Staff at myenergi Ireland have put in place a Health and Wellbeing Action Plan to prioritise the health of their staff.
Myenergi, which designs and manufactures renewable energy products, has trained a number of qualified ‘Health Champions’ at its office in Ballycastle to roll out the strategy through the free programme ‘Work Well Live Well’ which is available to workplaces across Northern Ireland in all industries.
The programme which is delivered by leading local charity Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke (NICHS) and funded by the Public Health Agency (PHA) aims to help workplaces improve their employees' health and wellbeing through personalised support. NICHS support organisations with carrying out a health and wellbeing survey, developing a bespoke 3-year action plan and strategy for their team as well as providing access to training, webinars, resources and networking opportunities, all completely free of charge.
Mary Jo McKay, Head of Marketing at myenergi Ireland, says, “As our company is only 3 years old, we are still working towards putting together some of our procedures and staff programmes. We felt Work Well Live Well was a great place to start to encourage our staff to have a better work/life balance. We felt the programme would be a great way for our teams to get to know each other better, all while focusing on being healthier and enjoying life and work equally.”
“Since registering for the programme, we have availed of free Mental Health First Aid Training which has allowed me to become enlisted as the workplace Mental Health First Aider. All staff are aware of this service becoming available, which has been received well as an extra layer of support in the workplace.”
“We have also partaken in a ‘Walk & Talk’ challenge with our sister company Solar Power NI, where staff took 15 minutes out of their day to join up with someone they don’t usually get the chance to mix with, to go for a walk and have a nice chat. This has helped strengthen relationships in the workplace and formed new friendships.”
“We have held other team building events including a Christmas Jumper Day, Secret Santa, a pumpkin carving competition and a ten-pin bowling competition. Staff really enjoy these events, as something to look forward to and to get a break away from our desks!”
“The benefits to the organisation have included improved staff morale, as well as a chance for the various teams within the company to get to know each other better. It has also helped many of us regain focus on our eating and exercising habits and taught us that we can factor these into our working day.”
Mary Jo adds, “I, myself have muscular dystrophy, which can sometimes make focusing on general wellbeing and self-care difficult - simply because my focus is more so on the day-to-day logistics of living and working with a disability. Through the programme I have regained my focus on healthy eating, mental health and many other aspects of my health and wellbeing that I may have otherwise overlooked. I feel by helping others focus on what is important for their health in the workplace, I gain a better perspective on what I also need to put in place for myself and this has helped me hugely.”
“We are currently putting plans in place to hold some more fun events as fundraising opportunities for MDUK and a few other charities that are close to the hearts of our staff. Our aim is to create a happier, healthier workforce and a good work/life balance for everyone. We also want to encourage greater staff retention rates and promote our business as being a great place to work.”
To other workplaces considering signing up, she says, “Definitely go for it! It is inspiring in so many ways and the programmes are inclusive to people of all abilities and provide functional wellbeing tools that can be carried over to your home life as well as the workplace, enabling a better quality of life all round.”
Emma McCrudden, Work Well Live Well Programme Manager at Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke says; “As a local charity, our mission is to prevent chest, heart and stroke conditions and support people affected and our vision is a healthy Northern Ireland free from chest, heart and stroke illnesses. We recognise that the workplace is a priority setting for influencing the physical and mental wellbeing of employees and the PHA funded Work Well Live Well programme which we deliver, helps to promote good health in workplaces across Northern Ireland to prevent serious illness in the long term.”
“myenergi Ireland is a great example of a workplace which wanted to make a positive change and put staff health first. The initiatives put in place by myenergi Ireland staff have been a great success and have made a real difference to the health and wellbeing of the team.”
“We are now recruiting new workplaces to take part in the programme and would encourage organisations of all types and sizes to get in touch to find out how Work Well Live Well can help them.”
For more information and to register for Work Well Live Well, visit nichs.org.uk/workwelllivewell
