Invest Financially and Emotionally In Your Business

It may be an old adage, but it is true; you have to spend money to make money.

For us as a film production company, we have to invest in state-of-the-art kit to make sure that we are staying ahead of the game and beating the competition. But ‘spending your money to make money’ goes beyond having the latest lighting rig, laptop, camera, hiring assistants. It extends to making where your work as vital as how you work.

Nomadic UK filming a garden furniture shoot on a sunny day.

It’s the little things that get overlooked. Renting a bigger office so that you and your staff aren’t squashed together like sardines in a can doesn’t just make you feel better about rolling into work, it also makes your staff feel more positive too and consequently drives productivity. Having work away days, investing in your staff’s health with workplace exercise/fitness classes, ice creams on a sunny day, etc.; they all add up to create a place where your staff are happy to spend an average of 34 hours 26 minutes a week. Yes, it is important to make prudent financial decisions for your business but skimping on treating your staff well is not where to save a few pennies.

Finally, whilst we know that you might be told otherwise and Forbes certainly says it’s not necessary, here at Nomadic Creatives, our guiding principle is that people who feel loved, work better, which is why we try to go above and beyond just buying nice coffee machines, delicious lunches, decorating regularly, etc. to make sure that we are cultivating a workplace environment where our staff feel like they can be open, honest and feel valued. (Although we know that a great cuppa joe on a rainy Monday morning can certainly be the ‘hug in a mug’ you needed to get going!)

Harvard Business Review agrees, saying “Employees who felt they worked in a loving, caring culture reported higher levels of satisfaction and teamwork. They showed up to work more often…” So what does this look like? How do you make your co-workers and employees feel loved? It goes above and beyond spoiling your staff with exciting team building days out and investing in the best kit. It means connecting with your staff on an emotional level so that you are helping to cultivate a positive emotional culture where joy and pride dominate and where every staff member “fosters greater affection, caring, compassion and tenderness”. A workplace with a strong culture of companionate love reaps the benefits of “employee satisfaction, productivity, and client satisfaction that comes with it”.