Impact report Building connection Despite ditching the table football and the beer, the business still finds creative ways to engender camaraderie, both in-person and virtually. It runs an internal awards scheme, for example, and a festival every August, with three weeks of learning (through online sessions), socialising (with parties in New York and London) and volunteering. Weve been deliberate about creating face-to-face quality time, says Blades. I prefer that to walking into an oce and seeing everyone with their headphones in. Additionally, every other week, a name is drawn out of a hat and that person gets that Friday o. Its those little things that are helpful in defining the culture, she says. If people are coming together less regularly in-person, creating inclusive opportunities for engagement online is critical for a positive, thriving culture that catalyses great work. Jeeries advises using technology not only to enhance productivity or get work done, but to keep people connected socially. We have a massive Slack culture, with threads for pets at Zappi, kids at Zappi, random chat, she says. The way you use tools can be massively powerful in keeping people engaged when not in the oce. Every Friday, Zappi sta can join an all-company call, hosted by the chief executive, where anyone can present on a topic of their choice (one of Jeeries team, based in Michigan, recently shared his passion for fishing). You feel like youre part of something. That connection and engagement is active and alive, wherever in the world you are sitting, Jeeries adds. Zappis Slack deployment is a great example of technology being used for good, but it cannot be ignored that digital overload can lead to burnout. A recent report on recruitment and retention in the research and insight sector, published by MRS, Daughters of Sailors and Vela (Jeeries previous consultancy) in June last year, cited a perceived culture of excessive working hours and unreasonable demands on sta as a key cause of talent shortages, with overwork and its impact on personal wellbeing driving some to leave the sector or to go freelance in a quest for more flexibility and a better balance. [In agencies], there is a tendency to take on more work than there is resource, as well as the tendency to not want to say anything but yes to clients, says Christensen. Jeeries adds that until the potential of AI is realised, the volume of manual tasks can mean the more interesting parts of roles are forced to the fringes of the working day. This is something Opinium has recognised and taken strategic steps to tackle, says Whien. When we were a small agency, all researchers did everything, including questionnaire design, scripting and data processing. But as we got bigger, the volume of data processing got huge, she explains. To ensure people could focus on being research consultants first and foremost, Opinium opened an oce in Cape Town to deal with data processing. Now we have a brilliant team of data processors who are focused on building their careers around data and analytics, and everyone is able to play to their strengths, says Whien. Working well Putting wellbeing at the centre is another way of helping people deal with the stresses and challenges that come with any job, as well as helping businesses attract and retain talent. This could include giving employees money each month to spend on their wellbeing or personal development, or oering access to specialist mental health support services. There is more need and desire to have a greater work-life balance and better personal wellbeing so oers of mental health support and stress reduction are becoming higher on peoples wish lists, says Opiniums Whien. Alongside practical support around mental and physical health, employers also need to consider ways of working and leadership behaviour. All the fruit baskets and yoga classes in the world arent going to help if someones job is simply too big or if a manager is behaving badly. Ways of working help to support wellbeing, says AXAs Alcantara. We actively encourage colleagues to take their annual leave and relax, not answering emails or calls on holiday. As leaders, we try to model positive behaviour the best way we can, taking breaks ourselves, oering flexibility where needed and checking in regularly as a team. There is another form of wellbeing businesses need to address, one that is more at risk than ever in todays cost-of-living crisis: financial wellbeing. CIPD research has shown that when employees experience financial distress, their wellbeing and job performance suer, with 29% of people saying cost-of-living-related financial worries have negatively impacted their productivity at work. The average pay award across the private sector stands at 5%, with many organisations introducing more regular pay reviews (every six months rather than annually for instance), or giving one-o cost-of-living payments to sta on lower salary bands. Paying fairly is critical, but there are other ways to compete when constrained on salaries and unable to keep up with inflation, rather than getting into a bidding war. Benefits, both tangible (such as private medical insurance or access to money-saving deals) and intangible (like flexible working and learning and development), can help firms find and keep the people they need. According to Ely from Hays, 56% of professionals would be prepared to accept a lower salary for a better work-life balance. Allowing people to work remotely and flexibly (starting after peak travel time for 24 Impact ISSUE 42 2023_pp20-27_Report.indd 24 16/06/2023 17:04