Employee well-being is a business responsibility which can bring benefits to the bottom line by contributing to cost control and greater employee satisfaction, says Nicki Jezzard, HR Manager at Domestic & General Brighton Inkfish Contact Centre.

There are widely held misconceptions about life in a contact centre.  People often think of workplaces with high levels of stress; individuals suffering with poor posture through sitting for long periods at workstations, voice problems and too much noise, unsociable hours and long shifts, resulting in high levels of sickness absence.

It isn’t as bad as that, of course, but to a degree all of these exist.  This is why we are transforming our contact centre into a setting for improving health, limiting stress and creating an environment where employees perform well. I’m passionate about employee health and well-being and, as everyone knows, a healthy and engaged workforce is crucial to the success of both the business and the individual – so employers must take a proactive approach and invest in workplace well-being. Part of the process, however, is about encouraging people to take responsibility for their own well-being, helping them to understand the benefits and how it impacts on work performance.

Our own Employee Well-being Programme has two strands; the introduction of well-being initiatives and the launch of an absence management action plan.  Our initiatives include themed monthly campaigns like Get Fit in February or Get Moving in May; then there are a mixture of activities – such as promoting healthy eating through putting nutritious foods in our vending machines and setting up a ‘lean’ recipe exchange.  We’ve also turned an unused balcony into an ‘airborne allotment’ where we’re encouraging people to grow vegetables in the garden to show how easy it can be, as well as enabling people to enjoy breaks in the fresh air.

Personal fitness training sessions, discounted gym membership and encouraging people to take part in events such as local charity runs add to the get fit factor.  Our Employee Forum representatives are also now acting as “well-being champions”.

The Absence Management Action Plan helps our managers bring down sickness absence rates, but in a positive way, so that we encourage our employees to manage their health and well-being.

Domestic & General’s Inkfish in Brighton has a young workforce – 85% are under 35 – and so everything we can do to educate our people about the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, like helping them decide on something healthier than a takeaway at the end of the shift, is good for them and good for us.

But the best thing is it’s about simple, low cost, high value initiatives. We’ve only just started our programme and we expect that reduced absence will cut costs – but, more importantly, we think a fitter and healthier workforce will enjoy their life and work a whole lot more!”