We discuss what it’s like to work at GAMA Healthcare and why it’s one of 2022’s “Most Loved Workplaces”.

Earlier this year, GAMA was named a “Most Loved Workplace” by Most Loved Workplaces®, an independent body that assesses, certifies and brands companies as workplaces that employees love.

It required submitting a detailed application and sharing a Love Of Workplace Index® to gather employee feedback. We were delighted to feature as a “Most Loved Workplace” and are proud that our GAMA employees love to work here.

So, what’s all the fuss about?

Let’s take a look at what it’s like to work at GAMA Healthcare and exactly what makes a “Most Loved Workplace”:

What are GAMA’s values & how do they align with teams?

Our values guide our people, our practices, and our culture – from having fun to finding new ways to innovate, these are part of what makes GAMA unique and the thread that runs through everything we do. Our values are:

– We are curious and innovative

– We win together

– We have fun

– We are passionate

– We are supportive and caring

GAMA employees defined our values so there is a real pride and a strong sense of ownership. We’ve also developed examples of behaviours for how to live and role model the values. We recognise and celebrate where employees role model these throughout the year.

Find out more: GAMA’s values

How do GAMA’s CEOs live the values?

Our joint CEOs founded GAMA Healthcare in 2004. At that time, they were NHS doctors with a vision to make things safer for their patients in terms of infection prevention and control. That remains the company’s purpose and both CEOs actively encourage people to “live and breathe” the values and ensure these underpin the foundations of our Strategic Framework.

Our CEOs have created a values-driven business and ensure this is reflected in everything we do: our relationships with our customers, our vision, our behaviours, the emphasis we place on the charities we support, our sustainability pledge and that we will always do the right thing, for example, during COVID our Clinical Directors went back to work in the NHS.

Visit: About Us on GAMA’s website.

How do teams collaborate?

At GAMA, one of our values is “We Win Together” – we each commit to playing our part to create great teamwork, and collaboration is at the heart of this. Our offices were designed specifically to foster and facilitate collaboration.

Post-COVID we moved to “hybrid” working where employees can work remotely 3 days per week and we therefore ensure collaboration continues in a number of ways:

• We encourage teams to have a day each week where they are all in the office together for knowledge sharing and collaboration.
• We have thriving Charity teams and Social Committees at each of our sites creating a vibrant and inclusive culture
• Online “Friday Learns” are held every week featuring updates from our CEOs and different departments.
• We introduced “Meet Your Colleagues” sessions so teams across the business can get to know each other.
• We hold regular face-to-face whole company updates and departmental team building activities to help communication and collaboration across the business.

To learn more about our Charity team, head to our Charity page.

What are the office environments like?

Our award-winning offices facilitate collaboration, socialisation, inclusion, fun and wellbeing. Some of the highlights include pool table, table tennis, and basket ball hoops, collaboration areas such as “The Floating Garden”, treehouse meeting rooms and a large kitchen for social dining as well as a dedicated wellness room (a quiet space with a “spa feel” where people can reflect and catch their breath).

We provide “Juice Tuesdays,” “Doughnut Wednesdays,” healthy breakfast every day, free fruit, array of hot drinks, cold drinks fridges throughout the building, snacks, a chocolate drawer and an ice cream freezer. Free onsite massages and off-site team building events at least twice per year, providing business updates but also focus on socialisation, collaboration and most importantly, FUN!

Watch video: What are GAMA Healthcare’s offices like?

How are opinions voiced & ideas shared?

We participate in regular engagement surveys through The Happiness Index (THI). In our last culture survey, we scored 8 out of 10 on the Happiness Index measure and 7.9 on Engagement Index. The Happiness Index average across all organisations is 7.4.

We also use the Employee Voice where employees can feed back comments and suggestions at any time (completely anonymously). Our CEOs hold drop-in “Enablement Sessions” where employees can provide feedback on improvements and enablers, and we hold regular focus groups at all our sites as well as “You Said, We Did” updates in terms of progress, changes and initiatives as a result of feedback. We actively encourage employee suggestions and participation through a range of channels including suggestions related to our “Fit For Future” and sustainability initiatives.

To find out more about GAMA’s unique culture, visit our Linkedin page.

How does GAMA support personal development?

Our CEOs have ensured that every employee has a Personal Development Plan and has a protected half-day every month to focus purely on their personal development in support of their current role or future goals and aspirations. Our employees also have a personal Contribution Plan which is their contribution to achieving team goals.

What other benefits does GAMA offer?

Physical

Subsidised gym membership, free massages, cycle-to-work scheme, free health checks, health and wellbeing seminars, “exercise challenges” where colleagues are encouraged to take part in challenges to “unlock” funds from our charity pot.

Emotional

Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders, mental health policy & tools including workshops, onsite wellness room, protected lunch time (no meetings), half-day development monthly. Our charity strategy also encourages participation and a sense of “giving back” and emotional connection.

Social

Social committees in all offices, games in all offices, “Meet Your Colleagues” sessions, and a charity strategy which encourages socialisation, teamwork, and exercise.

Financial

Health cash plan, group income protection and group life assurance, financial education webinars, 1:1 financial health checks, buy/sell annual leave, hardship fund, “my perks” like discount shopping, generous employer pension contribution and pension session.

If you’d like to find out more about life at GAMA, head to our Careers pages. Interested in joining the team? Take a look at our latest jobs on Linkedin.