Antrim & Newtownabbey Borough Council

Antrim Borough Council provides a holistic and innovative Wellbeing Programme aligned to their Health, Safety and Wellbeing Strategy. This includes a wide range of options for individuals including Individual Wellbeing Action Plans, Healthy Lifestyle Schemes, Cycle to Work Schemes, 'Quickfit' Health Checks, Health Surveillance Checks, Work Life Balance Policies, Carecall Counselling and a number of special events. Individual action plans are tailored to suit the needs of an individual at a point in time as the Council recognise that personal circumstances change over time and the programme is flexible enough to accommodate this.

Antrim Borough Council are an accredited Employer of Choice and a working group comprising representatives from across the Council meets monthly to ensure that relevant action plans are developed and implemented. The Council survey employees regularly on work life balance issues and incorporate the Health and Safety Executives Stress Management Standards within the survey. The results demonstrate that employees believe Council values staff and that relationships are good in the workplace. They use a 'Talkback' system to enable staff to forward ideas or ask questions but the primary method of listening to employees is through the line manager and their latest survey results showed that 89% of employees confirmed that their manager has an 'open door' approach. Line managers have also been fully trained to adopt a coaching style which focuses on listening to employees and encouraging them to fulfil their potential.

Antrim Borough Council are an accredited Employer of Choice and a working group comprising representatives from across the Council meets monthly to ensure that relevant action plans are developed and implemented. The Council survey employees regularly on work life balance issues and incorporate the Health and Safety Executives Stress Management Standards within the survey. The results demonstrate that employees believe Council values staff and that relationships are good in the workplace. They use a 'Talkback' system to enable staff to forward ideas or ask questions but the primary method of listening to employees is through the line manager and their latest survey results showed that 89% of employees confirmed that their manager has an 'open door' approach. Line managers have also been fully trained to adopt a coaching style which focuses on listening to employees and encouraging them to fulfil their potential.