Workplace Experience Award (small organisation): Happy Smiles Training C.I.C

WINNER: Happy Smiles Training C.I.C

About Happy Smiles C.I.C

Happy Smiles C.I.C is a disabled people-led social enterprise offering award-winning training that provides critical insights on disability. They are dedicated to promoting inclusion and diversity using lived experiences. As an SME with fewer than ten staff and over 60 paid trainers, their passion and agility to create a workplace rooted in trust, flexibility and lived experience is challenging traditional models that can be detrimental to disabled people’s physical and mental wellbeing.

Issue

Traditional, fast-paced workplaces often don’t give disabled employees the flexibility and support they need, which can affect their wellbeing. social attitudes, workplace culture, and even national policies can make it even harder for disabled people to access or thrive in employment. Happy Smiles C.I.C was formed to create an environment where negative attitudes towards disabled people are challenged and inclusivity, acceptance and positivity are truly encouraged.

What they did

Over 90 per cent of their workforce identify as disabled. This has shaped every aspect of the workplace experience. Rather than expecting disabled people to fit into rigid systems, roles, expectations and support are designed around real lives, fluctuating health and diverse access needs. Workplace adjustments are proactive, personalised and ongoing, with no requirement for medical proof. Support is based on trust and conversation rather than bureaucracy.

By implementing these measures, Happy Smiles C.I.C have created a workplace designed around sustainability, trust and lived experience. It is a place where people can easily access the workplace adjustments they need and wellbeing is embedded into the organisation’s culture. Wellbeing conversations are routine, workloads are actively monitored, and rest is normalised. 

In addition, roles are flexible and evolve with the individual employee, meaning responsibilities can grow or change as a person’s confidence, health and skills develop. 

Impact

They have supported over 60 disabled people into paid roles or introduced them to employment pathways. Many describe Happy Smiles CIC as the first workplace where they feel safe, valued and able to succeed. This demonstrates that when disabled people are trusted and supported, wellbeing, retention and growth follow.

The impact of this approach is clear. One staff member joined after long-term unemployment and social isolation and has rebuilt her confidence and wellbeing through supportive working practices. Another, who had never held a paid role due to access barriers, has grown into a confident trainer delivering work nationally, while another employee, who previously experienced burnout in rigid roles, is now sustaining employment long-term due to flexible expectations and ongoing adjustments.

Beyond individual outcomes, their workplace experience influences the organisations they work with. By modelling inclusive practice in their own team, they demonstrate that valuing wellbeing and inclusion leads to stronger, more resilient workplaces.

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