Video tutorial: Kier, SAP, Innocent, Yorkshire Water & IHG on connecting the dots for wellbeing

To ensure real cultural change the employee wellbeing strategy has to have a coherent, joined-up approach across the organisation through every strategic goal and HR policy innovation, according to a panel discussion between Mark Bradshaw, reward and pensions director at Kier plc; Tom Loeffert, HRD EMEA at SAP; Sarah-Jane Norman, group people & culture director at Innocent; Susan Gee, group occupational health and wellbeing manager at Yorkshire Water and Gail Bagley, director of reward EMEA at Intercontinental Hotel Groups.

Chaired by REBA director Debi O’Donovan, the panel discussion at the REBA Employee Wellbeing Congress 2019 looked at how wellbeing should be implemented throughout the organisation. “There is a lot of focus on wellbeing being things you do in addition, but actually it’s about good work,” said Yorkshire Water’s Gee. “If you haven’t got the basics of good work in place then you are wasting your time offering incentives around eyecare vouchers or whatever else you want to put in.”

SAP’s Loeffert likened wellbeing to frosting on a cake. “If the cake is bad under the frosting people are going to notice,” he said, explaining how SAP made changes to improve its business and approach to wellbeing.

“For us the wellbeing and good work extends to our company purpose,” explained Innocent’s Norman. “If we can employ people that connect to that, that also ensures a really good feeling of wellbeing.”

Intercontinental Hotel Groups’ Bagley said wellbeing wasn’t just the role of HR but that all the top executives have to drill the importance of wellbeing into their organisations. “If you haven’t got everyone engaged in it then trying to build the journey that everyone needs to go on to ensure their people are at their best just isn’t going to happen,” she said.

At Kier plc Bradshaw said the company was going through a turnaround currently which means that wellbeing is more important than ever but that the company also faced additional challenges because of its varied workforce which for its on road workers is to deal with safety issues or stress for its corporate team.

This video was recorded at the REBA Employee Wellbeing Congress 2019, held in London on 20 June.