Best places to work in Nairobi

Jeniffer Padayatchy, area head of talent and organisational development at British American Tobacco (BAT) is another manager who admits that an enhanced work environment leads to good employee retention.

“Our employee turnover is in the range of three to four per cent. Even those who leave do so because of retirement or promotion." said Ms Padayatchy.

According to Ms Padayatchy, BAT has also enhanced its work station because of the number of young workers they have.

“We realised young people find working in Industrial Area unattractive and so we decided to have the kind of work environment that would get them interested in us.

BAT has a top-of-the-range restaurant for employees that operates 24 hours a day, a resource centre with a multimedia section, a mother’s room (for mothers to express the milk), staff clinic open to dependants, a gym, in-house travel agent, coffee stations and a pub.     

However, modern work stations are not only limited to Safaricom and BAT.

Craft Silicon Limited, a software making company, Standard Chartered Bank, Coca-Cola Kenya office, iHub and Google are other companies that have adopted the trend.

Craft Silicon opened the doors to its new building (Craft Silicon Campus) in 2009, equipped with a furnished guest house for internal use, a swimming pool, table tennis and pool table set inside the office, an ATM machine, equipped gym, a coffee bar named after the company (Silibar), a football and basketball pitch and a life size chessboard.

At the roof terrace, is an extensive eating area with parasols and chairs off the kitchen. The balcony lends the view of Waiyaki Way from the front and Kianda School area at the back.

Every Friday evening, the company organises a barbeque and Karaoke at Silibar for employees to unwind and mingle. No doubt, the environment inspires creativity and innovation among employees.

As for Standard Chartered Bank, the green building on Waiyaki Way that cost Sh3.3 billion to set up was built with three objectives in mind.  

“In putting up this building, the bank looked to achieve a number of objectives. First, to have a head office that was reflective of our image and to make a statement as a leading brand in East Africa. Secondly, to provide our staff with a pleasant and conducive working environment where they could increase collaboration and creativity. We also sought to have a building that was environmentally friendly,” said Annie-Kigira Kinuthia, head of corporate affairs.

The building has meeting suites, cafeteria and conference suits.

“The collection of artwork is a visual expression of the company’s diverse culture and a representation of our key markets of Asia, Africa and the Middle East,” explained Mrs Kinuthia.

Google is another company that has raised the bar for corporates wishing to enhance their work environment.