Why it's crucial to focus on colleague wellbeing

I work in Team Health. That might make you think I work for the NHS, or perhaps a health-focused insurance company, but I don’t. I work for a leading global digital consultancy and outsourcing business – Capita plc.

So why do we need something called Team Health? A team that is led by a qualified, practising medical doctor?

There’s a lot of talk in markets and the media about employee ‘wellbeing’. It’s a buzzword. It’s in recruitment documents for big companies, it’s referenced in HR strategies. But all too often we see that it doesn’t translate into real action. Companies pay lip service to well being, but it’s a side-of-desk activity for already overburdened managers and HR teams, and often means little in practice. So, when companies need great people, and need great people to be able to perform at their best in a complex and fast-changing world – how can we support that?

In Capita we have over 50,000 people around the world, working in a hugely complex range of job-types and projects. But number one to us, as a purpose-led company, is to be continuously evolving as a fair, inclusive, supportive workplace where wellbeing is a number one priority.

These are some of the ways we do that in practice:

1. We work with our employee network groups to develop People-policies that genuinely support them in their lives. Examples include our recently launched menopause policy, our life leave policy, our Reasonable Adjustments passport for colleagues with a disability or different ability, and our zero tolerance policy for any form of discrimination, harassment or bullying. It’s all about understanding what issues are most important to our people, and then working with them to provide the support they need to be their best.
2. We have a SafetyNet in place to support colleagues and managers when they need it most. With such a large workforce, we will of course have people who will experience the unpredictability of life. Our SafetyNet support provides assistance to colleagues and managers dealing with extreme issues related to wellbeing, safeguarding and vulnerability. As a multidisciplinary group, we provide an independent view and advice, recommend any additional measures and importantly reassure managers they are doing the right things.  
3. We work with the experts to provide meaningful support to people in high-stress situations. We know that our contact centre agents in particular can face complex, emotionally harrowing and challenging calls – especially amid the current economic crisis and cost of living pressures. So we’ve worked with Mind, the mental health charity, to give vulnerable customer training to over 3,000 of our front-line employees so they can provide the best possible support. 
4. We take mental health very seriously.  We recognise we have a responsibility to support all our people during what can sometimes feel like scary times. Our mental health plans and support extend well beyond the workplace, helping people with all aspects of their lives. Everyone has access to counselling through our employee assistance programmes, and we are developing training that helps ensure all our people are confident and competent talking about mental health, so everyone knows they are never alone and there’s always someone to talk to. We are expanding our numbers of mental health first aiders and mental health allies and building self-help resources through our Wellbeing Hub repository crammed full of useful tools, support and signposting.

I’m sure we’ve all seen plenty of workplace wellbeing initiatives. Maybe some good ones, maybe some that made you roll your eyes. But what we need to see is thoughtful change, companies that listen, and policies that will make a genuine, long-term difference to individual colleagues within those organisations. We know in my team that we still have more to do – the job is by no means done – but we’ll keep going until we’ve created a safer, healthier workplace for every one of our teams, for every one of our clients, in every country we work in. That’s how we’re committed to constantly creating a better outcome.

By Mark Campion, Group Head of Wellbeing & Occupational Health