Employees are at the heart of every business. Without loyal, engaged and happy employees, success is usually far from guaranteed. Over time, employers have become increasingly aware of this fact, and have taken cues from Silicon Valley’s tech giants to improve on company culture and put their people first. As a result, UK businesses are becoming more attractive to potential talent than ever before.

 

Making the Office a Home

Research has shown that office ambience is of particular importance for a large percentage of UK employees – an unsurprising insight, given that Britons spend an average of 40 hours a week in the office. This sentiment has been at the heart of many UK businesses adopting a more creative and thoughtful approach to their office space. Although not quite stretching as far as Facebook’s proposed employee ‘village’ – which will see onsite accommodation and shops built at their Menlo Park headquarters, for a more ‘homely’ effect – many UK employers are attempting to make the office a much more engaging and comfortable environment for employees.

You’re unlikely to see a slide in every office in Manchester any time soon, but employers are taking employee happiness into consideration when outfitting their offices or choosing a location to begin with. With recent research showing that office space has become a deal-breaker for British job hunters, employers are well and truly invested in creating a welcoming space that is attractive to people.

Flexible Working

“The benefits of flexible working are well established, from increased employee engagement to better performance.”

Natalie Pancheri, HR Policy Advisor at LSE via The Guardian

Not everyone works well chained to their desk, and sometimes a clean environment with a well-stocked kitchen still isn’t enough in the face of growing family commitments and the idea of working remotely. Responding to this trend, employers are increasingly offering flexible working to their teams.

The results have been largely positive, with surveys demonstrating that employees who work flexibly are more likely to be motivated and engaged, compared to their colleagues. With the advent of Cloud technology helping to bridge the communication gap, offering flexible working is becoming increasingly possible for businesses of all shapes and sizes.

It doesn’t look like we’ve exhausted the possibilities of flexible working yet either. CIPD recently predicted that flexible working will become the norm by 2020, with employers measuring output over visibility in an effort to reap the benefits.

Careers & Training

When considering a new job role, employees are paying attention to not only the here and now, but where the job might lead them in the future. The opportunity to develop new skills in both their personal and professional lives is very attractive to individuals. it shows that the employer values their development and is willing to invest in their future. It opens the door to new career moves both within and outside of the company. At Kaleida we ensure that our staff have opportunities for continued training and certification within their roles.

Companies are also seeing the importance of attracting school leavers, offering training in order to fill skill shortages. We are committed to young people’s development and we’re excited to be offering a new apprenticeship programme. Working in conjunction with MMU (Manchester Metropolitan University), we’re offering apprentices the chance to experience full-time work in an established software development house, whilst spending a day a week studying towards a university qualification.

In other industries, we’re increasingly seeing employers offer training as an additional benefit within the role. This is an important move because it not only helps to attract and retain top talent, but it also allows a business to grow around its employee capabilities.

Feedback & Relationships

UK employers are listening to their employees to find out exactly what it is they want, whether or not they’re happy, and how their values align with the business’ goals.

A number of tech solutions have been adopted by businesses of all shapes and sizes in order to collect this data and quantify employee happiness. One such tool is OfficeVibe, which also advises employers on actions they can take in response to employee feedback.

Continued Influence & Inspiration

A lot of these areas – if not all of them – have been in some way inspired by what’s happening in Silicon Valley, a shift in working attitudes and a leaning towards a more transient lifestyle. Employees are rarely loyal to one company for the duration of their working life as was common only 30 years ago.

As UK businesses continue to invest in emotional intelligence and form closer relationships with their employees, we could see the traditional workplace transformed in the name of happiness. If what they say about a happy employee being a productive employee is true, then we’re sure it can only be a good thing.

Kaleida is pleased to be welcoming young people to our upcoming apprenticeship programme, where they’ll experience life in a bespoke software development house. To find out more, head to our careers page for details on our apprenticeship scheme with MMU, as well as other developer roles. Got a question? Feel free to get in touch with our team.