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In April 2022, we began trialling a 4-day working week. Whilst the introduction of a 4-day week is not brand new, adoption is still quite rare. A five-day week is now an outdated concept and we are proud to be part of a cultural shift that sees organisations moving from measuring based on hours worked, to measuring based on results.
Following the 100:80:100 model, we commit to 100% of the pay, for 80% of the time, in exchange for 100% productivity.
All Highgate employees are provided with Private Medical Insurance paid for by the company. We have included mental health support cover too which includes unlimited talking therapies, mindfulness app and online support community.
We welcome guest speakers to talk about wellbeing topics. Recently, we had a suicide awareness talk delivered by Steve Philip from The Jordan Legacy – a difficult subject to speak about, however a necessary one. We extended this talk to all employee’s family and friends too, as well as our sustainability and services partner, Agilitas.
We are a work anywhere organisation, believe that ‘work’ really is something do, rather than a place you go.
Linking our sustainability strategy with our wellbeing one! This year we have provided all employees with litter pickers and wildflower seeds. We also encouraged our teams to take a couple of hours away from their desk to go litter picking and plant the seeds. It has been proven that spending time outdoors and gardening can boost an individual’s mental health.
Time is the most valuable thing we have and we want to give our employees more of that time back. In March 2022, we changed our working hours from seven and a half hours a day to seven hours a day, with no impact on salary. This reduction gives our teams 10 hours a month back to spend with family, loved ones, doing hobbies or activities, or whatever they feel is important to them.
We work with Ultimate Resilience, a team of psychologists to run independent employee satisfaction studies. It is important to ensure we maintain and improve how our employees feel.
93% of staff agreed with the statement ‘I feel supported by my manager’
100% of staff agreed with the statement ‘I feel included and kept up to date with developments at work’
93% of staff agreed with the statement ‘I feel happy with my work-life balance’
All employees are gifted their birthday off! We want to give them the chance to spend the day celebrating as they wish!
Being a 100% remote organisation, we think it’s important to give our team the opportunity to get together and grow relationships face-to-face. Every few months, Highgate hire out a conference room and the entire business gathers to work from there, just as they would in an office.
We also have partners attend these, where they get valuable 1-2-1 time with the Highgate teams.
Towards the end of each year, one of these office days is tied in with our Christmas event, where we conduct an end of year review and annual awards ceremony, giving the business the chance to recognise the growth and accomplishments of individuals in the business.
Highgate also host annual abroad trips, giving our teams the opportunity to spend time together and make memories.
To try and beat the notoriously difficult January Blues, Highgate dedicated January 2024 to our new ‘January Fitness Challenge’.
All employees were invited to join the challenge, the WhatsApp group and share their activities and progress over the course of the month. Team members recognised that being part of the group kept them motivated and even encouraged them to try new exercises that they hadn’t considered before!