Building a sustainable health and wellbeing programme Dr Judith Grant Director of Health and Wellbeing Mace Group

Feeling First Class a brand for Wellbeing at Royal Mail Group As former Group Head of Occupational Health and Wellbeing at the Royal Mail (2014-2017) I understand how to develop a health and wellbeing plan in a complex, large organisation. RMG has 140,000 employees and has undergone significant change following privatisation in 2013. The key to developing a strategy in such a large organisation was creating a distinctive brand and communications to raise awareness. We had 28,000 members on our Wellbeing Website when I left the business (it was 3,000 when I started and is now over 40,000).

Occupational health and wellbeing at Mace Our approach to health and wellbeing at Mace is in three areas – Hygiene, Health and Wellbeing – i.e. prevention, support and proactive While the risks may be slightly different to the Royal Mail – the approach follows similar logic. Address health risks and create wellbeing opportunities.

Building the Health and Wellbeing programme at Mace Stage 1: Awareness and Communications World Mental Health Day 10th October “Don’t let problems brew inside – take some tea and talk it out”. Starting the Conversation Film in 2017, Continuing the Conversation Film 2018. Mace Wellbeing Week 5th November 2018 – Five Ways to Wellbeing Theme. Stage 2: Measurement Wellbeing Survey each November to get a baseline measure of health to proactively target interventions to identified issues. Mental Health questions in survey included confidence in revealing MH condition at work. Stage 3: Training Mental Health First Aid training – over 100 MHFAiders at Mace Full roll out of mental health awareness in 2018, aligned to Wellbeing Survey findings. Collaboration across construction industry to ensure approach to mental health aligned across clients, principle contractors and supply chain.

Building the Health and Wellbeing programme at Mace Stage 4: Interventions Working closely with HR and Employee Benefits team to promote benefits and to align them with proactive interventions. Promotion of EAP. Stage 5: Process Considering psychosocial risk, as well as more traditional health risk, as part of safety concurrence. Work with supply chain to ensure all individuals on Mace sites are aware of support available and all aspects of health risk are considered. Redefined Health and Wellbeing Strategy based on Wellbeing Survey. Wellbeing is an integral part of the Mace Responsible Business Strategy 2022. All staff to receive a 45 minute awareness session on mental health Supervisors and managers to receive a three hour briefing session from Mind to better enable them to support colleagues Volunteers to receive a 2 day Mental Health First Aid course to become workplace mental health first aiders A smaller number of individuals to be trained in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST).

Annual Wellbeing Survey Understand the enablers and barriers to positive wellbeing at work Achieve a baseline for health and wellbeing across the business Shape our approach going forward   Wellbeing Snapshot report for each employee Area and team reports (above 8 respondents) Health dashboard – health behaviours and psychological wellbeing ‘Wellbeing Conversation’ – team discussions on results and action Mace Wellbeing Framework development Informed Mace Health and Wellbeing Plan to 2022.

Wellbeing Week 2017

‘Tea and Talk’ for World Mental Health Day

Focus for Health and Wellbeing at Mace to 2022 Focus area one: proactively managing health risks, ‘first, do no harm’ We will look to proactively manage health risks using the PREVENT, INTERVENE, and REHABILITATE principles. Focus area two: creating wellbeing opportunities This may be through information, activities or services. Focus area three: Using thought leadership to influence our industry and share best practice We must track industry developments and contribute to all relevant forums – awards, pledges, academic collaboration and industry events must be included to ensure others benefit from our learnings and vice versa. Focus area four: Healthy buildings The projects we deliver to shape our cities should be designed, constructed, and maintained with everyone’s health and wellbeing in mind. Focus area five: Community wellbeing The health and wellbeing of the communities we work in is just as important as our own—we must take steps to positively impact on our neighbours and local communities.

judith.grant@macegroup.com