Tuesday 20 March is the International Day of Happiness. Here at Carpenter Oak, we value the happiness of all who cross our path. With a little help from the web page of the International Day of Happiness, I thought I’d check in to see how we are doing. Ten Keys to Happier Living is based on an extensive review of the latest findings from the science of wellbeing. The research highlights the areas that make a big difference to our happiness and are within our control. Let’s check in with the first five…
Giving
Giving is good for you. When you give to others it activates the areas of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection and trust.
Carpenter Oak likes to give back by supporting sustainable forestry. We support planting schemes throughout the UK by working with and advocating the Woodland Trust.
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity. They protect and campaign on behalf of the UK’s woodlands and trees. They want to see the UK rich in woods and trees, enjoyed and accessible to everyone, valued by everyone.
Relating
Our happiness influences the people we know and the people they know.
As an employee-owned company, we put our employees at the heart of our business. Communicating and engaging with our staff is of great importance, their happiness and understanding of our values feedback to our customers resulting in a positive journey for all involved.
Carpenter Oak share a belief in a fairer way of doing business, where everyone can share in the wealth that it brings. Employees have a voice that informs the leaders of the business, they contribute in a way in which the wealth and profits of the company are distributed.
Exercising
A healthy body, a healthy mind, being active makes us happier.
Timber framing is a hugely physical job. Our carpenters do plenty of exercise in lifting and turning huge lengths of timber, chiselling, sawing and stacking and that’s just in the yard. Out on site, most of our frames are completed within a week. The team of carpenters that cut your frame join it on site, erecting frames in all weathers, seeing each aspect of the frame through from start to finish.
Awareness
Learning to be mindful can improve our well being. Noticing the little things around us helps us to appreciate what we have.
Most of our customers come and visit us before embarking on their timber frame journey. For many, it is a moment of clarification, a recognition of all that goes into providing their perfect home. The smell of timber, the colour, lustre, texture and grain. The infinite detail and precision that comes from the carpentry, architectural detailing and engineering.
Trying out
Learning helps to give us a sense of achievement whilst boosting our self-confidence and resilience.
We have several apprentice carpenters who work alongside our more experienced ones. Most of our carpenters came to us as apprentices and have stayed with us to become team leaders and senior carpenters. Much of our office staff have come from the carpentry team and some of our carpentry team from the office. Allowing employees to learn new skills and move in any direction through the company which supports our business, enabling us to retain our valuable employees.
If you are interested in joining the carpenter oak team you can register your interest with us.
I think we are doing a great job of instilling happiness into Carpenter Oak but don’t just take my word for it. Here are some of the things that make our team happy and the reasons why people enjoying working at Carpenter Oak.
“The warmth of the material, the fact it’s renewable and that with basic tools and your hands you can transform it into something practical and beautiful.”
“The people, everyone is great and the atmosphere here is really nice.”
“Making something you can take pride in.”
Steve Houston
“Constructing great buildings, with a great eclectic bunch of people in the most beautiful part of the world.”
“The open music policy in the workshops, you never know what you’ll hear next, although ear defenders help from time to time!”
Matt Ralph
the company is very people focused, creating a very enjoyable, supportive and fun place to work. There is also the bike ride to work, a great way to start the working day and the opportunity to cook your breakfast on the stove.”
Liam Kelly
“Creating something clever and beautiful with my hands and respecting a living material.”
Charles Behra
“I love anything to do with wood and being creative, so to be able to combine both of these passions and be part of a team that produces such a beautiful end product is incredibly rewarding.”
Tom Dixon
“So many, but the people I work with win by a mile.”
