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Building a Best Company to Work For

Hard work, determination and compassion are the foundation of a great business

There are few prouder moments in our working lives than when something you have been striving towards – pouring your heart and soul into – is recognised industry-wide.

When Moneypenny was placed 4th in The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For in February this year, it was a moment of elation, jubilation and pleasant surprise.

This is the second time the company has received 4th place since we last entered two years ago. That was an unbelievable achievement then, so to once again be a top five UK company to work for is beyond words.

But this didn’t happen by accident. For the past 17 years, Moneypenny has carefully crafted an ethos and culture into the company, compassion and above all, fun. When brother and sister, Ed Reeves and Rachel Clacher, founded Moneypenny in 2000, they wanted to create a company where they themselves would like to work. They decided that the building blocks of this company should be care, empowerment and above all, fun.

Here is what Moneypenny has learnt about what goes into creating one of the best places to work.

More power to the people

From the very beginning, the company’s point of differentiation was the personal service and excellent working relationship the PA has with their clients. Of course, for any employee to have a good relationship with a client, they have to be trusted. But by empowering employees to develop these relationships naturally, it inspires an incredible work ethic. As a company, we’ve discovered it’s by giving employees freedom to do their jobs that will really take a business places.

Recently a Victoria, a PA, discovered that her client had been involved in a bicycle accident and was in hospital recovering from a broken foot. She instinctively sent a bunch of flowers to her, just as she would a friend or family member. Her client was overwhelmed by the gesture. Victoria, through following her own kind hearted instinct, has moved us from being a supplier to a friend. No corporate process could have taught that her to react in that manner.

It’s been wonderful watching the company grow into this award-winning organisation.

A solid foundation built on wellbeing

Currently ‘employee wellbeing’ is a hot topic for discussion. It’s certainly something that as a company, Moneypenny has put into practice. When it became clear that we needed to build an office of our own, we took this as an opportunity to turn employee wellbeing from a theory into bricks and mortar. We asked every member of staff what mattered most to them in their place of work. The results were surprising.

The number one suggestion was “no air-con!” and the second was more natural lighting. These requests are what shaped the design of the office – four wings so that no one is ever too far away from an opening window and a view outside. People also felt that they wanted their desk to be a ‘home from home’, so every employee was given a £15 budget to buy their very own lamp of their choosing so they can control the light in their immediate surroundings.

Quite the antithesis of hot-desking, employees enjoy coming into the office and knowing exactly where they will be working. That space is theirs and they can decorate it as they see fit. This extra level of care we’ve been able to give our employees has had an enormous positive effect on everybody. Productivity is up and it, literally, cemented the next chapter for the company.

Any excuse for a celebration

And lastly, we know how to have a good time. We never pass up the opportunity to have fun and really go to town at the Christmas party, summer family event and annual day at the races. It’s the reason we built our very own pub into the headquarters. And it goes a long way to contributing to the happy culture that makes Moneypenny what it is today.

What better testament to a great work culture than the very first member of staff who still works for Moneypenny. Lynn King joined the company as a PA when it was Ed, Rachel and a tiny office located above an optician. “It’s been wonderful watching the company grow into this award-winning organisation. But never have they taken their eye off the ball when it comes to their staff,” said Lynn. “From the daily perks, such as free breakfast, to the new building designed especially for us, it really does seem that every detail is geared towards our wellbeing as valued employees. It’s lovely.”

We would absolutely advise any business – no matter how big or small – to focus on fun, care and empowerment to become the best version of that company it can be. Because at the end of the day, it’s all about the people.

We give you amazing people and technology:

Telephone
Answering

Your own Moneypenny PA to answer calls exactly as if based in your office.

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Live Chat

Amazing people, briefed by you to manage chats whenever you can't.

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Pocket Phone System

All the functions and support of an office phone system, minus the hardware.

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