Applied Language finds a work-life balance

Some may not have thought it possible but over the last year Applied Language Solutions has been working to further improve the work life they provide for their staff. The ultimate aim was to gain recognition for their investment in staff, their continuous approach to improvements and the environment in which they work. This hard work has definitely paid off as this month they have been awarded the Investors in People Accreditation, The Work Life Balance Approach.

The balance between life and work is increasingly important for today's organisations as issues such as; decreasing loyalty, stress, and lack of motivation continue to have detrimental effects. The Investors in People Work Life Balance Model encourages companies like Applied Language to look at the issues that affect them and identify relevant solutions through a practical and easy-to-use framework.

Grace Chatten, the Staff Champion at Applied Language has worked extremely hard with all members of staff, over the past year to ensure that all of the work-life balance requirements were met.

Grace said, “We have greatly benefited from this accreditation. This model has allowed us to build on our staff commitment, improve quality and offer better services by simply focusing on how to help the team deliver the company’s objectives.”

Applied Language has always taken great pride in the benefits they offer their staff. A fortnightly 20-minute massage in working time and an annual “duvet “ day, to stay at home in bed, and free daily fruit are among the unconventional ways in which the International Translation Company ensures that its employees remain energised, highly motivated and enthusiastic.

Grace said, “The staff are one of the main driving forces of the Company. Our services are provided by the whole team at the Applied Language so we strongly value each member equally. In order to do this effectively, we held focus groups and distributed a staff opinion survey offering everyone the opportunity to suggest new and useful benefits. “

As Applied Language already provided such a healthy work environment, they had to go above and beyond the call of duty, in order to achieve the work-life balance status.

The feedback from the focus groups resulted in a mid-week massage to ensure full refreshment, a no smoking policy was put in place prior to the national smoking ban and the monthly corporate newsletter was modified to include more staff friendly content and has now adopted a more fun and enjoyable format.

“We have also organised many team building activities as we feel this is significant to successful working relationships. Social events are planned regularly for staff to enjoy which include wine-tasting evenings, scavenger hunts and walks for charity.” Grace said.

Innovative human-resource management and close detail to the Work-Life Balance model has definitely improved the working environment for all members of the Applied Language Solutions Team and has helped the Translation Company in its’ growth.

In just four years Applied Language has expanded from a one man business to an International Translation Company boasting a 90-strong team and 9 offices in England, France, India, Spain, Bulgaria, US, Guatemala and Hong Kong.

They currently have 1500 in-country translators who translate all kinds of documents from simple letters to large technical documents for specialist Medical, Legal, Financial and Marketing organisations, including whole websites and printed catalogues in 140 languages.