At Tax Traders, we are known for breaking the pattern of business as usual and witnessing amazing things happen as a result. From our approach to celebrating key tax dates with our clients, to our incredibly responsive client services team, and our consistent prioritisation and recognition of our people, it’s obvious we are never satisfied with the status quo. We have a clear sense of who we are and what our vision is, and we are empowered to act on this. We believe that all businesses should take the wellbeing of their people seriously, and we are proud to model that behaviour for others and inspire change.
A highlight of our approach to doing business differently is Wellbeing Week; a week for our incredible team to rest, reflect, and celebrate the great work we’ve done at the end of our financial year. Of course, we place the wellbeing of our people front and centre every week, but Wellbeing Week is an invitation for our team to consider their ways of working, their inherent value as people and to pick up a new tool for their wellbeing toolbox.
This year’s Wellbeing Week, which ran from 17th – 21st July, was one for the books. Following the theme of All of You, each day focussed on a different part of wellbeing, starting with rest and moving through reflection, movement, self-talk, play and growth. It was a week chock full of nourishing breakfasts, bespoke gift packs, and of course, practices that reflected these key elements.
“Wellbeing Week reflects our belief that people are holistic and beautifully complex creations who have inherent value and dignity,” says Nicola Taylor, Co-CEO of Tax Traders. “We invite our team to bring their whole selves to work, and we understand we don’t have a work self, a family self, and a personal self – we just have self. This year’s Wellbeing Week celebrates the many facets of a person in an authentically Tax Traders way.”
Monday was our annual day of rest, a paid day off for our team to truly rest and relax however they saw fit. We sent them off with custom gift bags featuring personalised drink bottles, aromatherapy sprays, tea diffuser sets for winding down (or up!), and more helped set the tone for the week ahead and get our team thinking about what wellbeing means to them. Tax Traders co-founders Josh and Nicola Taylor took over the phones on Monday while the rest of the team was away, fielding enquiries, processing transactions, and getting to work directly with a few of our lovely clients.
With the team well-rested, we were ready to embrace self-reflection and introspection on Tuesday. It’s well-established that self-reflection is a powerful tool that can unlock potential in businesses, teams, and individuals. With this in mind, we gathered as a team and reflected on our collective successes and learnings over the past year across the business. Each team member then had some time alone to reflect on their own personal learnings and growth over the year.
“So often we reach a goal or finish a project and quickly move on to the next one without taking time to really unpack what we’ve accomplished,” says Carla Haugh, People and Culture Executive at Tax Traders. “Having dedicated time during Wellbeing Week to reflect on my growth as a person, and as a part of the Tax Traders team, helped me identify where I want to continue to grow and develop.”
Leadership and mindset specialist Dr. Jo Workman (above) joined us on Wednesday for a special session with the Tax Traders team. The discussion was centred around the power of mindset and practical advice on how we can help ourselves stay on track or get unstuck when our minds have other ideas. Through one-on-one exercises and open discussion, our team was able to leave the session with tools to develop and maintain resilience and a positive mindset.
Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning were all about having fun and connecting mind and body, with the team having the choice between a yoga or boxing session on Wednesday (spot a small portion of the team who chose boxing below!), followed by a few hours at inflatable world on Thursday morning to put a new spin on team bonding.
To culminate the incredible week, on Friday we spent time discussing our new career progression programme, Grow. The new initiative aims to make progression at Tax Traders clear for our whole team so our people can continue to feel inspired, motivated and valued at work.
Tax Traders friends and family members were invited to join us in the office on Friday for an evening of tacos, ice cream and games to close out the week on a high note.
We believe that any organisation of any size in any industry can benefit from focussing on wellbeing. If you have any questions about our approach to wellbeing and how you might be able to inspire change in your workplace, we would be happy to share our tips – just reach out!
