At PHA, we are committed to supporting our employees physical and mental wellbeing, with a variety of initiatives in place to support our staff. A number of these initiatives have been in place since before the pandemic, but we have also adapted to the challenges of recent months by introducing additional wellness initiatives that support all our employees, whether they are working from home or in the office.
Wellness team
PHA has a dedicated Wellness team, who deliver a programme of wellness activities throughout the year. The team implemented a fortnightly Wellness Newsletter during the first lockdown, which provides employees with tips and advice on physical and mental fitness, online classes and talks to join, reviews and recommendations from employees covering everything from cinema trips to hotel stays and food delivery services and signposting to more specialist services, such as our Employee Assistance Programme. The newsletter is incredibly well received by employees and will remain a regular fixture of our wellness support as we move out of lockdown.
Socialising
Socialising and spending time with colleagues in a relaxed setting is more important than ever and our Sport & Social team ensured that we maintained our social activities, albeit remotely, through virtual coffee clubs, after-work drinks taking place virtually and at a social distance in the office, a book club and more.
Wellness days
To ensure everyone can take time to reset and focus on their wellbeing, we offer all our employees the opportunity to take a Wellness day. This day is in addition to annual leave and employees have taken these days to visit family and friends (where permitted), take long walks in the countryside, and do yoga and mindfulness exercises.
Mental health training
To support our employees with their mental health, our Senior Leadership Team has undertaken mental health awareness training with a mental health nurse. This ensures that all our managers are equipped to support employees who may be suffering from poor mental health and signpost to specialist services where needed.
We are also offering open-forum sessions with mental health trainer for all staff, to discuss topics such as anxiety, sleep issues, and how to cope with the isolation that lockdown can bring.
Health cashback plan
Our health cashback plan allows employees to claim back expenses for dental, optical, physiotherapy, osteopathy and more. It also provides a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme offering virtual, telephone and in-person counselling as well as access to a virtual GP, ensuring that everyone can access these vital services, even during lockdown. All employees are enrolled on our health cash back plan with the cost of the plan covered by PHA.
The above is just a small snapshot of the wellness support we offer as part of our wider PHA Culture activities, to read more about what it’s like to work at PHA take a look at some of our other blogs on our news page.