You know how great you feel when you’re fully being yourself. You’re relaxed, content, and more open to sharing your thoughts and ideas. When you’re around other people who truly accept you for who you are, it is a profoundly empowering experience: it creates trust, confidence and a sense of belonging. It seems natural, then, that we would seek out these same feelings where we spend most of our waking hours: our workplaces.
For many, wages and status are no longer indicators of workplace happiness. A 2022 article in The Guardiani cited a study of 23 million workers across the UK, US and Canada that found “The average UK worker would take a 10.5% pay cut to work for an employer where staff enjoy “above average” levels of happiness’. They defined happiness as “work-life balance, team and social relationships, enjoyment and a sense of purpose, in that order.”
Booth, R. (2002) ‘UK workers would take 10% pay cut for “above average” happiness, study finds’, The Guardian, 7 July, Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/jul/07/uk-workers-would-take-pay-cut-above-average-happiness-study (Accessed 8 August 2024)
To Jenny Royle, Strategic Lead and Partner at MediPaCe, team happiness is of utmost importance. Jenny believes that MediPaCe is an employer of choice because ‘We partner with respect – seeing and valuing each person for who they are and what they contribute’.
Jenny shares more of her thoughts on what makes MediPaCe a great place to work in the video below:
This is borne out by the rest of the team. At a recent away day, Charlotte Hooker, Research Executive, said she loves that she can bring her true self to work every day. ‘I’ve never liked the idea of having to put on a professional “coat” when I come to work because it’s not me…I don’t bring the best version of myself to work if I do that’. Charlotte says that being herself makes her more creative ‘[which] means that I deliver better work’.
The consensus is that MediPaCe really enacts its core values of compassion and understanding in all its interactions – with colleagues, clients and patients alike.
Sofia Nematollahi, Research Assistant, says that at MediPaCe, ‘people are our priority, and everyone in the team puts people first’. Speaking to its flexible working practices, Chi Pakarinen, Programme Lead, says that MediPaCe ‘respects your life…you get to build your working day around your life, instead of the other way around’.
Kellee Rich, a Consultant Writer, agrees. ‘I’ve been working with MediPaCe for eight months and I’ve felt like part of the team from day one. I feel trusted and respected as a professional, but I also feel seen as a full human being. I give everything to my assignments because I’m so happy to work with people who are genuinely kind and smart, and passionate about helping people.’
A huge driver behind MediPaCe’s success is the team’s passion for their work. When discussing patient involvement, though team members approach the subject from differing perspectives and experience, there exists a shared vision: wanting patient involvement to become so integrated into healthcare that it becomes conspicuous by its absence.
‘I’d like patient involvement to become part of everyone’s work, a natural way of working and something that people see the value in’, says Natalie Swiderska, Patient Involvement Lead. ‘I want barriers to be removed and to see more respect for lived experience.’
Charlotte Hooker loves the idea of using people’s experiences to make change in a way that benefits them. ‘I don’t think anyone’s more of an expert in their own health than themselves. We’re trying to enable people in a way that I don’t think you’d necessarily be able to do in other sectors. I think that’s really exciting.’
There’s no doubt that MediPaCe is a special place to work. Jenny Royle is proud of co-creating an environment where people can thrive, and really bring their full selves to the table:
‘I love that we are on our own course, making us unique amongst patient research and involvement companies by going beyond project work committing to healthcare transformation through large-scale collaboration coordination, our social responsibility, and our environmental responsibility. We go where we can make a difference and are driven by trying to do what is right.’
When you create an organisation based on values that are central to every decision and every project, it’s inevitable that you will attract authentic, passionate and values-led people to join you on your mission. From that place of trust emerges incredible work, the benefits of which go directly to clients and to patients, and feed back into the team, further building an environment built on passion, dedication and high-quality work.
