Engagement tips from 14 of the best workplaces

What are the very best workplaces doing and how can you learn from their ideas?
If you’ve debated hiring a mole to infiltrate the best in the business, relax and get ride of that spy mac. We’ve luckily got hold of the brand new ‘Great Place to Work’ report – the coveted report that lists the big guns when it comes to the businesses who are punching well above the weight of the sector norms in great employee engagement, learning, training and development.

Part of the report from the Great Place to Work® is the area that measures the trust in an organisation
through its Trust Index© employee survey. Here are the results and some of the examples of the elite leaders in this area!

1. Marshall Motor Holdings- The company’s ‘Code of Business Ethics’ booklet includes an easy-to-use ‘decision tree’ to help colleagues decide what is the best course of action to take when faced with a difficult situation.
2. Thinkbda- a bespoke year-long programme for each employee to take long-term ownership of one of the company’s corporate values.Each employee also has this value printed on the back of their business cards.
3. Cadence Design Systems- Cadence conducts ‘stay interviews’ to gain insight into how employees are finding life at the organisation. Employees have the opportunity to express what keeps them at Cadence and identify any concerns or issues that might prompt
   them to leave.
4. Hilton Worldwide -The company makes the most of social media, with leaders and employees not
   using computers all day, staying connected via Skype, Google Hangouts, Facebook, instant messaging and texting. Podcasts and their scripts (which can be translated
   into more than 40 languages) are used to communicate about a variety of topics.
5. AbbVie- Leaders run three sales conferences a year. These allow both remote-working
   and customer-facing employees to have face-to-face sessions with colleagues and
   senior leaders
6. R.Twinings & Company Limited- Each employee is allocated a ‘house group’– a collaborative initiative led by employees. They can earn points for their house group through activities all year round, including charity events, winning values awards and referring friends for employment.
7. Hilton Worldwide- The annual ‘team member appreciation week’ is designed as a thank you to all employees from the President and CEO. A variety of customisable recognition tools, best practices and e-cards in multiple languages are made available and all hotels and corporate locations have a schedule of activities, competitions, treats and events.
8. Mars UK- The Coffee Connections initiative randomly pairs two people to have a coffee together in the office to build a connection and encourage camaraderie.
9. Hyatt Hotels Corporation -As part of ‘celebrating our people’ week, hotel managers thank their staff each day in different and unique ways. Some managers act as chauffeurs and wash employees’ cars!Others  serve food to employees at a special banquet.
10. Goodman Masson- In a programme to thank employees, a goldenticket was left on a different desk every day for 13 weeks over summer. Winners had the chance to attend events and activities including Euro 2016 in France, parachute jumping, supper at an exclusive London restaurant, cricket at Lord’s and a hot air balloon ride.
11. Intuit UK- The Scott Cook Innovation Award (named after the company co-founder) recognises employees who create innovations that deliver real benefits to their customers, employees and shareholders. They receive a statue, recognition on the ‘Innovation Wall of Fame’, dinner with the executive team and an allexpenses paid trip for two. In addition, winners are also granted either half of their time for six months or all of their time for three months to work on a project of their own creation.
12. AccorHotels UK & Ireland- The company’s ibis brand runs an employee engagement scheme where hotels compete against each other in business challenges such as increasing breakfast sales or guest satisfaction ratings. Winning regional teams receive a cash reward, a team dinner and a celebration ceremony. Following the ceremony best practices are shared across the network.
13. Liberty IT- All employees are encouraged to take part in regular internal ‘hackathons’. These involve teams developing a good idea and pitching it to the wider community.
14. Intuit UK has developed an innovation programme called ‘Lean StartIN’. It is designed to empower employees to identify and quickly test their ideas, and it offers them sessions where they are taught rapid experimentation techniques in an intensive two-day workshop.

(To see the full report, take a look at http://www.greatplacetowork.co.uk )