A great year for Great Place to Work recognition at Zen

2026 has been a great year for Great Place to Work® recognition at Zen.

In fact, we’ve been awarded in five categories, covering everything from career development and wellbeing to being placed among the UK’s best technology employers.

What makes these awards extra-special is they’re not based on a single visit from a judging panel – seeing us when we’re trying our hardest to look good. They’re based on confidential, anonymous feedback from the people who actually work here. The people who know Zen best, who have real first-hand experience of the kind of employer we are.

Five recognitions, one great workplace

Great Place to Work (GPTW) uses its Trust Index to assess a host of categories. But ultimately, it’s about workplace culture. It recognises different aspects of working life, including development, respect, fairness, and even job satisfaction. It’s a comprehensive list that helps GPTW to rank businesses across a range of categories.

And this year, Zen has been included in the UK’s Best Workplaces for Development, Wellbeing, Women, Tech and the overarching Large Organisations category.

That’s a real cause for celebration. It reflects our commitment to doing right by our people, and our most-fundamental long-term people objectives of Happy Staff, Happy Customers, Happy Suppliers.

Of course, we do recognise that there’s much more to being a great place to work than appearing on a list. Although the two are closely linked, what matters more is the experience our people have when they come to work each day.

Helping our people grow

Development is a key part of our mission at Zen to be a great employer.

For us, development doesn’t just mean equipping our people to be better at their jobs and achieve career progression within our own organisation – though of course that’s a huge part of it.

It also means helping people develop in a host of other ways. That might be confidence in communicating with others, support when needed, and even developing in ways that will help them in their lives and careers outside of Zen. It’s a holistic approach that values each of our people as individuals, not commodities.

This year, we’ve listened to feedback from colleagues who’ve asked for clearer career pathways and more accessible learning opportunities.

As a result, we launched our HoriZen learning management system.

We’ve also introduced learning pathways and course catalogues to make development opportunities easier to find, and expanded access to learning resources through OpenSesame and LinkedIn Learning.

Our Inside the Team initiative helps colleagues understand different roles and explore opportunities across the business.

Supporting wellbeing, inclusion and connection

Creating a supportive workplace means recognising that people have different needs, experiences and ambitions.

We know that flexible and remote working are valued by colleagues, but so is collaboration within and beyond teams.

This has resulted in Zen providing more opportunities for teams and divisions to come together, while also reinforcing our communication about the ways our people are able to work in the way that suits them best.

We’re introducing dedicated wellbeing conversations during one-to-ones, appointing a Mental Health Ambassador, and introducing an annual events calendar to encourage colleagues to connect across the business.

We’ve been active in developing a more inclusive programme of activities, in consultation with our DEIB groups, and are taking steps to improve the way our divisions attract, retain and support women.

And we’ve also expanded our range of activities to include yoga sessions, quizzes, our inclusive people celebration, local initiatives and volunteering opportunities, and much more.

Turning feedback into action

The Great Place to Work survey gives our people an opportunity to share what’s working well across Zen and what needs to improve.

We’re always open to feedback, but we understand that colleagues might prefer to share their feelings anonymously.

Some of the feedback we plan to work on in the year ahead includes:

• Greater transparency around pay reviews and benchmarking.
• More opportunities to recognise individual and team achievements.
• Improvements to internal communication and collaboration.
• Greater employee involvement in decisions affecting their work.

We love to receive feedback like this, because it challenges us to be better. And that’s what Great Place to Work is all about. We celebrate being recognised as a great workplace, but we know that recognition comes because we listen to our people and act on their feedback.

That’s what helps us to keep improving. That’s what helps make Zen a Great Place to Work.