Workplace culture is arguably one of the most critical aspects of a company’s success, with influences over employee productivity, retention and job satisfaction, positive work culture creates supported people. Amidst the upheaval of the pandemic, a new set of priorities has emerged for employees. No longer solely driven by traditional perks or material benefits, individuals now seek a culture that offers deeper fulfilment and a sense of purpose in their careers. Job security and stability took precedence as uncertainties loomed, while in a post-pandemic world, work-life balance and flexible arrangements have newfound significance.
Research carried out in October 2022 reveals that despite financial pressures, workplace culture and environment remain vital to keeping employees happy at work.
Project Centre was no different in evolving our culture to move with people’s changing needs. We know that through nurturing a positive work culture, we can energise our people and make employees feel genuinely valued and supported.
We’ve highlighted our top six practices below:
1. Promoting equality through our internal groups
Project Centre is particularly committed to promoting equality and inclusion in the workplace. We are happy to have people across our company who are working towards creating a better work environment for everyone. They created groups and networks to carry this forward.
Women’s Learning and Development Network (WLDN)
The WLDN is formed of employees who are passionate about empowering women to excel and advance in their careers. They actively work towards breaking down barriers that influence women’s progress in the company.
The Network has made many impactful changes across our company, from re-writing policies, such as flexible working and enhanced parental leave to reviewing language used in job adverts to raising awareness about inequality and celebrating all our employees, including the People of Project Centre Awards, our employee award ceremony where we celebrate each other’s achievements.
Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)
The EDI Group ensures that all individuals from different cultures and backgrounds are included in the workplace and its policies and activities.
They raise awareness of EDI issues through relevant webinars, toolbox talks and events, in a mission to empower individuals to challenge discrimination and speak up against any inappropriate behaviour. As a result, we can enjoy a work culture that celebrates individual differences, diverse experiences and can share our ideas openly.
The Mental Health First Aiders
Our mental health first aiders are employees trained in delivering mental health support to colleagues. They help foster an environment that prioritises employee mental health and makes individuals feel safe when opening up to other trusted colleagues about what they are struggling with.
Every month, our mental health first aiders share their advice on maintaining a healthy mental state of mind and handling stress. They have organised a social meeting within the office to celebrate World Mental Health Day and bring colleagues together to improve work socialisation and connectivity on a regular basis.
2. Celebrating our people
Celebrating each other’s achievements shows employees that their great work is being recognised. Through our staff survey, we found that eight in ten employees feel motivated by their line managers.
We also nominate an employee of the month chosen through a popular voting process. On the same line, our annual People of Project Centre Awards brings everyone together for an evening of socialising where we celebrate the very best of our people, projects and teams.
This celebrates our people from across the company. The 2023 awards saw members of Project Centre’s Senior Leadership Team present 17 awards, recognising everything from innovation and advocating people to apprentices, project managers and support teams.
3. Training and development
Our learning portal has a range of courses with certification available such as mental health training and manual handling. We also pay for one professional membership a year and support external industry training and qualifications. This increases our skillset and expertise as these provide specialised knowledge and help people progress their career.
Senior Engineer Eduardo Moral assists with the ICE group in Project Centre and he commented, “Getting qualified means you have a certain level of skill in different areas like understanding of engineering, health and safety, sustainability and commercial. I believe working towards achieving a professional qualification helps engineers to gain a better understanding of a project as a whole.”
4. Acting on feedback/surveys
We conduct a biannual survey to measure and track staff satisfaction. The 2023 results show that over 80% of employees believe we respect individual differences, and the overall happiness score has remained consistently high.
We continue to monitor these factors and find ways to improve. We remain transparent and communicate the changes made with colleagues.
Through our People’s Champion Group, employees can raise questions and ideas that can be escalated to SLT if needed.
Project Centre strive to make employees feel supported and empowered. Our positive culture represents the fantastic and diverse people who deliver award winning projects that create better connected spaces across the country.
5. Flexible and remote working
With flexible work and office arrangements as well as time flexibility throughout your week, our people are trusted to attend meetings and complete their work in a way that can align with personal obligations, passions and peak productivity hours. The Office for National Statistics collected data in February last year which showed that 78% of people who worked from home felt it improved their work-life balance.
Michelle Loosley commented: “Flexible working has helped me manage my work, life balance. It has enabled me to continue and develop in my career whilst still being able to be a mummy to my young children. Having this flexibility has helped reduce the stress of managing all my responsibilities.”
Our approach opens the door for people with different lifestyles to thrive with us while still being productive and delivering for our clients.
Our engineering apprentice Anthony Thomson also said: “I use flexible and remote working to maintain a balanced work and social life, and to ensure that I am maximising my time and resources. For example, working from home saves me time commuting. I use this time to exercise before and after work. However, it’s also important for me to socialise with my colleagues and focus on work in the office. For this reason, I like to maintain a balance between working in the office and at home”
