Not all office jobs are inherently interesting but there is plenty senior management can do to ensure that our colleagues are not counting the hours. We all know the benefits of a happy work force – better retention, more productivity and lower recruitment costs. Most importantly our own lives are better when surrounded by happy motivated employees.
I am very proud of Moonpig's growth and in particular, proud of the team and the culture of the company, this has been a critical factor in our success. The atmosphere of an office starts at the top. We have all come across companies with managers who take a perverse pride in being "difficult to work for".All these companies probably have an HR department, churning out platitudes about how we all need to work together as a team and sending people off on tree hugging away days. All of this is of little use if their CEO [line manager] subsequently undermines them.
It is very difficult for HR managers to tell more senior managers how they ought to behave. Left to clean up the damage caused by this behavior, they are often unable to deal with the root cause without the full support of the CEO.
Leadership needs to come from the very top and it is the role of the owner or CEO to develop the culture.There is no "one size fits all" answer to that, a City trading firm will require a different culture to a graphic design firm. Determining the culture is much easierfor a founder of a business than for an incoming CEO. The founder is responsible, directly or indirectly for hiring the management and so gets to weed out the psychopaths before they join and has the opportunity to explain to incoming managers what is expected of them.
It is important not only that a candidate can do the job, but that they embrace the culture.It is critical to ensure that an appointee is suitable. Why hire someone who is supremely qualified if they only regard the job as a stop gap. The role needs to have enough scope to keep that person happy for the next few years[Be confident, offer enough to keep that person excited for a few years.]
Some companies have a culture of fear leading people to cover up errors – mistakes happen. Discovered early enough something can be done about it. Employees need to have confidence that if they make a mistake they can discuss it without having their head bitten off. Good employees will beat themselves up over their mistakes, they don't need it from their line manager.
It is important that people feel free to speak out if they want to without fear.The best ideas will never rise to the surface in a company of yes men.
We spend a huge amount of our lives in the office. It doesn't take too much effort to make it welcoming. Our Moonpig office is comfortable, well lit, with a large comfortable kitchen diner, great coffee machines and huge fridges. Most of our staff prefer to stay for lunch and catch up with colleagues.
When we moved offices we asked the team what they wanted (within reason) from a new working environment – we listened. Similarly a good evening out can work wonders for office morale but it is better to give the team a budget and let them decide what to do.
Every company has a culture, good or bad. The task of ensuring a healthy culture goes to the person at the very top and needs to be based on a genuine desire
Nick Jenkins, CEO of Moonpig
