Taking our own medicine: How Aviva has built a culture of wellbeing among its own workforce

Wellbeing providers are employers too. Like any business, Aviva wants to benefit from a well workforce, so we have been working hard to make wellbeing a core part of our own company culture.

Where we started:

At Aviva, 8,720 employees took time off sick last year – almost half of our UK workforce. Where the cause was poor mental wellbeing, the average number of days lost to the company was 38.

We are not alone – according to mental health charity MIND, six out of every ten employees in the UK say that they have suffered from poor mental health at some point in their lives. Perhaps more alarmingly, 26% of those currently experiencing difficulties say that those issues are caused by problem at work.

What we did:

To make sure we took an integrated approach to staff wellbeing, we asked staff about the types of support that they felt they needed. Based on that feedback, we designed our events and initiatives around four key ‘pillars’.

Be healthy – we encourage our people to look after themselves. This includes free health checks, help with nutrition and hydration (including free healthy snacks), physical wellbeing classes, yoga, tai chi and organised walks and runs.

Be secure – It’s important to us to practice what we preach to others, so we’re ready to offer expert help to staff on issues such as budgeting to help combat stress and building financial confidence.

Be mindful – we take mental wellbeing seriously, promoting an open culture where people are willing to talk about it. Removing the stigma around this subject is perhaps the most important aspect of our approach. We’ve also introduced innovations such as Hygge rooms where people can take time out in a calm environment. All our leaders attend training sessions to help them identify signs of mental health problems – and learn how they can direct employees to the right places to find assistance. We have also given the Headspace mindfulness app to all of our UK based employees and have created mindfulness walks around local areas near our offices. We actively encourage employees to take time out of their day to join us on those walks.

Be awesome – doing good deeds makes you feel good. Connecting with the local community through volunteering or fundraising can be rewarding, both personally and professionally. We give full-time employees up to 21 hours paid time off for voluntary work each year. And the business benefits, too: this involves team-building which boosts morale and helps to create a more collaborative and productive working environment.

How we did it:

In addition to wellbeing events and the activities we’ve described above, Aviva also has an army of ‘Health Heroes’, who are employee volunteers based across our UK offices. As well as supporting our general approach to wellbeing, they also help with specific activities such as organising our mindfulness walks.

Technology also plays an important role. We offer staff our own Aviva Wellbeing App which delivers fun challenges, as well as offering practical advice, guidance and easy access to professional help should employees need it. The app is designed to back up our four pillars through developing good habits in everything from choosing healthy food options to addressing sleep problems and enjoying exercise.

What comes next?

Some parts of our wellbeing offering are a fixed part of our benefits package, but others are flexible. Data and insight is vital so that we can look at what’s happening in different locations, job roles and status in the organisation and design specific interventions to help.

But the single most important thing that we’ve done is say that it’s OK to talk about mental health. We videoed senior people saying ‘I’ve had mental health challenges’, and that has helped to open up more support across the whole company.

To find out more about Aviva’s progressive approach to Wellbeing – and what your own business could take from it – watch a short video. Aviva’s wellbeing specialists Ally Antell and Lisa Ost explain why the case for early intervention is so compelling – and there are some powerful statistics to back up what they have to say.

The author is Lisa Ost, UK employee wellbeing lead at Aviva.

This article was provided by Aviva.