A North West law firm has been named among the UK’s best employers for the third year running.
Harrison Drury, which has offices in Preston, Garstang, Lancaster and Clitheroe, has been included in the prestigious Sunday Times list of the ‘Top 100 Best Small Companies to Work For’. The list is compiled after an in-depth study of how businesses treat their staff.
The firm debuted in the Best Companies list in 2016 and repeated the feat in 2017. Over the last few years, it has introduced to a wide range of initiatives to engage with staff and promote employee well-being.
The 2018 Best Companies lists were revealed at an awards ceremony held at the Battersea Evolution venue in London’s Battersea Park.
John Chesworth, executive chairman of Harrison Drury, said: “We’ve gone from having around 60 staff when we first went through the Best Companies process three years ago, to having 120 employees now.
“When any business grows rapidly, the challenge is to keep the culture which made it successful in the first place. To double staff numbers and still score highly for employee engagement is a huge achievement and is testament to everyone at Harrison Drury who has worked tirelessly to make this possible.”
April-Jayne Barnes, HR manager at Harrison Drury, added: “Attracting and retaining the best people is one of the greatest challenges any company faces. Our culture of putting our employees first helps us stand out from the crowd.
“A major focus this time has been on work-life balance. Having a happy and healthy workforce means our clients benefit too. Our attention now turns to striving to make it four out of four Best Companies awards next year.”
The Best Companies survey examines company life and reveals how employees really perceive their working environment. The research looks at factors such as working conditions, company values, staff’s opinion of their managers and how valued they feel.
In the last 12-months, the firm has championed a healthy work-life balance and vowed never to increase billable hours targets. This allows staff time in the working week to focus on such things as personal development, training and volunteering opportunities.
Harrison Drury has also worked with a personal trainer to advise all staff on nutrition, exercise and mental health. It has also run boot camps to offer staff a chance to keep fit and active.
The firm also hosts quarterly staff socials so that each office has a chance to meet and get to know other members of the team.
It has also changed the format of its ‘one-to-one’ personal development process to ask employees what more the firm can do to help them achieve their goals while maintaining a better work-life balance.
