Freudenberg Sealing Technologies’ HR team has leveraged technology and continuous improvement to generate value for its 300 UK employees. Innovation has underpinned the company’s 175-year history and, through meaningful collaboration with employees and managers, it has delivered a HR service for those who need to access it most. Its approach has improved communication and participation, raised employees’ voices and helped foster a sense of ‘One FST’ across the firm’s sites.

Mediaworks is an independent digital marketing agency, with innovation one of its core values. The iDMC (internal data mission control) is a company-developed reporting tool providing data and information for every team, including marketing insight for clients and operational metrics that aid decision-making. Committed to driving adoption and empowering improvement, its people team partnered with IT, operations and a cross-functional innovation group to align the iDMC with the employee journey.

Newcastle Building Society prides itself on being an extremely connected organisation, with its people vision ensuring colleagues not only love what they do, but do it in the right way and do it well. Key to its vision is providing staff with a voice that is listened to. Additionally, it has used technology to maintain colleague connections across hybrid working, which have ensured colleagues have simple, smart and secure experiences.

Byggfakta Group is focused on attracting and retaining top talent. The brand and people experience team spearheaded a comprehensive global employer brand strategy, which yielded impressive increases in colleague engagement, pride in working for the company and perception of leadership prioritising people. Further initiatives, such as enhancements to communication channels, have fostered greater inclusivity and engagement, which has brought notable rises in the sense of belonging and open, two-way communication.

Connect Health is the largest and most experienced independent community healthcare provider in the UK. With more than 800 colleagues, it has delivered outstanding transformational community healthcare since 1989. Strategic talent attraction and a robust 'recruit-to-potential' approach have not only decreased the time it takes to hire, but also enhanced diversity, inclusivity and colleague satisfaction. This has led to efficiencies in process, improved patient care and a strengthened employer brand.

Northumberland County Council operates across a mix of rural areas and conurbations, and has approximately 5000 employees. Its values of respect, people first, excellence and resilience are incorporated in all aspects of its work. The last 12 months have been an exciting period of change, with its team shifting from a transactional service to a restructured and proactive team providing recruitment advice, guidance and services using the new TRIBEPAD system.

With more than 28,000 vacancies in traffic management, Chevron faces fierce competition. To combat such, it established a talent attraction and retention pipeline to fill vacancies, foster employee engagement, contribute to communities and promote a fair, inclusive and diverse culture. It identified the prison system as a recruiting opportunity, and its #evolve initiative – focused on returning citizens – has yielded tangible benefits within just 15 months, garnering interest from industry stakeholders.

Property services company LSL set out in 2021 to become a more inclusive workplace. Its HR team worked alongside the group executive, senior managers, colleagues and external organisations to create a business where individuals feel genuinely valued for their unique qualities and contributions. Its team has been influential in creating an inclusion and diversity forum, inclusion training and recruitment processes, colleague networks, HR policies, disability champions and mental health first-aiders.

Global affiliate and partner marketing agency Silverbean launched an equality, diversity and inclusion strategy in 2023, beginning with neurodiversity, to better understand colleagues’ needs, raise awareness and address learning gaps. Further initiatives included the ‘Be The Best You’ support plan and awareness training with North East Autism Society. The moves have had a positive impact, with 100 per cent of people completing their training and support given to neurodivergent employees.

Bloom operates as a purpose-driven company with social value and ethical business practices at its core. It launched BloomEssential in 2023, to consolidate and accelerate its ESG, sustainability and social value initiatives. As part of its ‘Our People’ pillar, the firm’s HR&D team launched a host of feedback-led employee initiatives, which cover areas such as mental health and financial wellbeing. It has also nurtured relationships with charities and social enterprises.

ScS’ purpose of ‘creating the home you love’ aligns perfectly to homelessness charity Shelter’s ‘home is everything’ focus, and the business saw many opportunities to help provide for families in its communities. During its first year of partnership, ScS raised vital funds for Shelter, provided meaningful volunteer time and also shared skills, knowledge and expertise across carpet and flooring fitting to support the charity’s team in helping prepare clients’ accommodation.

Universal Wolf is a complex sheet metal fabricator, which has ambitions to double in size by 2028. It is committed to developing its own people, as well as upskilling those within its Blyth community. It is partnering with Port of Blyth to put unemployed individuals through a four-to-six week training programme, which provides people with basic welding skills to then join the business as a sheet metal worker in training.

ConocoPhillips Teesside operates with a workforce of around 320. In collaboration with its unionised process operations team, the company built the Operator Development Framework. The endeavour aims to provide autonomous opportunities for operators to develop in their roles, to engage supervisors to manage and develop their teams, and to promote collaborative working within the organisation. The firm has also rolled out Operator Development Pathways, with 95 per cent signing up.

Birtley-based Komatsu UK, which designs and makes crawler excavators, made changes to replace a hierarchical and autocratic culture with one of trust, respect and empowerment. The firm, which employs about 400 people, partnered with Achieving Change Ltd to design a bespoke training programme, which integrated coaching skills with cultural transformation and led to changed behaviours from managers, delivered a positive impact on engagement and yielded significant time and cost savings.

Newcastle-founded independent tech consultancy Opencast has worked with Julia Smith, of People Science Consulting, for three years on a range of people and coaching initiatives. The duo have co-designed ‘Amplify’, a programme created for Opencast’s present and future leaders. The venture’s key focus is to enable enterprise leadership underpinned by a coaching approach. Modules are now being rolled out across Opencast to ensure a democratic approach to enabling future leaders.

British Engines is passionate about supporting the next generation of engineering talent, with its Apprenticeship+ Scheme key to such. A core element of its succession and development pipeline, it has helped a number of apprentices move into key positions – 11 per cent of factory employees are apprentices, 13 ex-apprentices hold senior positions and 64 have remained with the business for more than ten years. The firm also offers business apprenticeships.

Since opening its academy in November 2022, the business’ team of apprentices and lecturers have made a difference to strategic goals and future careers. It has developed a bespoke programme of theoretical and practical training, underpinned by industry recognised and EAL-accredited qualifications, with apprentices applying the necessary skills, knowledge and behaviours to thrive. The academy also provides a platform for school taster days, allowing students to gain greater engineering experience.

Vehicle rental firm ZIGUP – formerly known as Redde Northgate – has built its apprenticeship offer year-on-year, with further plans to expand its cohort. Its technician mean age has fallen from 54 to 46, and a number of its apprentices have won national awards. Additionally, more than 30 of its most talented apprentices have entered WorldSkills competitions in 2024. Such activity has improved mindsets and culture, and has also helped boost productivity.

As a Better Health At Work maintaining excellence award holder, economic regeneration and construction company Advance Northumberland wanted to continue the work it has achieved. To do so, it increased its number of mental health first-aiders to 15, ensuring construction sites had coverage. It also rolled out a programme of initiatives focused on mental health in construction, introduced a head office wellbeing room with drop-in sessions and held toolbox talks.

Marelli is a leading global automotive sector supplier, employing more than 900 people across its three North East plants. Recognising changing workforce expectations, it implemented a focused workstream around health and wellbeing. Through 2023, the firm was awarded bronze Better Health at Work status, reduced absenteeism by an average of 20 per cent, implemented sector-leading menopause policies, relaunched its ‘Vitality’ wellbeing programme and worked with partners on health promotion campaigns.

Tyne and Wear Metro and South Shields Ferry owner Nexus is passionate about employees’ health and wellbeing, and was previously honoured with Better Health at Work Award ambassador status. It has rolled out a number of initiatives, which include the recruitment of ten ‘Manbassadors’ to improve men’s health and wellbeing, free health screening tests, menopause training, wellbeing walks, financial wellbeing support and a partnership with Samaritans to host drop-in sessions.

Neil Bestford’s leadership exemplifies excellence, drives transformative change and fosters inclusivity. Through initiatives such as communication enhancements, Neil’s work has significantly contributed to increased levels of colleague engagement and the perception of group leadership prioritising people. His ability to navigate a complex, multicultural organisation has facilitated Byggfakta Group’s values of ambition and collaboration. Achievements such as establishing a global people awards structure highlight his commitment to a supportive and positive workplace.

Housing association Gentoo is a values-led, charitable organisation providing more than 60,000 people with a place to call home. It invested in a development programme for its leadership team and 160 managers, which strengthened engagement across strategic priorities. Through this, Gentoo – which owns and manages more than 29,000 properties in Sunderland – has seen positive improvement for both customers and colleagues, and is committed to remaining a great place to work.

IT solutions provider HTG has an Employee Net Promoter Score of 72 and an average engagement score of 92 per cent. It provides a culture built on trust, empathy and communication, reflected in the fact 100 per cent of its team works flexibly. It is committed to increasing diversity, with women making up 31 per cent of its team and females representing 40 per cent of its senior leadership team.

Bloom is an Armed Forces Covenant (AFC) signatory, having earned the bronze and silver awards as part of the Employee Recognition Scheme. It has participated in a range of initiatives, from hosting a North East Business Forum – to unite other AFC signatories – to launching a CV and career masterclass for veterans and cadets. It also recently conducted an online signing event, to demonstrate AFC signatory benefits to its supply chain.

Cleveland Police has an established Armed Forces staff network and promotes reserve service, providing ten extra days of paid annual leave for serving reservists and cadet instructors. Working alongside Op NOVA, SSAFA, HM Prison Service and charities such as East Durham Veterans, it facilitates support and intervention throughout the veteran’s community. A collaborative approach with partners has also improved overall wellbeing provision, signposting veterans to services and reducing sickness absence.

Founded in 1994 to support entrepreneurs, North East BIC oversees a unique community fostering business success. Through its package of workspace, support and events, BIC has helped more than 4000 people set up businesses and is home to 345 organisations. Following veteran Anthony McDermott’s arrival in 2022, it now has a dedicated Armed Forces support programme, and was last year awarded silver by the Ministry of Defence’s Employer Recognition Scheme.

In 2023, LSL’s HR team was handed the challenge of redesigning the group’s bonus scheme, with the aim of creating a new system that would drive performance, engagement and retention, and, additionally, incentivise colleagues based on profit while recognising behaviours and values. As a result, the firm has developed a new bonus structure but has also fostered a culture of alignment and transparency, which has resulted in highly positive feedback.

Mediaworks’ story is one of growth and entrepreneurial spirit. Having expanded into a multi-office agency, a total reward strategy – with a human-centric approach – was needed to reinforce its values and cultural ambitions. A range of benefits were introduced to reward the right behaviours and foster connections, support financial security and ensure high performance and talent was rewarded fairly across the business. Employee satisfaction and talent retention scores have increased significantly.

Tharsus Group – which also includes complex sheet metal fabricator Universal Wolf – is a people-centric organisation, with its values embedded in everything it does, from the way it recruits to how it rewards and recognises colleagues. Its Chairman’s Awards programme encourages staff to recognise peers, managers and colleagues demonstrating the company’s values. The programme has reinforced values across the group and had a significant impact on values-based reward in the organisation.

The Alnwick Garden is a charity and tourist destination that last year opened Lilidorei, a move that increased visitor and employee numbers by 50 per cent overnight. With such unique challenges, and an Employee Net Promoter Score of -1.59 from an initial staff survey, it launched a company-wide people review. This introduced initiatives that delivered year-on-year improvements to engagement, and an Employee Net Promoter Score increase of 44 per cent.

Creative agency O has made steps to revolutionise how it motivates, manages and rewards its people. The firm challenges the ordinary in everything it does when it comes to building its team. Its people activity focuses on learning through The Ocademy, its in-house training programme, as well as tailored mentoring and individual career plans. It also incorporates new ideas from its people and supports their physical, mental and financial wellbeing.

A family-owned collection of companies, The Rudd Group provides top-quality products to the hospitality industry. An independent SME competing against larger organisations, its people and service provide an edge. It has benefited from bringing in its first people director, which has helped develop a more coherent senior leadership team, outsource talent acquisition, introduce a future leaders programme and roll out a management development programme with monthly webinars on various topics.

The Caterpillar Peterlee HR team is truly devoted to delivering excellent business partnering, which ensures the company achieves its results while also supporting an engaged and committed workforce. This was reflected in the implementation of a fast-track recruitment bootcamp system, which enabled the efficient onboarding of diverse and talented recruits, and delivered an unprecedented order number. The bootcamp system has since been replicated by other Caterpillar bases across the globe.

Komatsu UK employs about 400 people in Birtley, where it designs and makes crawler excavators. Its small HR team is focused on delivering excellent operational service while introducing wider cultural change. To do so, it has implemented a number of initiatives, which include a new HR system, recognition schemes, wellbeing activities, a leadership development programme and improved communication channels. Through resilience, perseverance and dedication, its team is driving positive change.

Educational charity NCFE has been dedicated to powering a smarter education ecosystem for more than 175 years. Its purpose is to enable outcomes through high-quality service. Its two-year ‘Vision for our People’ initiative encompasses several focus areas and has helped introduce different roles to its team, including people product managers. It has also helped relaunch values and behaviours; optimise talent processes - including self-service for managers - and create continuous learning frameworks.