percipio.london: Mental health awareness week

A company is only as strong as the people who operate inside it – here at Percipio we take this sentiment seriously, knowing only too well that people perform better when they’re confident, motivated and focused. Creating a culture of positivity and supporting mental wellbeing ensures our small team – both individually and as a whole – is able to perform to their full potential.

As a fully remote company since 2011 (way before #WFH was a hashtag), we’ve constantly been revisiting how we work to ensure employees are engaged and feel valued whilst spending most of their time isolated in their home offices, and at the same time striving for the right work/​life balance for our company and the needs of our clients.

Employee engagement cannot happen without good mental health. In fact, research shows that when staff wellbeing is not supported in the workplace, employee engagement declines, which saps both motivation and performance levels. This means that as we take steps to support employee mental wellbeing, creating a culture of engagement and growth in our workplace, we’re having a positive impact on both staff motivation and loyalty – an absolute essential for our operating success.

We depend on having a healthy, happy and productive workforce and I’m confident we’re on the right path on this front – in the past two years we’ve had less 0.1% staff sickness, a true indication that we’re on the path to promoting wellbeing in the workplace.

It is now more important than ever for employers to recognise loneliness within a remote workplace. Percipio works hard to make sure employees’ wellbeing is a top priority and believes that enthusiasm and joy form the fabric of a great work / life balance.

We’ve touched on some of the extra-curricular activities we regularly promote in the workplace on our blog before during the ​“Covid years” , but seeing as it’s Mental Health Awareness Week and the subject is #Loneliness, here are some of the things we do to break free from the solitude that can be synonymous with working full time from home.

Every single member of staff is contacted every single day. This isn’t just a daily meeting, standup, scrum or development sprint – we ensure that we take at least a few minutes out on a one-to-one basis and actively engage and listen to our team. 

Primarily we use Slack as our communications platform and operate a virtual open-door policy – ie, anyone can call any of the senior team at anytime, no appointment necessary. 

We hold one voluntary team social every month. These socials give all our team time to switch off, have fun, and something to look forward to.

We have taken part in quizzes, virtual escape rooms, zoom drinks, virtual horse racing and game shows (to name a few). While there will always be some preparation involved, the overall impact on the team these sessions have tells us this effort is well worth it. 

We hold an in-person co-working session every month, either in London or in Europe. This allows us to collaborate on projects in person whilst soaking up a healthy change of scenery – a change is as good as a rest right? Even better we get to see our colleagues #IRL and not through the RGB vista of our laptop screen.

Physical exercise is vital for an individual’s wellbeing and we like to think we’re a fairly fit bunch here at Percipio. With this in mind, we have created our very own virtual run club on Strava, which has developed into an all-round exercise channel. Walking, running, cycling or a workout, anyone can join, and we all share our successes. 

We’ve clocked up well over 100 miles on foot this year alone! 

There are a fair few football fans here in the team, so it only felt right to have a weekly predictor league running. The predictor league has allowed our team to engage and laugh with one another – It is always a bonus that the winner earns themselves a prize at the end of the season.