Putting well-being on the agenda

We've recently moved premises which are much larger and more spacious. This was important to us on a number of levels - obviously we'd outgrown our previous site and needed more space (ironically that's something we know a bit about!) but we also wanted to make sure we had some 'luxury space' - that's places for non-essentials such as a company gym and staff relaxation zone. There are good reasons for this - we always say how important our team is (because they are) so it's important to reflect this through providing a high standard work environment.

Flexible Working

Since the pandemic many companies have been closing or downsizing their offices as more office-based staff have opted to continue to work from home. We like our staff to be part of the Smart-Space community so, whilst we are flexible, we do encourage a healthy mix of home and office time.

Getting together regularly does make a difference to a business like ours where we all work together. Every department is dependent on each other - sales, operations, finance and so on - we all interact to make everything happen as it should. So part of our ethos is to make work a positive, happy place to be.

Holistic Approach

Our new gym is proving really popular with everyone. We also have a yoga teacher who visits us twice a week to hold sessions for all abilities. This has been more successful than we'd imagined with a great take-up in places available. 

The kitchen and dining room at our new premises are really well appointed, with lots of space and popular relaxing spaces. It makes such a difference to us all having the room and facilities that go above and beyond what is considered the norm. 

We have also introduced hot-desking. Whilst this is nothing new, it's new to us. It means we keep our desks free of clutter and also encourages new relationships to be struck up as employees sit by different people regularly. It opens up the lines of communication across the departments and means we all get to know each other a little better. In a world where we should all use less paper, hot-desking also motivates us to minimise our outputs and physical storage.

Communications generally are vital for well-being at work. We have a regular staff newsletter and always encourage people to talk if there's a problem. As MD, my mobile phone is always on and I'm available to anyone who needs to talk. 

We've always made well-being a part of the Smart-Space culture and we'll continue to look for ways in which we can make a difference to the working day for everyone who is part of our team.