Operations Manager Cheryl pours huge amounts of energy into our Employee Wellness Programme, she explains why it’s so important; “A few years ago we really looked seriously at our Health and Wellbeing in general for staff, not just on the physical side but also the mental
balance, home life split, everything. We put it out to the staff to find out what they would benefit from; we got neat feedback saying that they needed support in finding a good work-life balance. So we model our programmes around what the staff want.
Mental Health was a real issue around Covid time and we joined an Employee Assistance Programme to be able to support our team with experts. EAP is a massive programme that includes counselling services, financial planning support, drug and alcohol support, and lots more – there are many arms to it.
We are pleased to be able to offer such diverse support to the team to suit their needs, it helps us all to stay happy, healthy and enjoying our work.
The staff yoga has been the most popular initiative, the beauty of it is that it covers all those elements – it covers relaxation, ‘me time’ and it’s great to stretch and relax after a very physical shift on the floor. We have many amazing cultures on our team and the cultural food nights have been super successful because people have lots of herbs, spices and flavours from other countries that we have never tried.
My favourite experience was when our friend from Pub Grub came along to run a healthy kai session, and she brought a friend who turned out to be Natasha McAller, the prima ballerina who is now a culinary writer, and here she was sitting in the Social Centre helping us to learn quick, healthy family dishes. We felt very special!
I think the most important part of the wellbeing programme for us has been to be able to support staff when times get really tough in their lives. We have had some members of staff who have experienced significant grief and trauma in their lives, we have tried to help and equip people through the toughest of times.”
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