With the recession continuing to bite, newspapers are full of stories of companies exploiting underpaid workers, widespread industrial action and employment tribunals. But a number of Brighton and Hove firms have decided to do things differently. Last week five city companies were named in the top 51 most democratic workplaces in the world. Reporter Ben James went to find out what they are doing.
Brighton and Hove has been named the global leader in a pioneering new way of running businesses.
The democratic style of working puts staff at the centre of the company – while at the same time driving up profits.
Whether it be through staff holidays to the south of France, mid-morning yoga sessions or innovative wish machines, city firms are leading the way worldwide.
Five companies were this week named in the top 51 Most Democratic Companies as compiled by industry group WorldBlu.
The next nearest cities in terms of total entries, were London, Kuala Lumpur and Denver with three a piece.
The likes of New York, Los Angeles and Toronto had just one entry each.
One of the Brighton and Hove firms to make the list is marketing and social media agency Propellernet.
Stella Bayles, the firm’s strategy manager, said: “It’s a great place to work.
“Jack’s (the chief executive) thinking has always been that if we are happy then the clients are happy and that’s good for the business.”
Among the initiatives at the Castle Square business is what has been dubbed the “dream machine”.
Ultimate dream
Each member of staff was interviewed earlier this year by management who asked them to name their ultimate dream.
The responses ranged from swimming with dolphins and seeing the Northern Lights to road trips to an American music festival.
Each dream was then written on a “dream ball” and placed in an old fashioned candy dispenser.
Each month – provided the company is hitting its targets – one of the dreams is chosen and the firm makes it come true.
'Happy ball'
Stella added: “Another nice thing we do is have a ‘happy ball’ machine.
“We all had to put something we thought would make others happy inside a sort of Kinder Egg before putting it in the candy dispenser.
“If ever we saw a colleague having a bad day then we would give them 20p to get a ball from the machine.
“We all got very creative so there was everything from a USB stick with comedy on it, to a nice quote by a philosopher and a voucher to buy some flowers.”
Predictably the company’s staff turnover is at 0%.
'Fantastic morale'
Miss Bayles added: “The last person I remember leaving was actually relocating to South Africa and desperately wanted to know if he could carry on working for us.
“It’s obviously good for business because there is fantastic morale and we build great relationships with our clients.”
WorldBlu, who compiled the list, describe themselves as a “global network of organisations committed to practicing freedom and democracy in the workplace.”
Their stated aim is to see one billion people working in “free and democratic workplaces”.
Democratic workplaces
Traci Fenton, WorldBlu’s founder, said: “Organisational democracy is a system based on freedom, instead of fear and control. It's a way of designing organisations to amplify the possibilities of human potential — and the organisation as a whole.”
The group list ten guiding principles which help create a democratic workplace including transparency, dialogue, fairness, accountability, choice and decentralisation.
The other Brighton and Hove firms to make the list were business consultants NixonMcInnes, online behaviour change programme Do Something Different, digital agency Bite and social media experts Brandwatch.
When The Argus went to visit Propellernet premises, we were ushered into the main office.
Health and wellbeing
The board room was unavailable because of a scheduled midday Pilates sessions.
Miss Bayles added: “That’s typical of the type of activity we hold daily.
“Five per cent of the company’s profits go into a ‘Health and Wellbeing Fund’.
“We then have appointed ‘Fun Ministers’ who along with the rest of the office decide how that is best spent.”
At present this ranges from regular massages and rock climbing sessions to Wii tournaments and a free lunch out the Friday before payday.
The company also prides itself on everyday extras such as a scheduled lie-in on your birthday, regular beach walks, a huge office fruit bowl and bake off competitions.
Ray Richards, founding director of Do Something Different, said: “I think that it’s great that Brighton and Hove is at the centre of this new way of working and I’m very proud to be part of that.”
BRANDWATCH BOX
“The difference is that we give a damn about our employees,” chief executive and co-founder Giles Palmer said.
“Don’t get me wrong – we are all about high performance. We want to compete with the best in the world.
“The office isn’t relaxed by any means. it is more of a work hard play hard atmosphere.
“If we as a company are performing then we will reward our staff.”
In recent months, the management have flown workers from the Berlin office for a party in Brighton – all expenses paid of course.
In their Queens Road office there is a table football table, a spread of breakfast treats but also a feeling of motivation and a buzz of creativity.
Last year the staff were taken on a sailing day-out and with profits above predictions for this year, the management are discussing chartering a plane to take everyone to the South of France.
Mr Palmer added: “We figured, we spend up to nine hours a day in here so we might as well make it enjoyable and rewarding.
“We pay well, have nice offices with sea views and run plenty of staff initiatives and it pays off.
“We have offices in New York, Chicago, Berlin and Stuttgart and want to be competing with the best in the world.”
BITE BOX
AT Bite’s West Street office you are more likely to find the 20 or so members of staff around the office pool table than the boardroom table.
Managing Director Neil Witten, said: “We want to make sure the people who work for us want to work for us and share our values.
“We want them to have a level of autonomy so that they feel a part of the organisation. I think that is really important.”
Along with a profit share system, the company provides private healthcare, flexible work hours, gym membership and regular socials.
The office is open plan with the seating plan changing every few weeks to ensure everyone gets to work with each other.
Mr Witten added: “We have things like the pool room so that if people want a break they can have one.
“We try to be flexible like that. If someone needs to get out of the office and do a bit of work in a coffee shop or at home then that’s fine.
“If it is good for our staff then it is generally good for the business.”
NIXONMCINNES
At NixonMcInnes they celebrate failures in the Church of Fail.
The monthly meetings see employees gather together to share their failures in a “non-threatening” and “fun” way.
The Minister of Fail encourages each individual to reveal their recent failures to the group – to the sound of applause and cheering.
The idea: to remove the feelings of guilt and shame associated with failure and make it easier to move on and learn from mistakes.
The church is one of a number of initiatives which have seen the company included in the list for the past three years.
The management help monitor the happiness of their employees by having “happy buckets”.
At the end of each day, staff members drop a tennis ball into a corresponding mood bucket labelled either happy or |unhappy.
The management then marry up the results with what has been happening at that time and attempt to improve.
Transparency is also a key part of the office democracy with all employees having access to the accounts and budgets.
Pay rises and benefits are also agreed by an elected group of staff.
DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Do Something Different is indeed quite different as far as business ideas go.
The small Hove-based company describes itself as an Online Behavioural Change programme.
Individuals or organisations sign up and fill in an online questionnaire about their everyday behaviours.
The company then sends them a programme to help them change their unwanted behaviours to help improve their quality of life or business potential.
Founding director Ray Richards said: “I think we have been successful in getting on the list because of the nature of our work.
“We believe we can make a difference to individuals and organisations and we are very passionate about that.
“We have seen the impact it can have and that is extremely motivating.”
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