Tell me about staff wellbeing where you work

[OhMyGodTheyKilledKenny]

If you have anything in place for staff wellbeing where you work please can you tell me about it as it's something I'm interested in talking to our HR dept about.

I'm particularly interested to hear about initiatives that include and encourage staff from all levels as our workplace includes a larger than average number of support staff (catering and cleaners).

Thank you

We have an Employee Assistance Program, basically if you're struggling for any reason you can ring up and get 6 sessions of counselling pretty much the following week.

I hate my job and am struggling in general so if I didn't have the counselling, I probably would have left and the company would have to spend loads of money re-hiring. So it definitely pays for itself...

We have it here. Very large high street bank.

It ranges from similar AXA referrals like Holy mentions to onsite masseuse every couple of weeks (has to be paid for tho)

I work for the NHS. Staff wellbeing is very poor. There is free counselling phone line, no idea if anyone ever uses it. They put on things like yoga, mindfulness sessions, exercise sessions etc but they are in the middle of the day when the frontline staff, who are arguably the people most in need of such things, are not able to go because they can't leave the wards. I frequently don't get to sit down or eat anything during the 13hr shift, so clearly there isn't going to be time to pop off and do some mindfulness for half a hour.

Where i work we get a range of local discounts that HR negotiate with local businesses, we just show our ID cards.

We have a social team that organise things like cake sales or sing along in the lobby. There's usually something once a month. It just helps feel like you belong to something.

We dress down once a month and senior managers come and rattle a bucket for charity for it, but they'll often bring sweets/chocolate/raffle tickets for a bigger prize.

In other places I've worked we've had well-being days where there are taster sessions for mindfulness/tau chi etc. They have also had a pretty active walks programme which anyone can join in.

I think if your work place is fundamentally miserable nothing will help, but small touches done well are appreciated by staff

We have an assistance programme too. Used it a few years ago, not happy with how it went and I wouldn't use it again. Wellbeing is nothing but an empty promise with my employer, wonder why I've been off with stress/anxiety/panic attacks and agoraphobia for 6 months.

For me it's quite simple. Somewhere to have lunch so you don't have to eat your desk. A fridge and a microwave is nice too.

Thank you for your replies everyone.

Overall it's a great place to work but a few of us feel that there's room for some extra touches.

We do have access to a few sessions with a counsellor but this tends to be used by staff with pretty major stuff going on in their lives. Those with the usual day to day struggles tend to just carry on and it's maybe those people that I feel would benefit from something.

I like the idea of sessions of mindfulness, relaxation etc or lunchtime walks but a lot of staff either finish at lunchtime (cleaners) or work over lunch (catering) or just rarely have time for a lunch break (me!). I can't see people coming back in for an evening session for example

I work for a university. We have an EAP which offers 24/7 telephone councilling, online webinars and occasionally face to face council sessions. There are wellbeing development sessions of various topics for employees and managers. About 20/30 per year. Loads of booklets, online intranet pages and reading resources. Wellbeing cafes, walking activities, yoga sessions offered over lunchtimes.

Do you all feel that the things on offer are taken up by a wide section of staff (from those in minimum wage roles through to senior management) or does it tend to be core few?

I think the biggest thing any employer can do to promote staff welfare is to ensure workloads are manageable and staff stress is taken seriously.

We have an EAP. We also have 'mental health first aiders' - colleagues who are trained to offer immediate support to someone who is having a crisis and to be able to direct them to sources of ongoing support. The list is circulated in the same way that the list of conventional first aiders is available.