivity, Cartwright Communications are energising their customer experience.

‘Our company was founded by a woman and is proudly women run and owned, with one of our directors appointed to the position of director while she was expecting her second child and about to go on maternity leave in 2022.

To date, 78% of our team are female and 22% male, representing LGBTQ+, parents, and staff between the ages of 18-50+, including a brand- new PR apprentice role that was created in 2021.

Our office is gender neutral and all facilities are shared to be inclusive of all, irrespective of identity, sexual orientation, religion, belief or age. We are proud to celebrate our team and encourage them to be who they are and respect their choices. This includes catering for different dietary requirements and providing company paid plant-based milks suitable for vegans.

To ensure we are fostering an inclusive workplace and continuing to improve, a new Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (EDI) panel and specialist EDI trainer is now working with Cartwright. Through this, we will be providing diversity training to ensure that our team can understand and use the correct inclusive language and remove unconscious bias from our work and decision making.’ 

Ranking #26

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Corndel take a forward facing approach to creating engagement opportunities and building healthy relationships to strengthen its community.

‘Corndel have supported the health and wellbeing of staff since its beginnings, and we recognise it is vital to maintain that focus. We are introducing a new health and wellness strategy in 2022, based on an evidence-based approach, which will support the key themes of community and connectivity, engagement and building healthy relationships, so that our people can thrive at work and achieve the right balance to perform at their best. Some initiatives include:

– Corndel’s new enhanced employee assistance programme is a confidential employee benefit designed to help staff deal with personal and professional problems that could be affecting their health and general wellbeing.

– Launch of an employee Geomap to allow the team to meet colleagues close by and form a sense of connection and community.

A virtual coffee service – employees are paired each month with someone they don’t normally work with so that they can spend 30 mins remotely catching up over a virtual coffee and share experiences and interests to support building relationships.’

Ranking #26

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Anthony Nolan Facilitate community and social wellbeing through inspiring leadership and tech.

‘We’re an organisation whose purpose is about saving lives and many of our people have a close, often direct, personal and emotional connection to our cause. While many organisations may have come to the importance of wellbeing as a result of the pandemic, for Anthony Nolan it’s always been at the core of how we care for colleagues.

Through our work over the last couple of years, wellbeing is part of the stories we tell – from our senior leaders reflections on the challenges they are experience and the steps they take to manage this, to deeply personal stories our colleagues have shared about the support and services they’ve used to navigate the most challenging times. Communicating our vulnerability has brought us together and created a space where people can be open about the wellbeing challenges they face, so it’s no longer a taboo conversation.

Our monthly communications prompt teams to share their experience, and we have a well-established Teams channel which not only gives us a living repository of information and resources, but has become a dedicated channel to share tips, and more powerfully give colleagues a space to talk about what’s going on in their own world, in their own words. Whilst we can’t always be together in person we can utilise Tech in new ways to build human connections that are so important to our social wellbeing.’

Ranking #27

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
TaskUs cultivate a the synchronous relationship between innovation and personal connection.

Our founders, high school friends Bryce Maddock and Jaspar Weir, started TaskUs with the idea of creating a different breed of BPO. In 2008, the two brought their life savings to the Philippines to start a small company with only five employees operating in a one-room office space south of Manila. Throughout that experience, our founders saw the importance of building a personal connection with the entire team to come up with innovative solutions that bring value to clients.

Now as a global company with operations in 23 locations in 10 countries as of December 31, 2021, TaskUs maintains the same spirit of collaboration and innovation that we developed during our startup days. True to our core value, “Teamwork Makes the Dream Work,” our leaders ensure that our work environment promotes participation and communication through regular meetings that ask for honest feedback and suggestions. This includes group and one-on-one meetings, team huddles, town hall sessions, and quarterly employee surveys that directly address work concerns.

Our leaders have always been within reach. Through our open-door policy, our employees can simply send a message to our leadership to share their ideas on how to create a more productive, inclusive, and inspiring work environment.’

Ranking #28

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
‘By tailoring employee benefits to the specific needs of their workforce demographic – RAKT reduced absenteeism by 34% AND achieved a 60% increase in employee retention.

Previously workplace benefits were skewed towards employees who were married with children, but with a team composed of a millennial leadership and a largely Gen Z workforce we realised the need to tailor workplace benefits according to specific needs. 

These packages are divided into different categories, including ‘development,’ which provides for school or university fees; coaching and training; ‘insurance,’ which covers car and veterinary bills and dependant medical costs; ‘wellness,’ which offers gym memberships, personal trainer expenses, meal schemes and hotel stays; ‘lifestyle,’ which gives dependant visas, petrol allowance and flight upgrades; and ‘remote work,’ which covers Internet use, workstations, and data roaming packages. This new policy has helped RAKTDA attract talent of all ages and experiences while achieving optimal cost efficiencies. It also cemented RAKTDA’s reputation as an ‘employer of choice’, delivering a high level of employee satisfaction.

Our new initiatives have paid astonishing dividends. We have seen a 34% reduction in staff sick leave from the previous year, and a 60% improvement in our retention. We have been nominated as Happiest Government Entity in Ras Al Khaimah – up from 12th position in 2021

Most important of all, we have a workforce composed of happy, optimistic and highly motivated individuals who come together as a highly effective team’

Ranking #28

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
The Enfuse Group are committed to agile practices – with subsequent solid results.

‘Being a very small company, we communicate all the time and consider ourselves a family. All of our employees have full access to our founders and directors daily so it is very easy to talk about our purpose and values on a regular basis. 

In addition to the chat in Teams, we hold a daily stand up meeting. It isn’t mandatory that you attend, which allows the flexibility everyone needs but for those on the call, they go through their win from yesterday and what they are looking forward to today. It is an important opportunity to see each other face to face, to find out more about what is going on in the company and just to say hi.

To share knowledge and ideas, we hold regular lunch and learns where our team can share their expertise on a particular subject matter, share lessons learned about projects or just talk about something they are passionate about, this is so useful for everyone, but particularly more junior members of the team.

The constant, open, internal communication means that leaders can quickly react to ideas and suggestions, most actioned in the same day. Aside from the knowledge and expertise we have, being adaptable, flexible and agile is one of the most important factors in the success of our business.’

Ranking #29

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Claritas Tax Limited are an innovative organisation making bold choices to support the growth and development of their people – with a great coaching vs. appraisal approach.

‘At Claritas, our working relationship with one another is fundamental in the way we perform. Our leaders set the tone to trust, support and empower our staff to make decisions that grow the business, and our team trusts each other, which supports a fun and productive work atmosphere. “My confidence was always boosted when I asked for help. It showed me that the senior team didn’t feel like they were too important for my questions, which made me feel valued and appreciated” – Elliot Morrell, Claritas Tax Manager.

Along with trust comes transparency and openness; we encourage honest feedback from staff and our leadership team does not operate behind closed doors. The pandemic has transformed our ability to engage. With the rise of virtual working, communication was essential, allowing our staff to contribute from anywhere, without the need to be in the same location. Our employee surveys, group huddles and focus groups enable everyone to shape our future of work. 

This shared vision brings a real sense of ownership to our workplace, and everyone is invested in the success of the business beyond growing revenue and profits. This culture gives our employees the freedom and flexibility that they need to get the job done and provides plenty of learning and training opportunities to progress their careers.’

Ranking #30

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
With an ‘inclusion infusion’ team ensuring no blind spots remain within their workplace culture – Cielo are making meaningful, mindful efforts in supporting their colleagues.

‘People need to have a sense of belonging at work as it is important to their mental and physical wellbeing. The reason we have discussions, groups and dedicated months is vital to the inclusive culture of Cielo. As humans we need to connect with one another to feel valued and included; employees at Cielo are encouraged to connect via our Yammer groups, Inclusion Infusion discussions, during meetings and other engagement activities both virtually and in person. Our dedicated ‘Inclusivity’ Month takes place in December where our focus is to actively learn about others lived experiences and champion inclusive workplace behaviours to support colleagues of different minority groups. For our 2021 agenda, our Inclusion Infusion team hosted a ‘Looking at Blind Spots’ panel discussion where a group of volunteers across Cielo shared their experiences in the hope that it would raise awareness on hidden blind spots and unconscious bias, allowing us to be more mindful of the impacts our actions and words have on others. Alongside this discussion, we encouraged teams to take this conversation to their team and client meetings to continue the dialogue and learn more together’

Ranking #31

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
EduMe understands that ‘employee success equals company success’ and achieves this with a happy, healthy and engaged culture.

‘Our mission as a company is to give people access to the information they need, whenever and wherever they need it. We give people a voice, and empower them to perform at their best. Our vision, therefore, is to deliver Workforce Success through empowered and motivated people, which results in clear customer value creation. This is our passion, and the company’s north star, all decisions are made on whether we are getting closer to this aim.

This vision extends beyond our product and is at the heart of how we run our business. At EduMe, employee success equals company success, and we achieve the best results by truly investing in our people. We ensure that everyone at EduMe is happy, healthy and engaged – people are at the heart of our business, and our continued success is a group effort that can only be achieved if we’re empowering our people to perform at their best.

As we are scaling rapidly it is important that our mission is reinforced through hiring, onboarding, ongoing training, and monthly all-hands meetings. This creates the right balance of light touch, top-down control and bottom-up, fast paced innovation, development and growth. Iterative changes are metric driven, and business intelligence and data visualisation ensure that everyone can access and understand the drivers of change.’

Ranking #32

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
“Dream big, take challenges and never give up.”

‘We not only recognise the power we have in helping to create a healthier nation, but we also put this into practise ourselves. We continue to work together to promote health and wellbeing by inspiring, educating and enabling our people to be their best. We do this through: 

Our internal “Best You” portal provides easy access to all the resources our colleagues need for physical and mental wellbeing.

Managers are trained in mental health at work through Mind’s e-learning programme and we have launched our employee wellbeing training this year so we can encourage open and transparent conversations on mental health

This year we are looking to train 32 Mental Health first aiders (through MHFA England) and look at rolling out resilience training for our leaders

Friday afternoons are a no meeting zone/option and we have a daily “healthier hour” where everyone steps away from their emails over lunch.

On site gym at our factory supporting shift-based employees with an onsite instructor, providing classes and one-to-one support and a subsided membership 

(Re)connect Days gifted to employees to recognise the hard work our people provide us with and to spend time with friends and family. This included three extra day’s holidays over the Christmas break.

Free London Marathon places, with training support from our brand teams who develop training plans for every runner.’

Ranking #33

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Cornerstone has embedded a thriving learning culture that runs through the entire business.

‘Now more than ever, employees expect to be empowered and engaged at work. Cornerstone helps organisations unite people growth with business success to create work environments that inspire productivity and success. Our purpose has always been to empower people to be their most extraordinary – at work and in the world. Building a culture and employee experience grounded on potential over performance means that we are bringing out the best in our people and encouraging everyone to bring their authentic self to work. 

We believe that each one of our employees – or Cornerstars (as we like to call them) – can achieve success, realise their potential, and be empowered to take the reins on their own career through development and growth opportunities. While we are a global organisation, we view ourselves as a diverse group of individuals who collectively come together to learn from each other while also making lifelong friends.  

Instead of focusing solely on performance as a metric for success for our people, Cornerstone concentrates on employee potential. We do this by reimagining the traditional ways of working and focusing on each Cornerstars’ individual development journey. With employee potential as our north star, we offer our people new opportunities that excite and motivate them, not just those that fit within their current skill set or job role. This allows us to build our people, connect with each other, and grow together.’

Ranking #34

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Serve & Protect Credit Union deliver Innovative ways of empowering employees and developing learning opportunities to shape the future of their organisation and all within.

‘Our people are encouraged by their leaders to take advantage of opportunities to develop themselves. When taking part in the Great Place to Work survey, 100% of our people also agreed with the statement that they are offered training and development to further themselves professionally. Below are a few examples of how we have achieved this: 

CU Futures is a 12 months’ personal development programme that offers formal learning with an accredited qualification. Part of the programme involves a team project challenge that requires participants to present an idea that they have researched and worked on together.

ABCUL’s Young Professionals Network was designed to act as a method to develop and retain young leaders in the credit union sector within the UK. It offers them a way to connect with each other to share ideas and to learn. 

The Credit Union Development Education Europe programme – Since 2004, we have provided financial support to several of our employees to get involved in this programme as an aid to their personal development. 

World Council of Credit Unions – We have funded employees to attend this overseas conference, which has taken place in Australia, United States, the Caribbean, and Europe. 

We have employees that have also achieved professional qualifications in marketing, finance and business administration all of which has been fully supported by the Company, financially.’

Overall ranking: #35

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Breaking a remaking their workplace culture – R/GA are on track to creating a fully open and inclusive workplace.

‘In 2021, R/GA entered a new era fully living up to our purpose: “Designing businesses and brands for a more human future” – including our own.

R/GA’s human-centred and future-forward approach is unmatched in the industry, making us stand apart as a partner uniquely capable of helping clients navigate a flood of continual challenges, while making the most of emerging opportunities.

And this purpose has enabled the breaking and remaking of our company culture, to make R/GA a place in which everyone can succeed, regardless of race or ethnicity. It enables us to listen; to research; and to look for opportunities and behaviours that would give us the best chance of success, making sure to bring our people on the journey with us. As part of this we published our EDI strategy, titled Make / Change, here, in case other companies wanted to use it to accelerate their own path towards an anti-racist culture. It’s a strategy and not a success story, as we know that we have a lot of work still to do.’

Overall ranking: #36

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
With a three pillars strategy: Inclusive culture, leadership and practices, Bupa has built an allyship to ensure all employees feel psychologically safe and a strong sense of belonging.

‘Our ‘Everyone’s Welcome’ and ‘Be You at Bupa’ pledge was launched in September 2018 and is displayed at the entrances of all our workplaces, reminding colleagues of our inclusive culture and encouraging them to bring their whole selves to work. Bupa doesn’t just support diversity – it’s something that we proactively celebrate at all levels and all areas. We want everyone to embrace the similarities and differences of all our colleagues and work together to create an inclusive culture.

Our inclusion strategy spans three pillars:

1. Inclusive Culture: here we focus on creating and supporting our employee inclusion network and on raising awareness and building allyship. We do this through regular bite size sessions and external guest speakers
2. Inclusive Leadership: In 2021 we launched our mandatory development programme for our people managers. ‘Bupa Belong’ ensures our managers have the skills to build an inclusive workplace for their people, our ‘Bupa Include’ reverse mentoring and sponsorship programme matches leaders with colleagues from under-represented backgrounds to support their career development (perhaps into leadership roles) and create allyship within our leadership teams.
3. Inclusive Practices: Since 2019 we have been reviewing and refreshing our recruitment practices to mitigate bias, support diversity and create career opportunities for all. In 2021 we set aspirational targets to improve representation of gender and ethnicity in senior roles. We’ve also reviewed our people policies to embed inclusive language.’

Overall ranking: #37

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Swift-ly progressing gender equality with bespoke conferences and scholarship programs.

‘At SWIFT, we foster a culture where people of all backgrounds can feel confident to bring their whole selves to work, feel included and know that their unique talents and viewpoints are respected and supported. 

We are working to attract, develop and retain women at all levels within SWIFT. One third of our Executive Committee are women, and we are committed to increasing the number of women in leadership positions within the company. We have KPIs on this at company level, which are cascaded through our divisions, it is also identified as a priority for the company in 2022.

SWIFT is also committed to improving gender diversity in the financial sector more broadly. For instance, at our flagship event, Sibos, which brings together more than 10,000 financial industry representatives and is closely followed by our employees, we put diversity high on the agenda, setting expectations of, and achieving, gender and ethnically diverse panels – 40% of speakers at Sibos 2021 were female. We delivered a high profile debate with industry experts and 3 panel discussions on gender diversity in the financial industry. We also regularly convene a women’s networking event, Women of Sibos. We also launched the STAR Scholarship scheme in 2019 to support the development of women from leading financial institutions around the world into senior leadership positions. This year 25 women took part in the programme from countries.’

Overall ranking: #38

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
HSPG have instilled a strong culture, with values and purposeful leadership to empower their team.

‘This purpose is put at the very heart of HSPG’s culture through the implementation of core behaviours, such as showing enthusiasm and challenging the norm, which every team member embodies.

Rather than typical job descriptions, HSPG produces role manifestos which embody these core behaviours and provide key metrics to monitor each team member’s development. This ensures that HSPG’s culture is at the forefront of every employee’s work from the very moment they join HSPG.

By putting culture at the centre of its recruitment and development process, HSPG is able to build a team which is truly committed to its vital mission. For example, at HSPG, a house is more than just ‘bricks and mortar’, it truly has the capability to offer a route out of poverty and the team is committed to delivering this wider impact to local communities.

The whole team is fully committed to HSPG’s impact driven purpose by participating in regular charity events, such as a recent bake-off in aid of the charity GROW, and through volunteering their services and skills to local communities.

It is this complete dedication to delivering a wider impact across a community, even beyond the work that HSPG does, which highlights how the entire team lives and breathes HSPGs purpose of supporting the most vulnerable members of our community in any way possible.’

Overall ranking: #39

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
From starting in a bedroom 10 years ago, to a massive new HQ, with 200 partners, they are clearly built on the drive of its founders and their investment in their staff.

‘Every single person at Superior Wellness is inspiring in their own individual way. Rob Carlin, Managing Director, and Gareth Ward, Sales Director, who are both brothers, are particularly inspiring to the whole workforce. 

Rob founded the company 10 years ago from his bedroom, and since then it has gone from strength to strength, with Gareth being a key part of this growth. In 2021 we moved into our new 130,000 sq. ft HQ with a new office, warehouse (holding up to 3,000 hot tubs) and the largest hot tub showroom in the UK. With a network of 200 plus partners in 16 countries globally, sales have grown by 400% in the last 12 months. The team has also grown from 30 to 70 to support the demand and strive towards Rob’s vision. This has all been achieved during a time of uncertainty. 

Despite the sheer growth the company has experienced, both Rob and Gareth have remained truly dedicated to the purpose; placing the wellness of the team at the forefront of their minds. No matter how much the company may grow, Rob and Gareth are focused on maintaining a transparent and close-knit family culture.’

Overall ranking: #39

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Achieving their vision and mission with a ‘Nimble’ hybrid model and openness that starts at the top.

‘The world of work has changed, however our approach has always, and will always, be biassed towards communication and collaboration to ensure everyone knows how their input helps us achieve our Vision and Mission.  

Regardless of location, we provide our team with the right tools, resources, and environment to work faster, smarter, and better. We encourage our team to constantly review the way in which we interact, be that physical or digital, allowing for a “Nimble” hybrid working model. 

Our quarterly engagement surveys form a large part of how the People team drive our initiatives and ensure that the work that we do is making positive impacts for the team. We are able to identify the key points of focus for each quarter and we regularly hold People Open Hours to open those topics for feedback. All of our processes are open for improvements and the team regularly engage at both the testing, training and feedback stages. 

We encourage open communication for all our teams to any member of the executive leadership team. To facilitate this, we recently had great success by opening slots in our CEO and Founder’s diary for any member of the team to reach out on any questions or concerns they might have. This has resulted in greater buy-in from leadership and allows our team to upward manage their projects and drive forward innovation and improvements at Adarga.’

Overall ranking: #40

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
A progressive organisation with a firm focus on the voice of its people – with benefits extending to their families.

‘At N-iX, we build a supportive environment for professionals to grow, implement their ideas, and try out their potential. CEO at N-iX, Andrew Pavliv, always reminds in his speeches and personal communication with N-iX people: “Freedom is our value, a freedom to create. This company is built by developers, for developers.” And we are constantly improving opportunities and tools to make it real. 

One of the tools that help N-iX gather ideas and let our people feel empowered to influence the company is Idea-bot. Idea-bot is a platform where everyone can share anу ideas that could make a company a better and more empowering place to work. At the end of the predefined period, we collect all the ideas and N-iX Management Team reviews them. Our people vote for the ones they like the most, and the company will implement the winning idea as soon as possible. Last year it was a Mountain Residence – a hotel in the mountains booked only for N-iX professionals and their families with perfect conditions to work and relax in the middle of the beautiful Carpathian Mountains near the pool. N-iX arranged workspaces and meeting rooms, took care of Wi-Fi and equipment. During the summer, 380 N-iXers visited N-iX Mountain Residence at least once.’

Overall ranking: #41

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
With leaders that are educated and empowered to support mental health issues and nurture the talent of their teams, Aspectus Group is an organisation in which people thrive and feel proud to work.

‘Our leaders inspire the team through open and honest dialogue that ensures every Aspectee feels valued and listened to. For example, our MD regularly speaks about their own mental health to encourage open conversation. We are proud that our leadership is 70% female which matches the gender makeup of our business. Our regular Hi-Jack sessions and Route Checks allow for inspiring conversations and acknowledgement of outstanding work each week.

Line managers are Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) trained; they’re empowered to make decisions to address mental health issues and can sign-off time for extenuating circumstances. Our MD for People is specifically assigned to support difficult situations. If workload becomes an issue or clients are over-demanding, line managers will speak with the client to resolve the issue.

Ensuring that Aspectees talent is nurtured, and Aspectus can be a place of growth for all our individuals, is evidenced by the fact that 30% of the senior leadership team started as interns and 30% of Aspectees have been here between 5-10 years. We are very proud to say that our retention rate is 133%.’

Overall ranking: #42

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Addressing the need for a positive employee experience with a great approach to the hybrid model.

‘PMI is acutely aware of the importance of focusing on the employee experience, and our commitments to our employees are every bit as ambitious as our commitments to society. We are evolving not only how we work but what it feels like to work here, creating an environment that is both employee-focused and consumer-obsessed.

Smart Work is our new, forward-looking hybrid model that gives employees the option to choose a combination of remote and office-based work, underpinning our commitment to build a more inclusive, caring, and people-centred company culture that supports the different needs and preferences of employees, and offers greater flexibility over when and where work gets done.

We believe better performance management also has the power to make us a better business, and a better workplace—as it means more fulfilling careers, more satisfied employees, and stronger results. In 2021, we introduced MyPerformance, a new performance management approach that responds to employees’ needs for performance management and more regular feedback, and supports continuous learning and career development.’

Overall ranking: #43

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
From the top down, BITE Lietuva’s leadership model inspires employee engagement and professional growth.

‘82% of our employees rate the company’s leadership as engaging, according to our latest employee engagement survey (Kincentric, 2021).

49% of our managers were promoted from lower positions, which inspires other employees to also grow and rise through the ranks.

The company’s CEO, Pranas Kuisys, visits all of Lithuania’s cities and the employees there every year. This tradition makes employees feel important and connected to their CEO. It shows the CEO is down to earth and tries to maintain a personal relationship even with employees in the most remote cities.

Our mentor program is an original way for leaders to share experience and help others grow. Based on interests and specific traits, we match employees who register to be mentors (acting as a teacher, coach, leader/guide, counsellor, role model, partner and/or friend) with those who register to be mentees – less experienced persons keen to develop as professionals, in their current area or a new one, and/or personally.

In the BITĖ talents program, each participant’s mentor is a top (C-level) supervisor. Participants of this program help implement projects that are important for the company under the supervision and guidance of area managers. This year, every BITES manager or their right-hand man could join projects that aim to strengthen the priority areas from the Engagement Survey, contribute their ideas, and help lead organisation-wide change.’

Overall ranking: #44

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Accolite Digital has developed a team of world class technologists with an open people strategy at the core of its culture.

‘At Accolite Digital, our purpose is to solve real-world complex digital challenges with an innovative design thinking approach. As a best-in-class digital transformation services provider, we work with Fortune 500 clients to simplify their digital journeys and guide them from vision to reality so that they can respond to disruptive technologies and stay ahead of the curve.

To achieve this purpose, we have built our DNA on a strong foundation of five core values: driving customer success, doing the right thing, being an entrepreneur, creating a happy and healthy workplace, and winning together. As an organisation, our culture is about openness, inclusion, and the willingness to take on the toughest challenges while doing the right thing — so that we can achieve extraordinary results together. We are a growing team of world-class technologists passionate about helping our clients solve their most pressing technology challenges.

Our people are at the heart of our business. Building a diverse work environment that empowers our employees to pursue their careers while balancing their personal and professional goals is at the core of our people strategy. Fostering a culture where every voice is heard affirms our role as an Employer of Choice.’

Overall ranking: #44

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Wolseley’s ‘health and wellbeing challenge’ ensures they are an organisation on the ascendancy with solid values and outcomes.

‘Employee wellbeing remains a key area of focus, and we have a number of schemes and initiatives that promote positive physical health and mental wellbeing. For example, our 12-week Wolseley Health & Wellbeing Challenge is available three times a year to all employees. It explores five pillars of wellbeing, which are: nutrition, exercise, stress management, sleep and positive psychology.

The challenge includes a number of behavioural change techniques (BCT) to help maximise its impact, make the programme fun and encourage participants to build long-term, healthy habits.

Additionally, a number of prize-draws and awards are provided to incentivise participation in the challenge. A £50 gift experience voucher prize is provided to each group in weeks three and seven, with a final prize of £250 up for grabs at the end of the programme.

We also have a network of Mental Health First Aiders and Champions stationed across the business to assist any employees suffering from poor mental health in need of support. In addition, all managers are set to complete a mandatory mental health awareness course in spring/summer 2022. As part of their training, they will be reminded of all the mental health and wellbeing tools available to them and their respective teams, with an education piece to explain how these combine to promote better overall wellbeing.’

Overall ranking: #45

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Playing to their strengths, Moneyhub leverage their financial expertise to improve the wellbeing of their people.

‘Moneyhub employees are empowered to balance their work around their lives. The business enables employees to do the work when and where they can – even before Covid. Even if this means working remotely from Mexico two weeks of the year! Moneyhub’s mission statement is all about improving financial wellness, and that starts in the office with a focus on employee wellbeing and happiness.

In addition, the Moneyhub Development allowance means the individuals are empowered to learn and develop how they want, and focus on areas they want to improve in their own careers. Every employee is given 2 days for personal development time and a growth fund of £750 to spend as they wish. Employees are free to use this to attend training on a certain aspect of their job, or perhaps go to a conference or even read a book that could be beneficial. The individual is empowered to spend the fund as they see fit.’

Overall ranking: #46

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
RSK’s leaders play a pivotal role in raising the morale of their people.

‘RSK values open communication and dialogue between its leadership team and employees. The leadership team desires to stay as connected as possible to the workforce, thereby avoiding a rigid hierarchy. Alan regularly emails all employees to provide business updates, offer opportunities and ask for input on new initiatives or employee requirements. This engagement is complemented by input through our network of employee committees, corporate responsibility and sustainability representatives, and wellbeing and diversity champions. During the pandemic, email updates from senior leadership and virtual events played key roles in maintaining staff morale while homeworking, and wellbeing surveys helped to gauge ongoing employee requirements and enable appropriate responses. 

We encourage employee progression into leadership roles. Alongside our wider online learning and development offering, we have a dedicated leadership development programme aligned to the Chartered Management Institute professional competencies. Since its launch in October 2021, more than 30 individuals have completed the training. We are also investing in our employees through a dedicated RSK training and conference facility for leadership strategy sessions, new starter onboarding and in-depth courses.’

Overall ranking: #46

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
MMSearch go the extra mile with an all-encompassing, holistic approach to client and candidate care.

‘Personality is at the heart of what we do, we are, of course, people specialists, and as recruiters, we need to be able to ‘read the room’ and know what is best for both our candidates and our clients. People are arguably the most crucial part of every business, and we are passionate about helping our clients select the right people. We partner with our clients and take an all-around holistic approach.

After almost a year into lockdown, health and wellbeing in the workplace were brought to the forefront and proved to be more critical than ever – not least because we were all ‘living at work’ and not merely ‘working from home’. At MM Search, we take our mental health seriously; our team is our superpower; if we don’t look after us, we can’t support our clients to best of our ability.

During this past year, we have been reflecting on our learnings from our sessions with health and wellbeing consultant Melanie Higginbotham more than ever. As a trained kinesiology therapist, Mel has encouraged the whole team at MM Search to look after their wellbeing, from simple things like the importance of hydration to separating the blurred lines of ‘living at work’ and how we need to be more in the moment to get the best out of ourselves during an unsettling time.’

Overall ranking: #47

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Straightin have achieved impressive growth and nurtured the careers of its team with a successful apprenticeships program.

‘In October 2020, we had five employees. Since then, we’ve experienced explosive growth (with zero investment), and hiring at a sufficient pace to keep up with demand has proved challenging. Fast-forward to January 2022; we’re a team of 36, split across our Manchester and Chicago offices.

We’ve got a strong apprenticeship programme, with many of our now account managers joining as apprentices – kick-starting their career by developing real-life business skills in a fast-growing agency. Providing opportunities for people without industry experience has always been key for us, with comprehensive and hands-on training, meaning we’re best placed to offer people an excellent start in a rewarding and long-term career.

There are individuals working across four departments that have developed as we grew, including sales, operations (the people who deliver our client campaigns), marketing and finance teams. The majority of our earliest employees since 2019 have developed and are now experts with senior/management responsibilities.’

Overall ranking: #48

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
eStar Truck & Van transformed a despondent team and failing business into a five star operational with a firm focus on leadership and the values of its people.

‘eStar inherited a team that was badly treated by the former management, immersed in a culture of secrecy, lack of visibility, and clear ‘favourites’, including an enforced pay cut for the staff members, despite working as hard as they were in the dreadful circumstances they faced.

No investment was made in their buildings or equipment, and if any department complained about workload, the solution was simply to hire more people, rather than look at the processes (or lack of), which resulted in poor training, unclear roles and responsibilities, and a culture of the blind leading the blind.

The implementation of a new Senior Leadership Team and Board has had a major impact on the business. This group has more than 312 years of Mercedes-Benz experience and a total of 525 years of industry experience, which is unrivalled.

The result is that the business went from a £17m loss in 2020 under the former company, to a £1.12m profit in 2021 under eStar. A huge turnaround and one which every team member feels part of and can identify the role they played to help achieve it.

We have also seen customer complaints drop by an average of 50%, and our five star reviews on Google have uplifted by more than 35%, which proves that by looking after our team, they feel more empowered to look after their customers.’

Overall ranking: #49

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
Couchbase are making tomorrow better than today through engagement and a employee reward system that empowers their people to choose how they use their perks.

‘The variety of programs and total rewards we offer our employees to increase engagement is built centrally and executed on locally. We understand there are differences between our employees based on where they work and live and leverage team members to ensure we are delivering the right experiences and providing the best options. For example, we provide a Divvy card with funds added monthly and can be used for a variety of things from gym membership to fertility treatments to home air conditioning or donating the money to charity.

During our Culture Month events we launched a step challenge to encourage team building, community and wellness with 105 employees from 10 countries participating. They were put into cross-functional, multi-location teams which increased engagement and built new relationships across the company. The winners received some cool prizes including a 1:1 with the executive staff member of their choice.

All of the amazing work done by our teams are highlighted in our talent strategy and leveraged for recruiting, hiring and onboarding. When someone joins us, they know they are about to embark on their own Couchbase journey and understand their potential. We also continuously are evaluating all of our offerings to make them better over time and ensure we are delivering for our employees. Make Tomorrow Better Than Today, Start Now!’

Overall ranking: #50

A small insight into this Inspiring Workplace…
The Red Sea Development Company foster community for better wellbeing and optimal health for their employee’s.

‘TRSDC has a dedicated corporate wellness program, HAYAH (Arabic word meaning life), that equips employees with the tools and knowledge to achieve their personal wellness goals. Through targeted programs we elevate the wellbeing of all of our employees and embed a culture of wellbeing throughout the organisation.

We recognize that a core foundation of wellbeing is mental and emotional health, therefore we encourage our employees to seek help when needed. We have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) available 24/7, 365 days a year, and also a team of Mental Health First Aiders available as an added resource within the workplace to support colleagues and help remove the stigma surrounding mental health. In addition, we offer all colleagues a free subscription to Calm. We encourage our employees to move throughout the day with initiatives such as our Monday Mile, where colleagues are invited to walk a mile during the working day to re-energise. To support our wellbeing initiatives, we have a network of Wellness Champions who are employee volunteers with a passion for wellbeing who act as ambassadors and role models for wellbeing throughout the organisation.

On an individual level, employees regularly report that they have been inspired to make changes to their wellbeing as a result of the corporate wellness program. We feature inspirational employee wellbeing stories in our internal communications so that colleagues who are based in different locations have the opportunity to learn from colleagues they might otherwise never meet. Our corporate wellness program ensures we view everything through the lens of wellbeing to maintain a high-performance culture whilst ensuring optimal health and wellbeing for all our employees.’