Workplace wellbeing: A startup’s perspective
Propercorn co-founder Cassandra Stavrou tells Marketing Week how important it is for new businesses to instil measures to improve employee wellbeing from the outset.
Wellbeing is everything. A business is only as good as the people in it and if they are motivated, healthy and full of energy it’s ultimately going to be better for the business.
I remember I was on a work trip to Naples seeing a factory. I was having a conversation with the CEO, and it got to 1pm, and he said: “I’m so sorry; we will continue this conversation, but it’s lunchtime and we all have lunch together”.
It really reminded me of the importance of sitting down and sharing a meal together, so we then made it a thing that at Propercorn everyone eats lunch together. It promotes those cross-functional relationships.
There’s this idea that it’s cool to say how busy you are and we really don’t advocate that culture here.
We created lots of break-out spaces around the office so you can step away from your desk and communicate in person rather than through email when you’re literally two metres away.
We also try to create a culture where people don’t stay in the office until 11pm every night; if we see that happening it’s a real warning that we need additional resource or that person needs their role or responsibilities restructured. There’s this idea that it’s cool to say how busy you are and we really don’t advocate that culture here.
Ultimately, you do get found out as a brand if you’re not being authentic. The decisions to implement a certain culture, benefits or way of working should be done for the team and not for any added marketing benefit.
READ MORE: The benefits of integrating workplace wellbeing into performance management
