TURNING the meeting room into a games room and installing a foosball table is one way that Guinness UDV (renamed Diageo at the beginning of this month) has invested a sense of fun into the workplace.
The company, which came third in the B&T Weekly and Stopgap Employer of the Year survey, is living by its credo of “Celebrate life. Everywhere, every day”.
“That’s what we’re saying we represent and if we’re not having fun in the workplace, well, it would be contradictory and we wouldn’t be standing by our values,” Guinness resourcing manager Vicki Ziogas says.
Foosball tournaments in the games room, along with a television and other recreational equipment are all designed to increase the fun levels at work.
“On the other hand, if there’s too much going on in the workplace and someone feels like they’d work better at home then they can do that,” she says. “There isn’t that attitude of ‘you must be at your desk all the time’.
“What matters is results. If we’re getting things done, getting the results, then there’s no need to change the way we do things.”
However, being successful doesn’t stop there and Diageo has a policy of constantly looking for ways to improve.
“We want the best people to want to work for us. We could promise the world, but if we didn’t deliver we wouldn’t be able to attract those people or keep the talent we do have,” Ziogas says.
The company places a strong emphasis on communication and accessibility at all levels but Ziogas says results remain the key focus.
