A few weeks ago, as the press releases cascaded upon my desk I fished one off the top: search engine giant Google had been named as the UK’s top place to work. Yet another award to add to its ever-expanding collection, which includes winning Fortune magazine’s number one place to work accolade in 2007. The upshot of this is that the company receives over 1,300 CVs at its Mountain View HQ per week. So, what makes Google such a desirable company to work for?

Search engine technology aside, one of the things Google is most well-known for is its creative workplaces. At the Googleplex employees can shoot pool while taking a break in one of several employee lounges. They also have access to a large ‘ideas board’ and two pools. And the fun doesn’t stop there, Google employees can also take an afternoon volley ball break and there is roller hockey twice a week in the car park.

Naturally, a company the size of Google has the budget to lay-on such extravagant leisure activities, not to mention free gourmet food. And its employees aren’t complaining. It looks as though those 1,300 applicants are going to be disappointed as Google has an incredibly low level of staff–turnover.

But, I wondered how and if this could work in practice for small businesses. Hayley Parsons, founder and managing director of insurance comparison site gocompare.com says that maintaining an element of fun helps to incentivise staff. At the gocompare offices just outside of Cardiff employees are able to take advantage of a Wii games console and an Xbox which will frequently be used by the team when people need to take a break. Added to this, they also have resident space hoppers “to race against each other if the more traditional methods of debating various issues don’t quite do the trick.”

There are benefits to this kind of relaxed approach. An employee at gocompare says she works ‘quicker and better under these circumstances’. Also, engendering a culture of trust within an organisation can only be a good thing. Trusting employees not to use such facilities inappropriately is no mean feat, especially in today’s culture of ‘presenteeism’. 

Fostering a less formal style of work is proving ever-popular. Members’ club One Alfred Place is in the process of building a third large room to add to its catalogue of boardrooms and meeting rooms. But the new meeting room will be different. It is to be designed as a creative space, with whiteboards and group seating areas to replace the more sterile, traditional boardroom.

As ever-creative workplaces become the norm, can your business afford to be left behind?