Zen Communications

Zen’s a pretty special place to work – and that’s largely down to our incredible Managing Director, Fliss. So, we were delighted to hear she’s wowed the judges and reached the finals of the Best Business Women Awards 2019.

Fliss was nominated in the ‘Best Boss’ category and will find out on Friday 11^th October whether she’s won (although she’s definitely a winner already in our eyes!).

We’re not praising Zen’s founder because she pays our wages, we’re so proud of her because she’s spent more than a decade ensuring every member of the team has a fantastic life/work balance, and is truly supported to grow and learn both personally and professionally.

Everything she does is about making Zen a supportive place to work, whether it’s dedicating her time to one-to-one coaching, organising activities everyone will enjoy (rather than the boring compulsory corporate team building days some other companies endure), picking out the perfect presents for Christmas and work anniversaries, or making sure we all have a fun, self-indulgent day off for our birthdays.

The judges from BBWA were impressed by the ‘truly flexible working’ policy Fliss has implemented at Zen – meaning we can work from home/the coffee shop/wherever suits, begin at 7am so we can pick our children up from school, or alter our hours so we miss rush hour traffic. Our ‘Fifth Day’ policy sees the team given the option to condense their working week into four days and take the fifth day off – this isn’t about Fliss dictating everyone must take a Friday off, but instead giving everyone the flexibility to choose which days they’d like to work (and a real appreciation that we’re all adults who should have the responsibility of deciding our own schedules)! Also, we never miss our children’s sports day or Nativity play (nor are we made to feel guilty about leaving work to attend these important events!).

Providing health and wellbeing sessions and a whole host of employee benefits, working hard to maintain a fun and productive working environment, and promoting the idea of everyone having a say in the direction and success of the business are all a focus for Fliss – who somehow manages to combine running Zen with being a One of Many coach, a member of the Professional Speaking Association and a mother of two small children too!

We’ll be sharing the result of the Gala Final on October 11^th so make sure you check out our Facebook or Instagram pages on the night!