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Wellbeing - How employees feel about stress, pressure at work and life balance
The Wellbeing factor is closely linked with Fair Deal. If the scores for Fair Deal are low, the first place we’d recommend you look is Wellbeing.
If Wellbeing is also low, it may be that employees are being worked too hard and feel they are not being fairly remunerated for it.
To mark Ultima's 30th anniversary in business in 2020, the company hosted a virtual get-together and sent every employee a bottle of Champagne celebrate. At Christmas everyone received a hamper and got together for an escape room challenge.
Ultima has put a huge focus on mindfulness, hosting drop-in sessions with an industry-leading practitioner. Each session has taught managers and employees how to live in the present, turn negative situations into positive ones, and how to cope with stress.
When its charity partner, Alexander Devine Children's Hospice, had to close to visitors, Ultima donated 30 tablet devices for its care team to use during home visits. The company also supports its local food bank, ReadiFood, with monthly donations and employees raised funds with a sponsored 100km challenge and a 5km Santa Dash.
UKCloud is committed to supporting employees' development, ensuring that it is tailored towards each staff member's specific ambitions and career path. A buddy system for new recruits provides a career mentor for people as they embark on a five-week programme of on-the-job training.
Colleagues found new and interesting virtual ways to use their social budget – £75 per head every quarter – while operating remotely. UKCloud believes this initiative has been pivotal in helping to maintain strong team interaction during a challenging year.
A Health and Wellbeing Week in January 2021 promoted practical strategies for feeling better. Senior leaders got behind the initiative, encouraging staff to exercise during the cold winter months. They have also been active in continuing to break down the stigma associated with mental health.
UK Flooring incorporates its values – customer, family, professional and driven – into all stages of its recruitment and training process. The company values were reviewed and re-established in 2019 and staff members who best demonstrate the values are recognised with annual awards.
The company's Wellbeing programme covers mental, emotional, financial and physical health. The senior management team is focused on looking after its people and will continue to be flexible about home working in future. UK Flooring has launched a step challenge for staff members and is setting up a book club.
UK Flooring sponsors Burbage Rugby Club and Barwell FC, based nearby on the outskirts of Leicester. The company donated £6,000 to local food banks in the run-up to Christmas 2020 after hearing that more people were turning to them for help. Branches used the funds to give out festive hampers.
Employees at all levels are passionate about what they do. They are committed to helping people reach their goals and expanding career opportunities through learning, and nurture the company's ethos – achieving excellence, inspiring, developing talent and collaborating for success – through every project.
With access to The Skills Network's portfolio of more than 100 distance learning courses, employees have plenty of opportunities to learn and grow. All staff are encouraged to work towards a qualification relevant to their post and some take further courses for professional and personal development.
A Pilates instructor delivered sessions to employees via Zoom to help people improve their posture while sitting at a desk for long periods due to home working. The Skills Network has sent out a Wellbeing newsletter to remind people of their entitlements under the employee assistance programme, and courses about mental health.
The Howard de Walden Estate promotes training and development within the wide-ranging roles in the property company, including tiers of management. Support is also available for further education where applicable to the role and the individual employee.
Daily and weekly meetings kept teams bonded in the past year using cloud technology that the company already had in place. Team members also got together online to boost morale with virtual cocktail evenings and a book club.
A personal trainer kept employees on their toes with weekly workouts, recipes and advice for staying healthy during lockdown. Excellent health benefits for staff at The Howard Walden Estate include 24-hour access to mental health advisers.
To encourage teamwork and create an understanding of what TDS does, new employees are introduced to the executives and key members of staff. Employees are trained to do other jobs in their department and encouraged to help out in other departments.
Staff have been sent regular gifts through the year, including a Christmas hamper – the perfect accompaniment for the virtual Christmas party. Other events included quiz and bingo evenings. The wellbeing team supports managers with any mental health issues in their teams and counselling is available through an employee assistance programme.
The TDS Charitable Foundation promotes education in the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords. It has awarded grants of £54,725 to five organisations since January 2020 and £808,1000 in total since 2014. The most recent round of funding took into account the effect of the pandemic on the sector.
Star performers are nominated by the partners for quarterly care packages. This could be a foodie treat, a trip to the theatre or a night in a hotel with their spouse and is always accompanied by a personalised thank you from the manager who put them forward for recognition.
Employees' health and happiness is paramount and every member of staff is entitled to a £300 annual wellness benefit to spend on anything they think will enhance their wellbeing. Berkeley also pays for staff to order plants or seeds to grow at home.
Even before Covid, Berkeley promoted the use of video and tele-conferencing – reducing face-to-face meetings with clients and the subsequent carbon footprint. Other green credentials include a local suppliers first policy and the provision of ‘real' crockery and cutlery in the office, to discourage the use of plastic items.
A monthly recognition and reward scheme, Appreci8, allows employees to highlight good work by a team member, who is rewarded with a £25 gift voucher. During the pandemic, when morale was low, boxes of chocolates were delivered to hard-working employees.
Flexible working patterns and webinar tips were introduced for working parents who were homeschooling their children during the pandemic. The Restorative Café series also included mindfulness techniques.
Tai Calon's Green Earth team helped council staff and volunteers to create a butterfly garden at the Blaina Community hub, with native plants and shrubs to attract and sustain a wide array of pollinators.
During the pandemic, leaders have used constant communications with employees. They have contributed to morale through the company's increasing corporate and social responsibility initiatives. The company's leadership has led by example and remained accessible to employees throughout.
During lockdown, a pets' hour gave staff the chance to introduce their pets on video calls to your colleagues. A virtual MasterChef allowed people to share cooking skills and a social club formed at the digi pub.
The company introduced team initiatives such as yoga and mental wellbeing sessions. It also tried to reduce unnecessary meetings and give employees more of their time back.
Staff receive an appraisal twice a year, in spring and autumn, to monitor and identify areas of improvement. Managers are asked to appraise their colleagues based on the SMART objective, which requires constructive comments to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic or Relevant and Timely.
Staff working from home during the pandemic received advice on health, travel, stress and managing family life, while their professional training continued online. The social side of the office was maintained, too – yoga poses were held, team drinks were drunk and the choir sang.
Employees are rewarded for innovation and good citizenship. When Stewarts introduced mental health first-aiders, it invested part of its training budget and supported employees' time to allow them to attend training that gave them a recognised qualification. The group reported additional job satisfaction in being able to provide the service.
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