Here at Cala we are incredibly proud of our culture, it’s the driving force behind our business and it’s encapsulated in our vision - building a place to be proud of. We believe our culture sets us apart as a business.
Our four values drive our culture. Passion, Delivery, Quality and Respect run through everything we do.
Our culture and values aren’t words on a wall, we are constantly reinforcing how it should feel to be part of the Cala team. They are part of our training and development programmes and our continuous conversations approach to performance development.
“Cala’s culture is forward-thinking and people driven. Cala is always looking at how to improve and ensuring to take a ‘People First’ approach to change.”
Michael O'Donnelly, Head of Technology Solutions
Looking after ourselves and one another is a core part of our culture. We understand the challenges and importance of creating a healthy work-life balance and therefore want everyone at Cala to feel they can deliver in a way that is most productive for them. Above anything else, we want everyone to work in an environment that cares for their physical and psychological wellbeing.
First and foremost, this is about our approach, how it feels to be part of our team, and the ways we support our people to find the right balance.
Our leaders are supported and empowered to embed positive wellbeing practice across the business. We develop and share resources with our leaders to equip them with knowledge, and promote shared experiences and open conversations to role.
We want our teams to feel trusted to deliver for the company in a way that feels best suited to the needs of their role and is balanced with their lives. This means reviewing how we work and improving our delivery through a more outcome-based approach. As part of this, we run regular employee surveys to monitor opinions on Cala as an employer and the work we are doing for our people, which helps shape our local action plans.
Smarter Working is about trusting our people to get the job done in a way best suited to their role. For many, this will mean more choices in their way of working, including flexibility on where, how long and when they work. Moving away from prescribed working hours, fixed start and finish times, and an assumption that people need to be in a fixed location to starting with the premise that we will trust our teams to deliver what's needed and their performance will be measured on this basis, rather than the number of hours they work.
Cala have invested in a network of Mental Health First Aiders, to provide a listening ear and signposting for anyone who is struggling. To date, we have around 100 MHFAs and continue to increase this number and equip our MHFAs with up to date industry trends, knowledge and resources relating to wellbeing.
Cala began a national charitable partnership with Samaritans at the beginning of 2020, with the aim of supporting the charity's vital work across the UK while strengthening mental health and emotional wellbeing amongst employees and subcontractor partners.
We provide a range of benefits and resources to help support our people, when they need it most, such as our Employee Assistance programme and access to the Unmind app.
We want our people to feel able to come to work in a place where they feel comfortable, as themselves. We are passionate about providing an inclusive work environment, in which everyone can uniquely contribute and do their best work.
We know diverse teams provide different ideas and perspectives and can improve our decision-making, our products and services.
Alongside our focus on being a great place to work for all, Cala is striving to become a more diverse business. Our strategy touches the way we:
Cala’s Inclusion & Diversity Forum and Executive Sponsor keep us on track and focussed on our goal of becoming the favoured employer in our industry and beyond.
“My experience of being site based at Cala has been a very positive one. I have been well supported since I joined and never felt like I was taken on as the token women! However, I’d love to see more women on site, not all the jobs are manual, not everything is physical - women are more than capable. There just needs to be greater awareness out there of the possibilities for women in Construction and that starts by engaging at school level.”
Millie Belbin – NHC Trainee Assistant Site Manager
