Happy Ltd
The Company |
|
Sector |
Training Business Services |
Location |
South East England (but provides training all over the UK) |
Turnover |
£2.1 million |
Profit for 2003/2004 |
£150k |
|
|
Workforce |
|
No. of employees |
40 |
% female |
55% |
% ethnic minorities |
15% |
% turnover |
10% |
% women returning after maternity leave |
3 Staff |
The challenge
There is no real challenge for
Happy as it has been following a work life balance agenda for the
last four to five years. They have regular twice-yearly appraisals
that keep a close check on their policies and make sure that the
staff are satisfied with their personalised working arrangements.
A work life balance way of working has been part of the working culture
for the last 15 years of its existence in the business. Happy are
the first company in London to achieve the Investors In People Work/Life
Balance Model.
Response
The staff are fully motivated thanks to a more flexible working
pattern. Compared to other companies in their industry they have a
lower staff turn over of 10% compared to an average of 17% for the
IT training sector. In the last year, 2 of the staff who left us, were
on the phone asking for their jobs back within 2 weeks of working elsewhere!
(And yes, we took them back.) .
There are currently over 2000 Happy wanabees on their job list
waiting to hear about vacancies, so they no longer need to spend
money advertising posts which can cost about 1000 pounds.
They won Best Customer Service in the UK in 2003..
For example someone who wants to work on a Saturday means they can
train customers on weekends and evenings illustrating Happy’s
flexibility in the business.
“We believe that by offering flexible working to ALL staff,
we are appreciating and recognising the best assets of the company – our
people” Cathy, Managing Director
The future
Happy will always welcome new ways of
working flexibly and make changes in policy where needs be. They
maintain a “can do” attitude
and don’t second-guess anyone.
Staff feel richer and more fulfilled not just because of the industry
they work in, but because they work for Happy.
Parents can bring in their kids if they need to during the holidays.
Staff love the flexibility and say they don’t
really want to move on because not all companies offer this so
widely.
They won the Family Friendly Employer of the Year Award for 2003.
April 2005
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