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Photo of staff at Randall & Payne playing table tennis in their lunch hour
Category: R&P News

Invest in your people with a wellness programme

Your people are your firm’s most important asset. Therefore, it is important to invest in their wellbeing.

As technology develops and demands on employees increase, it is not surprising that the terms ‘burnout’, ‘dissatisfaction’ and ‘distress’ are being increasingly reported across the developed business world. With increased absence, pressure is put on the rest of the team to meet deliverables, which can negatively impact team morale and increase stress levels. This demonstrates how broad the impact of absence is and the negative impact it can have across an entire business.

As a result, it’s no surprise that more and more businesses are investing in health and wellbeing programmes for their staff. The good news for businesses is that creating and implementing a health and wellbeing programme doesn’t have to cost the earth. Such an initiative can start with a focus on education for staff around exercise, healthy eating habits, etc. You could organise sessions that discuss recommended activity levels and bring to life how people can incorporate activity into their working day.

At Randall & Payne we were awarded the Workplace Wellbeing Charter through demonstrating a commitment to wellbeing through a few simple but ongoing initiatives. We give the opportunity to make healthier choices on a daily basis, such as encouraging our staff to choose a healthier snack by offering a selection of free fruit and having a table tennis table available to be active during the lunch hour.

Several of our staff play football each week and others get together to exercise using weights and balance balls – more frequently in the summer months! We also organise annual sporting events like cricket matches and taking part in activities to raise money for charity. This included everything from the Gloucester Quays Dragon Boat Race to personal sporting challenges such as marathons and cycling events. Last year, we kicked off our fundraising for Scoo-B-Doo, who support the local neonatal unit, with a team of 20 staff walking seven miles from our office to the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital where the unit is based.

Our staff enjoy their birthday as an extra day off work, on top of the annual holiday allowance – with an unwritten understanding that they bring cakes in once they are back in of course!

Recognising the importance of maintaining good mental health – our managers have received bespoke training, with additional literature available to help raise awareness and staff are openly encouraged to speak to their manager or a colleague if they have any concerns.

We have found the combination of these activities helps to maintain an engaged team and has played a part in reducing absence.

Our Managing Partner, Tim Watkins comments, “Statistics tell us that accountancy is the second most stressful occupation behind the medical profession. Whatever line of business you are in the proportion of time spent at work represents a huge part of our weekly time, so anything we can do here to reduce the stress levels and make our working lives more enjoyable has to be a good thing for all. The chance to do something different at work, out of the normal routine, and to have a bit of fun at the same time does wonders for all. Coming in to work on 31 October to see an office full of Halloween costumes does wonders for your mood, even after passing the grim reaper on the stairs.”

Our commitment is ongoing and something we take seriously. After all, your people are your most important asset.