After a coffee with a seaview at the breakfast bar inside his digital marketing company’s offices, Luke Quilter heads to his next meeting and dives in – literally.

The ball pool is where he and his team of more than 30 staff come up with ideas for social media campaigns and ways to get their clients on the first page of Google searches. It is also where they have a laugh.

“Everyone spends so much time at work that it is worth trying to make it an enjoyable place to be,” said Mr Quilter, 31, the managing director and founder of Sleeping Giant Media, which sits on the seventh and eight floor of the Civic Centre in Folkestone.

“The ball pit idea breaks down barriers straight away and means people can be creative right from the beginning. It has had a really positive reception.”

The ball pool is not the only measure taken by Mr Quilter to put his staff and visitors at ease.

They have built a breakfast bar where people can sit and look out to sea.

It curves round to a bar front, with pool and ping pong tables nearby. Staff relax in sleep pods or on an artificially-turfed chill out area.

The company also has a hidden boardroom behind a set of shelves mounted on a door.

All this does not come cheap. Mr Quilter thinks the firm has spent about £20,000 refurbishing its whole floor but the measures have brought results.

Turnover was more than £1m last year. To save on costs, staff have done a lot of work themselves, making the office a big DIY project.

“It is not expensive to do,” said Mr Quilter. “It is just about being clever and creative.

“From a financial perspective, it looks like a cost but actually the increase in activity and engagement is a real benefit.”

When it comes to keeping employees happy, the measures do not have to be as extreme as those taken by Sleeping Giant.

Lenham-based business coach Shirley Mansfield, author of the Grown Up Business, said: “If someone is working in a factory production line or in a call centre, where you are doing the same stuff all the time, it’s about having a good working environment which is clean, tidy, well lit and encourages people to talk to each other.

“Companies can get teams to socialise together on team-building events like bowling, playing darts or doing charity stuff.”

A sure fire way of making staff unhappy is poor communication according to Mrs Mansfield.

“One of the biggest problems is getting staff to understand why they have to do what you’ve asked. If management is not telling staff what is going on, people will make it up themselves.

“If you have got happy, smiley staff, you will have smiley customers.”

Independent mountain bike seller Biketart gets staff to organise shop ride outs to the woods to promote their products but also for teambuilding. It also runs night rides after work during the week.

“If you have got happy, smiley staff, you will have smiley customers...” - business coach Shirley Mansfield

The Canterbury-based company runs cycle challenges for charities like the Pilgrims Hospice. However, keeping staff enthusiastic can be as simple as involving them in the business according to director Lesley Lindsay-Watson, who set up the business with husband Adam.

Their methods have yielded results, with the firm growing from two to 12 people and two shops in five years. They have low levels of sickness, high staff retention and a strong work ethic.

“All our staff are cycling-mad so it’s easy to get their opinions about trends and new products for the industry,” said Mrs Lindsay-Watson.

“We include staff in conversations about new products and they all get to attend trade shows and meet our suppliers – their enthusiasm carries a lot of weight and we trust their judgement as riders.

“A can-do attitude prevails and Adam & I say thank you a lot.”

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