Shirley Halse, marketing and events executive at Brainlabs, explains why Daniel Gilbert should win the Leader of the Year category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition:
I’d like to nominate Daniel Gilbert, Founder of Brainlabs for leader of the year. I think my nomination is best explained by his own words, sent in a recent email to the company: ‘my number one priority in life is creating an amazing place to work’.
With this in mind, as well as establishing a hugely financially successful company, Dan has also created a place where people really want to work.
We have free yoga, Friday drinks and unlimited holiday. Dan places real importance on staff wellbeing – physical and mental. But the real result of Dan’s emphasis on collaboration, communication and collective responsibility can be seen in the initiatives from staff themselves. His motto is ‘you are the culture’, so if we want to change something, we can.
This week Olivia set up the Brainlabs Choir and another Dan set up Brainlabs Supercircuits. Last month Ryutaro set up a monthly giving campaign – Dan Gilbert promised that the company will match what staff donate. This flourishing culture nourishes company growth.
All entries which meet the competition criteria are published and our judging panel select a shortlist of the top three for each category. Winners are announced at an awards ceremony in summer 2016.
