Working Wonders of the Week - January 2023

We’ve burst into 2023 still on a quest to create work happiness for everyone and we are always looking out for, and sharing examples of brands, organisations and leaders doing great things who are positively impacting workplace culture, we love shouting about it!

In the current socio-economic environment we are also on the lookout for companies going above and beyond to retain their employees, creating new jobs and career opportunities.

We call them our ‘Working Wonders of the week’ and here are the ones we’ve spotted so far this year:

1. New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern , gracefully steps down from her position
2. Gymshark founder Ben Francis MBE demonstrates how to be a working dad role model
3. Santander commits to encouraging greater socioeconomic diversity of its recruits
4. 马莎百货 is bucking the trend and creating more retail jobs

New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, steps down from her role

It’s no coincidence that the news of New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, stepping down has made the news globally as much has been written about her progressive, human and vulnerable leadership style and the open and honest way in which she resigned. We think she is a great example of a modern leader, not just for the political world and think much can be learned from her leadership style.

Gymshark founder Ben Francis announces he is heading off on parental leave????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????We think it’s so important when senior leaders, not just women, talk proactively about their roles as parents so we were pleased to see Ben Francis, founder of Gymshark announce he was heading off on parental leave to support his wife who has recently given birth to twins (of course we loved the twin-thing too!). Also, it was so impressive to see him being awarded a well-deserved MBE too, he really is an inspiring role model for young people and parents too.

High-street bank Santander announces it will drops their historical 2:1 requirement of graduate scheme

Santander UK will no longer require applicants for their graduate scheme to work there to achieve a 2:1 degree or higher, as part of efforts to boost the socioeconomic diversity of its recruits. More importantly, it said that in doing so, it would lead to an extra 64,000 more applicants being eligible for its annual graduate scheme.

M&S is bucking the trend and opening new stories and creating jobs

Clothes and food retailer, M&S, has announced that it will open 20 new stores this year and create 3,400 jobs as part of a ￡480m investment across the UK as it recovers from the pandemic.

We always welcome Working Wonder of the week suggestions as well as anyone sharing which companies are hiring right now, please do comment below.

#Workhappiness

Calli Louis Nichola Johnson-Marshall