One of the things that immediately struck me during my interview at Pinstone was welcoming work environment. The office was a thriving hub of activity, with an unmistakeable atmosphere of collaboration and openness. There were none of those awkward side-long glances you get in some offices!
Celebrating International Happiness at Work Week
To celebrate International Happiness at Work Week, we decided to explore why Pinstone continues to thrive and what matters most to the team.
We spend around 90,000 hours of our lives at work, so it’s crucial to make the most of this time. Our happiness at work survey, showed that everyone rated the importance of being happy at work at 8/10 or above. As one team member said, ‘happiness at work’ is ‘coming into an environment where you feel comfortable, welcomed, valued and able to perform professionally.’
Everyone in the business attends our quarterly finance meetings. These meetings review business performance, share staff news, training updates and internal marketing information. This gives everyone a clear sense of Pinstone’s direction.
It is a real motivating factor, providing an opportunity to celebrate our successes and to pull together to achieve the targets set.
Feeling appreciated
Agency life can be demanding. However, knowing that your efforts are recognised makes all the difference. Half the team gave a score of 10/10 for feeling appreciated for their input.
The pandemic forced many businesses to adapt their ways of working. We experienced our most successful year during lockdown, demonstrating that home working can be beneficial. Since September, Pinstone has embraced a hybrid approach. This gives staff the choice to work in a way that suits them, while enjoying a thriving office environment for at least two days a week.
Culture of support and aspiration
Catherine and Robin have instilled a culture where support and aspiration go hand in hand. This approach has been highlighted in our Pinstone Ladder series of blogs, showcasing the power of personal development. Being helped to achieve career goals scored a total of 181 points out of 200 in our staff survey.
Knowing there’s always someone to reach out to for advice is a big plus in our business. As one of the team explained in our survey, it’s all about “feeling you’re supported, like you belong within the business, like you’re moving forward with your career and you’re striving to be the best you can be.”
Mentoring, regular staff training and team sharing sessions all contribute to a culture of openness and honesty.
A study carried out by the University of Warwick showed that employees who are happy at work are up to 12% more productive when compared with those who are unhappy.
Responses to our own survey wholeheartedly agree, scoring 192 points out of 200.
When we analysed what makes us happiest at work, one word stands out by a mile as the graphic below shows.
It’s the people that are the beating heart of Pinstone. Those relationships and how we interact with each other are what delivers the greatest sense of job satisfaction. It’s why we like to work hard and play hard, each and every week of the year.
