Personnel Today Awards 2024 shortlist: Health and Wellbeing

The Health and Wellbeing Award highlights how employee initiatives in health, fitness, or wellbeing have a positive effect on performance. The judges are interested in the commitment of an organisation to the welfare of its staff and their benefits. This year, the category is sponsored this by Bank of Ireland.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Bright Horizons reported a 40% rise in mental health cases from 2022. Nearly a third expressed concern about their emotional well-being. Bright Horizons, whose staff retention rate was below its 80% target in 2023, recognized the need to improve mental health support.

The company’s emotional wellbeing program was improved after reviewing data and feedback. The company upgraded to a 24/7 trauma counselling service and introduced the THRIVE wellness app which offers mental health assessments and cognitive behavioral therapy as well as physical wellbeing resources. The company launched a wellbeing ambassador program to help staff with wellbeing conversations, resources, and training.

The THRIVE app has shown positive results, with a significant decrease in anxiety and depression amongst staff. The number of severe depression and anxiety cases dropped by 70%, respectively. The staff now report an improved mental health. And the Great Place to Work survey for 2023 showed that a 4% increase in employees agreed that their workplace is psychologically healthy. A 10% drop in agency spending and a reduction of 10% in staff turnover led to a greater level of team stability. These initiatives contributed to a better work environment for Bright Horizons and a higher quality of care provided to the children they support.

Centrica partners with Benefex

Centrica, an international energy company and services provider with 20,000 employees in 20 countries, includes 7,000 engineers on the road. The average age of employees is 37 with a gender ratio between 30% and 70%. Centrica’s proactive strategy in 2023 focused on improving employee well-being. The OneHub Wellbeing App, which offers a comprehensive range of emotional, financial, and physical support, was launched to expand the existing wellbeing support. All employees can access the app, including British Gas engineers. It includes features such as yoga, nutritional advice and 24/7 GP accessibility.

Centrica launched the “Pathway to Parenthood” programme to support employees facing fertility and parenting issues by offering PS15,000 to help pay for treatments such as IVF or adoption. Centrica offers wellbeing support to all employees regardless of their personal circumstances in order to foster inclusivity. A new communication campaign included wellness roadshows and town halls as well as talks by guest speakers.

Centrica has experienced positive results. 79% of its employees have signed up for the app. 4,000 wellness tests were completed. And employee mood increased by 12%. Over 19,000 employees joined the healthcare plan of the company, which has reduced absences and improved work-life balance. Employee retention has increased by 12% and those who have enrolled in the healthcare plan returned to work faster than usual.

Currys

Currys has identified employee well-being as a priority for 2020, especially following feedback from the engagement survey. Pandemic’s efforts were accelerated by the feedback received from employee forums. This helped to transform a previously unstructured strategy into a strategic approach. The employee forums enabled employees to bring to light the issues that affected their well-being, which allowed Currys to customize its strategy to different departments and roles.

The Wellbeing Corner was a key initiative, as it is a platform that contains all resources related to wellbeing. Employees have used this resource extensively. Currys has also integrated wellbeing checks into performance reviews, and will train 450 mental first aiders in 2021. As a way to thank employees for their hardwork during a difficult year, Currys also provided them with an app subscription called Calm.

Currys, in partnership With Champion Health, launched a proactive wellness strategy that focuses on prevention. The partnership provided employees and their family members with access to personalised wellness plans. Salary Finance was able to offer employees affordable loans and financial education through their collaboration.

The company also created a series of guides for managers and colleagues to help them navigate difficult situations, such as bereavement or how to support someone in crisis.

Positive results were achieved, including improved wellbeing and engagement scores. Currys is continuing to develop its approach to wellbeing support, making sure it’s inclusive and tailored to each individual. New policies have been introduced for IVF, gender-reassignment and menopause among other areas.

Dishoom

Dishoom believes that the well-being of its employees is crucial to its business. Dishoom implemented several initiatives to promote wellbeing in response to the recent challenges. The Yulife app encourages physical activity with rewards, the virtual GP service allows for easy access to healthcare, and the Meditopia stress management app. Employee assistance programmes provide confidential support to employees for both personal and professional problems.

All managers are trained in mental first aid, and wellbeing sessions are offered regularly. Monthly fitness classes and bike checks are offered to support physical wellbeing. Dishoom addresses financial wellbeing by offering financial planning sessions, improved payslips and tools such as PayCaptain to manage finances.

These initiatives have had a clear impact on employee satisfaction. 89% of employees feel more valued and 88% report a better balance between work and life. A lower staff turnover rate has also been noted. Dishoom’s holistic approach to financial, mental and physical wellbeing has improved company culture and retention. It also boosted productivity. These initiatives have had a positive impact on team members, as shown by their testimonials. Dishoom is now one of the best companies in the UK to work for.

Pernod Ricard partners with Unmind

Pernod Ricard UK has been focusing on employee well-being for many years. In 2011, the company began implementing physical wellness initiatives. The firm focused on mental health during Covid as employees struggled to balance work and family life. It launched a comprehensive wellness programme that included resilience training and expert talks. In 2021, however, feedback from employees revealed that mental health issues were still prevalent, which prompted PRUK to increase its support.

Unmind is a platform that offers resources for stress relief, mindfulness, talking therapy and 1:1 counselling. The platform was quickly implemented, and tools such as single sign-on made it easy to use. PRUK launched a mental health festival as part of its wellbeing campaign.

Unmind’s partnership with Microsoft has been a great success. 36% of employees have used the platform within the first 90-day period. The employee satisfaction scores improved significantly, and many employees praised the initiative. PRUK has increased the number and type of therapy sessions over time. It also introduced couples counseling, demonstrating its commitment to mental wellness.

The initiative has increased employee engagement and well-being, with scores of employer interest in wellness rising above the average industry score. The Unmind program has been adopted by Pernod Ricard’s other locations around the world, ensuring that mental health is a priority for the entire company.

South Western Railway

SWR’s three-year strategic plan includes a commitment to support all staff through a wellbeing strategy. This is in response to the challenges presented by the cost of living crisis and the changes in the industry. SWR’s three-year strategy includes a commitment for all employees to be supported by a wellbeing plan. This is aimed at increasing knowledge about mental illness, developing trauma-related strategies and making wellbeing support available to everyone.

SWR has introduced a number of initiatives over the last year. The Trauma Risk Management (TRiM), training program was implemented to assist staff in coping with traumatizing events that they may experience at work. This training provides employees with the tools they need to maintain their mental health, and recognize signs of distress among others. A new policy was also developed to address pregnancy loss and offer support for those who have suffered miscarriage or stillbirth.

SWR has introduced a coordinator for the protection of staff against verbal and physical abuse. Defibrillators were also installed in 150 stations for cardiac emergencies. Over 100 times, emergency call handlers have accessed their location since their installation. In April,

Defibrillators were installed at Gillingham and Bournemouth. The installation of life-saving equipment, and the quick actions of colleagues involved in the project have saved lives.

The company expanded its ActiveHub Partnership, introducing guided walks and football tournaments to improve physical and mental well-being. These initiatives were well received. The defibrillators, TRiM training and other initiatives are already having a positive impact on the company.

Zopa Bank

Zopa’s success is based on the wellbeing of its employees, also known as Zopians. Zopa’s new people experience function spent 18 months redesigning employee experience to ensure Zopians felt supported. The revamp included improved benefits that supported life events, flexibility and financial health as well as personal growth. Media attention was drawn to the 120-day option of working abroad.

Zopa has taken several measures to help its employees during the crisis of rising costs of living, including raising wages for entry-level employees and giving cash bonuses to those with lower salaries. The company also launched popular health plans and counseling sessions. Zopa’s initiatives such as income protection, mortgage guidance, and subsidised will-writing helped improve the financial health of employees.

The company emphasized creating a feeling of belonging through the inclusion of non-business related topics in company meetings, and by offering trainings on neurodiversity and issues such as menopause. The company also implemented practical measures like training menopause advocate. The advocates, like Zopa’s Mental Health First Responders, are the first point of contact for anyone suffering from symptoms of menopause. The advocates invite experts to give open sessions on a variety of topics including nutrition and symptoms management.

Zopa has seen its efforts pay off with a reduced staff turnover rate, an increase in tenure and high employee engagement ratings. It invests in its staff, which has positive results for both the workplace culture and investor support.