HomeBlogBeyond flexibility: building a culture where people thrive

Beyond flexibility: building a culture where people thrive

By: Lucy Tippett, 6 October 2025 Categories: Culture & engagement, Leadership

National Work Life Week 2025 is here in the UK (6 – 10 October), offering us a timely reminder to reflect on what makes workplaces truly supportive, balanced, and nurturing of growth. At The Juniper Co., our October snippet of inspiration, “positive encouragement is essential for growth,” perfectly captures this message.

Work-life balance looks different for everyone. Culture, trust, stability, and strong leadership all play a role in helping employees find it. Embracing an authentic and positive approach can foster a thriving, resilient workforce that can grow both personally and professionally.

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to feel stretched thin when managing work and home life. Many struggle quietly, but with the right support, where open, positive conversation is encouraged and acted upon, we can feel more connected, valued, and empowered.

Why positive encouragement matters

Work-life balance isn’t just about having a policy for flexible working arrangements; it’s about having a truly supportive culture. When encouragement is authentic and consistent, people can feel confident setting boundaries, asking for support when they really need it, and bringing their best selves to both work and life.

While having policies in place can help, it’s often the smaller, human gestures - a kind word, a moment of understanding, a reassuring check-in - that give people the confidence to thrive without feeling the pressure to keep spinning too many plates at once.

How we put this into practice at The Juniper Co.:

  • Remote and flexible working: Our team works remotely, coming into the office twice a week on days that suit us all. This balance maintains face-to-face connection without compromising personal commitments. For those on shorter weeks, workloads are adjusted and communicated to ensure they can fully switch off outside of work.
  • Shared diaries and transparency: Our open, shared diary approach lets everyone see what we have on during the week, helping to anticipate pinch points and offer support where needed.
  • Team Time and regular check-ins: Scheduled, dedicated sessions let us reflect on how we best work together, share challenges, brainstorm ideas, and support each other.
  • More than just work: Team meetings aren’t just about projects for us; they’re moments to share highlights, achievements, and worries, helping build trust and understanding, as well as sharing what’s going on in our lives outside of work.
  • Small, thoughtful gestures: Everyday actions matter: birthdays celebrated together, screen-free office lunches as a team, noting hot drink preferences, and lunchtime walks in cooler months all help people feel seen and appreciated, as well as providing important time to recharge.

Practical tips for employers

National Work Life Week is an invitation to reflect in a meaningful way on what helps people thrive. By embedding positive encouragement into everyday culture, employers can empower their teams to not only balance work and life but also flourish in both. Here are some places that you could start:

  1. Open conversations about wellbeing: Invite employees to share what helps them feel balanced and supported. Could you consider holding a lunch and learn on the topic for people to share their own ideas or experiences?
  2. Transparency in planning: Use shared calendars, chats and project boards so teams can see workloads, work collaboratively, and anticipate pinch-points before they become a stress-point.
  3. Encourage regular check-ins: Honest conversations throughout the week can highlight challenges, celebrate achievements, and adjust expectations before stress builds. Try not to think of them as just a managerial tick box during your week.
  4. Celebrate small moments: Birthdays, milestones, and even little personal preferences (like favourite drinks) can help people feel seen and valued. Feeling valued means wanting to show up to support your team.
  5. Lead from the top down: Leaders demonstrating empathy, flexibility, and encouragement set the tone for the whole organisation. Making time to review your practices and policies and not just brushing them off as a nice-to-have sends a clear message in terms of their importance.

Why not use this National Work Life Week to undertake your own reflection on this in relation to your workplace? Visit National Work Life Week - Working Families for more ideas, tips and resources to help get you started!