CEO Benjy Leslie has been hailed as ‘UK’s best boss’ for his generous £20,000 spend on Christmas gifts and team holidays to exotic destinations such as the Maldives and Disneyland Paris for his employees. At just 25-years-old, Leslie, the founder of Connect Management—a leading social-first talent agency—maintains that looking after his staff is key to boosting their motivation to excel in their work.
In addition to lavish holidays, he’s introduced the ‘Santa Leslie incentive’, which allows the day’s top revenue earner to select a gift, including high-value items like a Rolex watch. The young entrepreneur believes the investment in his staff’s happiness pays dividends in fostering a positive workplace atmosphere, as reported by Manchester Evening News.
Speaking of his gratitude towards his team, Benjy, from Willesden, London, added: “I love giving back. Business owners sit on huge amounts of profit. For me it’s about sharing my gratitude. I have got a really happy work force – with 89 per cent staff retention. We wouldn’t have profits if the staff were not happy.”
Benjy left his advertising job in 2019 and starting his own business the following year and his success has grown since. He said: “I took them all to the Maldives for the first year of the business doing well.”
Now expecting his influencers to make £18m this year, he is able to give back lots of different incentives. Benjy said: “I give a holiday away every month. It’s a tombola. It gives people that buzz and excitement. The more revenue they deliver to the business the bigger slice of the pie you get.”
He is also running his ‘Santa Leslie incentive’ for the second time running and has purchased loads of fun items. He said: “I got Celebrations, a Rolex, a holiday, iPhones. Every single day someone gets to pick a present.”
Benjy makes his team come in every single day to the office because he says working from home is “lonely” and “less productive”. He creates a fun office environment and makes someone bring in a game to play each morning.
He said: “They bring a game and that brings the energy in the morning. On a Friday afternoon we do gratitude. Each person has to say something to someone that they are grateful for. It’s just a reminder – it’s such a fast paced world we live in and people need to be shown thanks.”
Recently Benjy also took the full team to Disneyland Paris for their annual Christmas trip. He said: “It was a thank you for everything. It was magical.”
Benjy said he does “expect a lot” from his staff. He said: “They understand what needs to be done. It’s a super amazing team. A lot of work places people resent their bosses and come in and do the bare minimum.
“I don’t feel we have that. You can’t buy that loyalty from staff. You can only earn it by being genuine. We do expect a lot but we hire the right people. If I treat people well they will work harder for me.”