Balancing life and work

We feel that people are most effective at work when they have the flexibility, tools and resources to manage their personal lives. We work hard to keep our people fulfilled in their roles, giving them opportunities to increase their skills, to take on international projects and move between businesses, and to balance their professional and personal lives. We follow a set of global principles to guide how we reward our people that go beyond the issue of salary. These principles include providing compelling health, welfare and retirement benefits for all our staff to help them make the right choices for themselves and their families, providing locally competitive pay that recognises the relevant recruitment market, business sector and geographic region; using incentives to drive performance; and recognising the contribution of all our people. Each of our people has unique needs and we offer a variety of programmes and initiatives to complement these. Examples include flexible work arrangements, telework assignments, employee assistance programmes, back-up care for children and adult dependants, personal planning advice for elder care, sabbaticals, summer hours and convenience services. We know that our people are more likely to stay with our company if their role can evolve alongside any changes in their personal circumstances, and we will go out of our way to protect our most important assets.

Snapshots from 2009

Penguin UK has invested significant resources in creating an ergonomic, attractive workspace for our people, including sharing of river views, break out and common spaces, to produce a layout and furniture that is fit for purpose (including customising where appropriate). We also have controllable heating and lighting, surrounding aesthetics such as artwork and plants, regular upgrades of IT kit.