The business world loves sports metaphors, whether it’s hitting targets, raising bars or building teams. For Paul Breslin, managing director Europe at gaming company Riot Games, the best results come from taking things to the logical next step and treating employees like elite athletes.
“Our philosophy is that we model ourselves on a sports team. We like healthy athletes to be part of our team because if your team is healthy you are more likely to win,” he says.
The company’s recruitment process plays a major role in ensuring the business attracts the right team members in the first place. “The hiring process here is long and deliberately so, because at Riot Games we default to trust. In other companies, trust is given out over time. Here we give it to you from day one,” says Breslin.
With that comes a sense of ownership. “We hire to elevate, not delegate. I mean, why hire great people only to go and tell them what to do?”
Once on board, the workplace environment is seen as a key tool in nurturing talent. “Nobody has an office here, it’s all very flat because we are all one team. Every wall is a whiteboard wall, designed for team collaboration,” he says.
To keep its “athletes” performing at optimum level, the company offers unlimited holidays. “We value results over everything. Once you get those results, you can do what you like. As a sports team, if you’ve won the league, you can do what you want,” says Breslin.
When at work, employees can avail of activities such as “laughing yoga” and meditation. “When you laugh it increases endorphins and you feel better. I’d much rather work with happy people.”
The importance of creating a work environment in which employees can thrive is important to Mikko Kuitunen too. He is the founder of Finnish software company Vincit, a word which, as he points out, “comes from Latin and means to conquer, or win”.
Its wellness culture stems from a simple belief that “happy employees make happy customers”. And he too believes that a lot of what makes employees happy is empowerment.
Staff at Vincit, many of whom are software developers, have the freedom to choose their own teammates and projects to work on. They also get free time to pursue personal interests in software development, up to and including time off to launch their own start-ups.
All salaries are publicly published and everyone can choose their own titles. “If one wishes to change the title, she or he just needs to order new business cards,” says Kuitunen.
The company offers in-house mentoring, personal trainer service, a family coach, a free gym and such perks as a napping room, an inside garden for meditation and healthy snacks on tap.
Kuitunen believes such a culture helps the company win the war for talent. “Our corporate wellness programme helps us to have thousands of great applicants per year, highly motivated people, less sick leave and a very low employee turnover rate,” he says.
Health days
It’s a sentiment echoed by Gemma Kennedy, high trust and engagement lead at Waterford-based biotech company Sanofi Genzyme. It employs more than 600 people for whom it runs regular themed health days, free gym memberships, nutrition plans and personalised exercise programmes.
Not only are such things the “right thing to do” but “there is also a direct benefit to the organisation in that healthier employees perform better, are more productive and contribute to a positive working environment for themselves and their colleagues. We also lose less time to absence through illness,” she says.
She sees “a real connection” between people’s physical wellbeing and how they perform at an individual and team level. “Employees are the most valuable assets to our company. By providing our employees with a comprehensive health and wellness programme, we support job satisfaction and work-life balance as well as raising retention rates.”
