Organisations in every sector say they have learned a lot as a result of the recent pandemic and one of the most positive things is the importance of staff taking time out to look after both their physical and mental wellbeing. Not because the work pressure is low – anything but when the economy tries to recover – but because the role of workplace health (and the financial/emotional drain of workplace absence) has such an impact on the performance that employers can no longer ignore it.
One survey from The British Heart Foundation showed that nearly one in five workers in the UK do absolutely no physical activity during working hours and barely a quarter manage 20 minutes or less over the entire working day. Even though physical activity is shown to help staff manage stress, maintain energy levels, and retain a positive outlook on their day which is so relevant as we learn to live with Covid. Other studies have not only shown employers can reduce short term absenteeism (as a result of coughs, colds and flu), and long term sickness absence (due to problems like stress, back pain, heart disease) but are seeing the benefits in the recruitment and retention of staff when the health and happiness of employees is made a priority.
Halo Leisure, leading leisure trust, registered charity and Social Enterprise which runs 22 health and leisure centres across Herefordshire, Bridgend County, Shropshire, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire – has seen their own evidence of this since launching a workplace wellbeing programme with the Wye Valley NHS Trust (WVT) in Herefordshire, one of the biggest employers in the county.
Launched in the summer of 2021 as a partnership between leisure trust Halo Leisure and the Wye Valley NHS Trust (WVT) – this intervention and prevention initiative aims to really put workplace wellbeing and employees health and happiness truly on the agenda. Initially the WVT had considered employing a full time member of staff to deliver physical activities for staff. When approached by Halo Leisure, the Chief People Officer for WVT could see the benefits of working with a local provider with considerably more depth and breadth of resources to draw on.
The programme aims to support improved health and wellbeing of 3,600 staff in very direct ways. The menu of activities delivered onsite and in Halo’s centres across the county aim to engage with every individual and was developed to improve health in its widest sense: physical and mental. This includes one to one advice and guidance from a Halo fitness professional who has a physical presence in the hospital staff canteen, free body composition readings, discounted membership to Halo Leisure, wellbeing weeks, group exercise classes, free family activities in the pool and racket sports and access to Halo@HOME online workouts.
Alex Haines, Regional Manager for Halo said, “the programme is about creating a culture where individuals feel valued, supported and happy. WVT has always looked for ways to support teams to this end, but they could see that health was an issue, and there was an opportunity to offer a more dynamic intervention to help empower staff to improve their own personal wellbeing. WVT knew it would take time to change the culture of the workplace, and were looking for a long term strategy to offer immediate and long term benefits.”
“At Wye Valley NHS Trust (WVT) we employ over 3,600 staff and many of our people are deployed to frontline healthcare”, said Geoffrey Etule, Chief People Officer. “Over the past 24 months the COVID-19 pandemic has affected staff across the Trust in different ways and health and wellbeing concerns have risen significantly. Considering the significant challenges faced by our staff we are delighted to be working in partnership with Halo leisure. Staff are responding positively to the health and wellbeing programmes we have put in place and we are determined to be an exemplar Trust when it comes to looking after the health and wellbeing of our people”. The next phase of the programme will see the addition of nutrition talks, a menopause support group and family fun events such as summer BBQs.
Over 200 members of staff have established an ongoing exercise habit through Halo membership with many more increasing their participation on a pay-as-u-go basis. This is what the staff have had to say…
“Having regular check-ins is keeping me on track to ensure I am going in the right direction”.
“It’s focusing on one result (from the body composition machine) instead of everything together. LIttle changes over time give bigger results and it’s about changing our mindset”.
“It’s given me that feeling of wanting to get back to feeling good about myself”.
“It’s really good that the NHS is putting this on for staff, it’s needed”.
“Lots of people are interested in advice on being healthy, especially when you work shifts”.
“I think what this is showing us is that while these are tough times – the toughest many of us have been through – they also present opportunities for new, exciting health initiatives,” says Alex.