At Life Size, being an employee-owned company means our team is at the heart of everything we do. We strive to cultivate a culture that is welcoming, inclusive and respectful of employees’ personal circumstances and differing lifestyles. 

At our last annual meet-up, we collectively reaffirmed that wellness is a cornerstone of our values. It’s not just a principle we believe in; it’s an ongoing commitment we live by. 

In this blog, we’ll share our unique approach to wellness, explain why it’s so vital to our mission and reveal how we’ve built a supportive system for our understanding of work-life balance.

How we understand wellness

Let’s have a look at the etymology of wellness to establish why it’s so important for our success:

‘wellness’ > weleness (Middle English) = weal + –ness

The word ‘wellness’ derives from the Middle English weleness. Back then, weal meant ‘well-being’ and ‘happiness’, similar to the word we use today: ‘wellness’. However, it also carried another important meaning: ‘prosperity’, meaning economic success.

Wellness at Life Size, therefore, is two-fold. It allows us, as employees, to live fulfilling personal lives while supporting our professional success because we know that outstanding work-life balance is the key to achieving the best results for the company.

Systematisation of our core belief

Often, one states a wish for change but quickly forgets about it – like New Year’s Resolutions, for example. Why is that? 

It’s because New Year’s Resolutions lack a framework for achieving them. They can only be fulfilled if they are addressed,systematically.

The same applies to attaining work-life balance as a company. We understand that if a clear concept and strategy are important to us in our communications work, shouldn’t we tackle wellness in the same way?

Our understanding of work-life balance

Our system is simple. We keep an internal manual for all processes at Life Size, including the regulations, policies and processes concerning work-life balance. 

Here are some of the key themes covered in this manual: 

Work that supports life

Work is supposed to support life, not the other way around. 

Part of our work-life balance is the acknowledgement of families. By providing a structured framework for parental leave, we ensure we manage these processes fairly and transparently. 

We also implement an agile working culture, acknowledging that every person’s life looks different and supporting variations to normal working hours. 

Physical and mental health

We know how important breaks and rest are for maintaining a healthy body and mind. We have a clear policy that defines how we deal with absences due to illness or other serious issues. 

We also have written processes for dealing with client challenges, struggles with day-to-day workloads and general work-life balance issues. 

Fostering personal connection

Humans are social creatures and, thus, their place of work can have an impact on mental well-being. 

Forbes highlighted a survey of working people which showed that 25% had resigned from a role because of their co-workers. So how do we ensure friendly togetherness and support personal connection? 

As a remote company, we value the times we see each other in person and have clear guidelines on how to organise meet-ups. Our Annual Adventure offers such an opportunity. It is where every Life Sizer comes together for a few days and is usually the one time a year that we are all together as a team. 

We have at least two more in-person meet-ups for the regional teams throughout the year to help foster our personal and professional relationships. 

Additionally, we introduced the concept of the ‘coffee call’ – a short, casual conversation that can be scheduled with a colleague, mimicking the ‘I’ll grab a quick coffee and actually talk to my co-workers’ that happens in a regular office. 

It’s a valuable opportunity to virtually catch up with teammates in an informal setting, especially for junior colleagues and new starters who are more likely to need support and social interaction.

Personal growth and training

“We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” – Oprah Winfrey

Feeling stuck is often one of the main contributing factors to feeling out of place.

As a team, we actively push ourselves to cross our limiting beliefs. We encourage growth through personal training plans, as well as internal and external learning opportunities.

To reflect on our mission as individuals inside and outside of work, all team members create a personal purpose statement to give their work meaning and direction.

Creating the ideal working environment

We know that your environment has a direct impact on your mental well-being. Therefore, every Life Sizer is given access to all the essentials for a home office set-up that works for them, ensuring ideal working conditions and comfort to support their work-life balance. 

Volunteering

In line with our core values of wellness, diversity and sustainability, Life Size is part of the 1% for the Planet initiative. We donate 1% of our annual profits by volunteering our time to support sustainable and social projects in our local areas. 

Life Size: a place where individuality counts

Ultimately, by setting up robust processes, we have created a company culture that gives each of us room for development and capacity for our personal interests, while cultivating a strong team spirit where everyone feels motivated and empowered to achieve our collective goals.

We have put great effort into delivering on our work-life balance value so far but the work doesn’t end here. 

Our designated wellness team continues to work on our policies and further develop our processes – all of this being shared with the team every month to ensure transparency and alignment.

Connect with us on LinkedIn to gather more insights into the Life Size team dynamics.