WELLBEING Corporate events

Scotland (RBS), which last year began work

Corporate sports ing with Threshold Sports to put in place a

London-to-Edinburgh cycle challenge in
aid of its charity partner, Sport Relief.
As RBS employee campaign m anager
Clodagh McAteer highlights, it has not been

events boost
an easy time to be in banking over the past
few years: One of our key objectives there
fore has been around raising pride in the
organisation. Our industry has gone through
a tough time in recent years. And what has
been amazing is that 99% of employees who
took part said they felt proud to have been

employee involved and proud this was something the

organisation supported - which is a figure
that is pretty unheard of.
W hat our leadership team has recog
nised is th at employee engagem ent can
often come down to quite simple things,

engagement such as promoting wellbeing and encourag

ing people to be more active. We have always
done this, but recently we have been taking
it to another level, she explains.
Last Septembers challenge was a five-day,

ana wellbeing
500-mile cycle ride from the banks Bishops-
gate office in London to its headquarters in
Edinburgh. People could choose to cycle the
whole thing or do a 35- or 100-mile leg,
McAteer says.
In total, m ore th an 1,200 staff were
involved in the ride itself, with a sim ilar
number doing static-spin bike challenges in
Organisations including Royal Bank of Scotland offices up and down the country. For those
and Dixons Carphone are using corporate sports who did not w ant to get involved in the
physical challenge, there were a range of
events to improve health and wellbeing, and other fundraising activities.
The cycle challenge raised more than
influence engagement, culture and employee 600,000 for the charity (with the bank rais
ing 1.52 million overall for Sport Relief)
retention. Nic Paton looks at how agency but, ju st as im portant, it led to tangible
improvements in staff engagement as well
Threshold Sports is providing support. as health and wellbeing, argues McAteer.
We do an annual staff survey, where we
ack in March 2016, a survey im portant, it is also very much about track engagement, and we have seen our

B
by the Reward & Employee engagement, team bonding and building, figures go up a lot. There is increased pride
Benefits Association, in and corporate social responsibility, accord within the organisation, better engagement,
conjunction with Punter ing to chief executive Julian Mack. and our employees are more active, fitter
Southall Health & Protec He says: We find these type of activities and healthier, she points out.
tion, came to a conclusion really get employees engaged, especially The activity, and the partnership, has car
around
that was, although not exactly health and wellbeing.
surprising, ried on into this year, with a series of 5km
certainly illuminating. It is about shared endeavour - everyone and 10km runs arranged in Edinburgh,
It argued that while one-third of firms said from miliennials up to the CEO and part London, Birmingham and M anchester to
they planned to introduce a wellbeing strat ners. It is a much more human, engaging coincide with Sport Relief in March.
egy this year, their primary motivation for experience than just a circular email around It reached a different audience in that
making this investment and commitment the organisation. we were coaching a lot of non-runners from
was not just health and wellbeing. We are increasingly finding that CEOs their couch to 5km and helping them get
Improving health and wellbeing was a and HR departments are seeing this sort of ready with eight-week training plans.
factor, b u t it was the desire to improve activity as a key part of their wellbeing strat There have been lots of great stories of
employee engagement, organisational cul egy and solutions. It is, of course, not a sil why people wanted to complete their chal
ture and staff retention that were considered ver bullet, but it can help to create a calendar lenge: running in memory of a loved one;
the greater catalysts. moment where people come together. to aid weight loss; to help combat m ental
This broader thinking around the HR and He adds: There is, to be honest, still a illness; and to recover from recent surgery,
organisational benefits of health and wellbe lot of hot air talked about wellbeing, and says McAteer.
ing can be seen veiy clearly in the work being there can often be a reluctance to allocate
carried out by fitness and health and wellbe proper budgets to it. Business benefits of corporate
ing agency Threshold Sports. The companys But with us, you can design events from sports events
mantra is More Is In You, and it describes as little as 20,000 up to 500,000. It can From a business perspective, it has been
itself as delivering breathtaking corporate be a 5km walk or a nine-day, 1,000-mile hugely beneficial, in terms of employee well
challenges for people or companies looking cycle ride around Britain. being, engagement and building pride. It
to push themselves to greater things. shows we are determined to make a differ
Thesecanbe anything from walks or runs, Royal Bank of Scotland staff get ence within the communities we live and
to cycle challenges and ultra marathons. on their bikes work in, she adds.
And while, of course, the health, wellbeing, One organisation that has seen real benefits From an occupational health perspective,
fitness and activity dynamic of all this is in partnering in this way is Royal Bank of of course, there is a risk with any kind of

2 0 O cto b e r 20 16 Occupationalhealth&wellbeing

DIXONS CARPHONE: FROM AVERAGE TO AWESOME
Dixons Carphone (the merged organisation
comprising Carphone Warehouse and the
Dixons electrical brand) employs 18,000
people, and since 2001 has had a partnership
with young peoples charity, The Mix (formerly
known as Get Connected).
To raise money, but also to boost employee
engagement and health and wellbeing, the
company has been working with Threshold
Sports on an initiative branded Average
to Awesome.
So far, 36 employees have taken the
Average to Awesome challenge, where
participants get the support of a personal
trainer, custom-fit training shoes and a
wearable device that tracks training data
and progress.
Occupationalhealth&wellbeing
Corporate events WELLBEING
exercise-based health promotion initiative,
in that people perhaps try to push them
selves too far or too fast, or risk damaging
their health or injuring themselves.
Therefore, as Threshold SportsMack also
emphasises, it is vital such initiatives are
properly planned and managed.
It is, of course, important to do this in a
responsible way.
We make sure people have a proper
training programme, and we always advise
people who have not done exercise for a long
time to consult their doctor before they start
any training.
It is also im portant for firm s to do a
proper health screening or assessment. You
can never completely eradicate the risk, but
you should be managing it.
But he adds: Even if you dont want to,
or cant, take part in the physical side of
it, we aim to ensure there are always roles
for volunteers, people in pit stops, or
cheerleaders, or baking cakes for sponsor
ing - there are lots of ways people can
still get involved even if they dont want to
get sweaty.
It is all very inclusive - the actual chal
lenge can be just one dimension of a much
bigger engagement and wellbeing story. It
is all part and parcel of showing that you
care and that you are investing in looking
after your employees, he says.
Their ultimate goal is to complete the Trowell continues: Initially, the main aim
Dixons Carphone Race to the Stones", a of Race to the Stones was to raise money for
100km ultra-marathon that takes place over our charity partner - and we raised 49,000
two days in July. in first year alone. But whats great is that it
As Kesah Trowell (pictured), head of gives us an opportunity to achieve multiple
corporate responsibility at Dixons Carphone, corporate responsibility objectives: encourage
says: We know a healthy workforce is a fitness, promote teambuilding and raise funds
happy workforce and are thrilled to have a for our charity partner, as well as help the
hand in transforming our colleagues health charity establish a meaningful dialogue with
and wellbeing. The results have been truly participants and potential supporters.
awesome - not only have we seen huge One of the things that also surprised us
weight loss, increased energy and better was the benefit in terms of mental wellbeing.
overall fitness, we have seen other benefits, When you have been through an experience
such as how well this group from across the like this, the bond you build up with the people
business has bonded. you are with is amazing, says Trowell.
It has been amazing. We have had cases The company circulates a regular health,
where people have reversed their diabetes, fitness and wellbeing email newsletter called
those who have said Boost, which offers exercise and nutrition
they are now able to fit tips, discounts, and shares the progress of
into their wedding dress, the Average to Awesome team.
people who have lost There have been clear, wider organisational
four to five stone, and benefits, too. Given that the merger of Dixons
even some who now and Carphone Warehouse presented an HR
intend to do the London challenge in terms of bringing together two
Marathon next year. quite different workforces - with, for example,
Average to Awesome the Dixons demographic generally older than
participants follow a that of Carphone Warehouse - the initiative
fitness and training has proved valuable in forging a shared
regime devised by identity and employee engagement.
celebrity personal trainer Some 80% of the organisation's employees
Rory Coleman. who have taken part in the Race to the
Wearable technology Stones agree the company is taking
also plays a p a rt-w ith responsibility for their health and wellbeing,
last years group of 12 job satisfaction is up by 14% and employee
employees stomping productivity has increased by 8%.
13,500,000 steps over People feel fitter and healthier, but they
the course of the also feel more engaged and applied to their
12-week programme. workplace, says Trowell.
October 2016 21
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