Meet Sarah! Office Manager at Stuart UK. She shared how important it is for her to make sure that the team at Stuart are happy and taken care of. A mission that was at the top of her list even before the pandemic.

Team leaders like Sarah are an essential part of the workplace. Our #JunoChampions series recognises and celebrates their work in the workplace.

Here's her story:

When I first started at Stuart we were a small team. The London office had an authentic startup feeling; we shared office space, everyone knew everyone and there was always something engaging to do together. Even during my first week, I was organising after-work drinks or pizzas at the office.

In previous jobs, I used to think that the dynamic with companies was come to work, 9-5, get your salary, don't complain. But soon, I realised that it was different at Stuart. They focus on creating a great work environment, where the employees feel comfortable coming in, contributing, collaborating, and helping them feel like they're part of a community.

I love being the Office Manager because it doesn't feel like a job to me, which is weird. After all, I never thought that could be possible. 

A big part of my job is representing the culture of the team. So whatever the team needs, fun activities, learning or development, I really try to listen to the needs of our employees and to make it possible for everybody.

When the pandemic hit, our main aim was to keep our people mentally happy on a remote level. So we put everything aside and just focused on keeping the team engaged and happy. I created an Engagement Committee with the team in the UK because I needed help; I was running out of ideas, especially for virtual experiences. 

I asked the team to suggest any benefits platforms that focused on mental health awareness and someone from the team mentioned Juno, I immediately thought it was a perfect match. This is exactly what we needed. We could find ideas for wellbeing and get the opportunity to update our wellness benefits. Before, everything was done manually, and the team didn't really use the stuff we had. 

We initially implemented Juno with the UK team, but the HR team quickly saw its value so we rolled it out globally.

Juno is a great platform; we love the fact that you can manage everything virtually and have everyone in one place. Plus, we found that Juno is completely aligned with our values and our views on work-life balance. I had seen two other similar platforms, but Juno's vibe and interactions with their team were so lovely and resonated with us. So there was no doubt in my mind that Juno would be the best partner for us.

The Juno team is excellent. I love it when other companies want to change the status quo, we all need to come together and try something new.  

Team members at Stuart really like the platform. They find amazing wellbeing ideas. It reminds them to think about their health, take breaks, and be more mindful. And that's a fantastic value that we can give to our employees.