Employer of choice
At Covalent, great emphasis has always been placed on making this a good company to work for
and we pride ourselves on being a 'good employer'.
We want to be recognised as an employer of
choice, and are continually looking for new and innovative ways to keep staff satisfied, whilst
continuing to challenge and develop them.
Ensuring that staff are happy, supported, encouraged and challenged, means that we have
a more productive, effective and customer friendly team. Feedback from customers reflects this, with comments on
why our customers like working with Covalent including...
“Attitude and vibrancy of staff.”
“Friendly and responsive.”
“Approachability and 'can do' attitude.”
“Its enthusiasm and ambition. Friendly approach.”
Covalent Credo and Core Values
Every employee joining Covalent is issued a copy of the Covalent Credo.
The Credo is essentially a staff handbook which outlines the mission, core values and ethos of
the company. The Core Values reflect the way that Covalent founder, Peter McHugh, wants the company to work.
- Challenge... look to break the accepted rules, we want people with a driven
'can do' attitude. Risk taking and innovative work is encouraged!
- Empowerment... Effective empowerment = Freedom x Capability. To give employees
freedom and control to encourage entrepreneurialism in self disciplined individuals.
- Openness... say it like it is. Covalent founder Peter McHugh is adamant he
wants a 'straight talking, open to discussion, cards-on-the-table, viewpoint sharing work environment'.
- Systems... Effective systems and clear rules help everyone deliver a
consistent product and service. By nailing the basics into place, systems allow employees to
provide a more customised customer service.
7 good reasons to work for Covalent
| 1 | Share ownership |
Every employee is a shareholder through the employee share option scheme and
owns a stake in the future value of the business. |
| 2 | Open environment |
- Multiple channels of communications - weekly updates, staff emails, intranet, blog,
msn, quarterly staff briefing.
- Published salary and bonus information available to all staff.
- Open door policy, managers desks within their team.
|
| 3 | Reward for success |
- Many different bonus schemes in addition to performance related bonus scheme -
BECOD (Beyond the Call of Duty), BIB (Bright Idea Bonus £50 cash), Recruit-a-friend bonus
(£200).
- Anniversary Dinner (with partner, on anniversary of Covalent joining day).
- *MVP/ employee of the month - star/best performer of the month, voted by staff with reason why.
|
| 4 | Friendly, fun environment |
- Casual dress code.
- Regular ad-hoc socials plus variety of planned entertainments - quarterly party
(with partners every 2nd one).
- 'Meet the neighbours' Fridays - knock off at 4.30 and drinks & snacks, alternating
weekly between our two offices.
|
| 5 | Healthy environment |
- Various sporting activities - table fuzzball, 5-a-side.
- Free fruit, filtered water & herbal teas.
- Signed up to Mindful Employer Charter.
|
| 6 | Flexible working |
- Happy to look at any combinations of # hours in the day, # days in the week.
- One day off for Covalent birthday (on anniversary of joining).
|
| 7 | Focus on staff development |
- 10% projects - every employee is encouraged to use 10% of their working week on a project
outside their day job. E.g. Working towards formal qualifications/training, research projects,
voluntary work.
- Library of books to which employees can add their own selections, paid for by Covalent.
- Formalised employee development programme - 10/10, quarterly review, six month appraisals,
and annual staff survey.
|
An Equal Opportunities Employer
Covalent is an Equal Opportunities Employer and fully complies with the following legislation:
- Health & Safety at Work Act 1974
- The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995
- Race Relations Act 1976
- Sex Discrimination Act 1975
Full details of all of our HR policies and procedures are issued to all staff members at induction
and are available on request.
The Mindful Employer Charter
In July 2006, Covalent also
signed up to the Mindful Employer Charter.
The charter is for employers who are positive about Mental Health awareness.
MINDFUL EMPLOYER™ work with employers to help put good practices in place to ensure employees and
job applicants who declare mental health issues receive the
right level of support.
Find out more at www.mindfulemployer.net
