Here are some of our favourite tried and tested ways to serve our team and be a great employer
For us, ‘motivation’ means moving people forward, and ‘inspiration’ is about supporting a person’s ‘spirit’.
When someone is struggling with something, external forces of motivation often don’t make a huge difference. Yet when someone feels happy and healthy, they manage to deliver great work even with very little external motivation consistently.
This is why we focus our attention on supporting the internal well-being of our team. Read more about Brightec’s ethos towards wellbeing at work. Here are some of our most successful initiatives:
Coaching is the primary way we ensure people are known and supported personally. In part 1 of this series, we discussed how mentoring supports staff training and progression. Coaching is about the individual, their life, and their well-being. It is a huge part of the company culture, something we hope supports friendship building. Both the coach and coachee look forward to it for more reasons than the promise of coffee and a pastry while they chat!
Everyone has a coach who they meet with every 6 weeks, but they can reach out to at any time.
One team member said; ‘When I had my most challenging week at work this year, and I was at my lowest, I was blown away by my mentor's willingness to support me and coach me through the situation. I'm deeply grateful for the structures and relationships we have here at Brightec!’
Software engineer Dan commented, ‘Brightec's deliberately evolving mentoring and coaching processes encourage an inclusive, caring and transparent culture, which is part of what has made it the most incredible work environment.’
Each individual is different, but our investment in Clifton StrengthFinders helps us get to know individuals well and understand what motivates and inspires them. Perhaps even more importantly, it also helps us get familiar with what team members might find frustrating and how best to support them at those moments.
The StrengthFinders ‘test’ forms part of our hiring process, not to judge a person’s skill and ability but to have a view of how they’d fit within the team. As mentioned in the previous blog about training, each year, we spend a day together as a team with StrengthsHouse, revising what each person’s strengths and weaknesses are to help us work better together.
Over the last 10 or so years, we’ve spent time cultivating a sense of identity through company values that everyone on the team can relate to. These are behaviours and ways of conduct that are comfortable for all of us and demonstrate how we work.
Our 3 Brightec Core Values also address what might motivate someone:
Making things better: The impact of a goal. Some people are motivated by the problem it solves
Happy and profitable: The relationships on the journey. Some people don’t care what the goal is, or its impact, they just want to be in a thriving team with people they enjoy.
Collective responsibility: Achieving a goal. It doesn’t even matter what the goal is, some people just need something to achieve and it’s down to all of us to make sure we get there.
The way we do business is led by our team's values, the aesthetics, layout, and location of our studio were all determined by what the team wanted from a workspace. Our space was built intentionally to both serve the purpose of work and encourage human connection in which relationships can thrive. Click here to read more about our Riverside studio.
On a smaller scale, we invested in a good coffee machine and have snacks available in the kitchen because we know these things matter to our team.
As mentioned in ‘Why we invest in training for everyone’, we acknowledge the ‘big’ and the ‘small stuff. Every Monday over breakfast we use our Kudos board to honour and encourage team members for their work. Seeing how others are exemplifying our culture inspires others to do the same and appreciation helps drive the desire to keep doing your best.
We also offer a range of staff benefits, including charitable giving, bonus schemes, staff socials, away days, and individual gifting. These aren’t rewards for doing the work; they are part of feeling valued in the team and encouraged to carry out work diligently.
Click here for more about how we ensure our team feel rewarded at work.
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