It’s no great mystery as to how SWC achieved the coveted Best Places to Work title, but far from revelling in the glory by ourselves, we thought it might be helpful for other aspiring businesses to follow these six steps to ensure they’re a great place to work and maybe get a little bit of recognition along the way.
Before we get into the steps themselves, we would first recommend for your team to complete the comprehensive, yet quick survey powered by WorkL who do amazing work with businesses to help them measure, track and improve employee experience. It’s incredibly informative and revealing, showing what your company is doing well, and points you can improve on too, we’ve touched upon these insights in our previous blogs on empowerment, wellbeing and instilling pride.
Since the results have come in we’ve been able to proudly make plenty of noise about it online, on calls and in person. It’s generated lots of conversations with old and new contacts alike, whether they are existing partners, clients, prospects or candidates.
Clients, in particular, have taken a lot of interest in this recognition, who we believe get the rub-off effect of working with a happy, friendly team, which we hope helps our working relationships to be more productive, and most importantly fun!
1. Reward and recognition
This is an easy one. Pay your team a fair wage and when they do a good job, tell them they’re doing a good job. As the old saying goes, people work better when they’re getting paid, but if you add a load of credit where it’s due and they’ll work even better and be even more motivated!
This also applies to the hours your team is expected to fulfil their workload. SWC adopts a work smarter not harder approach, allowing us to be an efficient and streamlined operation during the working day so we don’t have to get in at stupid o’clock, work through lunch or leave late. And, if it does happen we address why and find a productive solution quickly.
2. Information sharing
Seems obvious, but giving your team the information they need to do their job is key and feel confident about what they’re talking about. Backed up with adequate training, good work practices and a digital infrastructure so the whole team can access that information anywhere, anytime.
We also have different meetings in place depending on the circumstances. From our daily check-ins to see what our teams have on to our quarterly meetings to discuss company updates, it gives everyone an opportunity to share their views and be included in the bigger picture, so we’re all on the same journey together.
3. Empowerment
For goodness sake don’t micromanage. Give your team the opportunity to shine, not by throwing them in the deep end, but by allowing and trusting them to make their own decisions on the projects they’re working on.
This is of course dependent on the earlier step of making sure they have the information they need to take on their own responsibilities that will allow them to flourish. To read more about empowering your team, check out our recent blog here.
4. Wellbeing
We’re great believers in checking in with our team, informally and formally. Whether that’s a weekly one-to-one with a line manager or popping out to lunch with a colleague, there’s always an opportunity to check in with each other to see how we’re getting along.
Far from being a good excuse for a chit-chat, regular check-ins provide safe environments to voice any concerns in a formal or informal setting and shows that a company has a genuine care for its team. To read more about workplace wellbeing, check out our recent blog here.
5. Instilling pride
It’s important for your team to feel like they’re working towards something worthwhile so that they feel proud about what they do for a living and would advocate to others the benefits of working for your company.
SWC prides itself on the quality of work we produce for our clients. The expectations are always high and we’re constantly pushing ourselves to produce better and more impactful work. To read more about instilling pride in the workplace, check out our recent blog here.
6. Job satisfaction
If your team is working for a well-run organisation, where they are being developed, supported by their line manager and treated with respect, chances are they’re going to feel pretty satisfied with how things are going on the job front.
The overall results from The Sunday Times’ Best Places to Work show that employees who have job satisfaction perform better, so it’s a no-brainer for companies to take these steps and prosper! 1
For us, this award is about getting the recognition we feel we deserve after all the effort SWC and its team put in every day to being a great place to work. We’re very proud of the work we do at SWC and the positive culture we’ve developed and live by.
If you’d like to work with an international marketing agency who were awarded The Sunday Times’ Best Places to Work or learn more about job opportunities at SWC, get in touch with Simon or view our vacancies here.
1 Source: Fortune smiles on a happy workforce: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/static/fortune-smiles-on-a-happy-workforce/
