Contact first company in Aotearoa New Zealand to achieve Wellbeing Tick
News Industry News
Leading energy company Contact has today announced it's the first organisation in Aotearoa New Zealand to be accredited with the Wellbeing Tick.
The workplace accreditation programme recognises organisations that commit to the wellbeing of their people and are ready to make systemic changes to the way they operate.
“As a company working at pace to lead the decarbonisation of Aotearoa, we acknowledge we ask a lot of our people and wanted to ensure that all their hard mahi does not have a negative effect on them,” says Jan Bibby, Chief People Experience Office at Contact.
“Getting everything out in the open and having honest conversations with our people was key to us becoming accredited.”
“At the Wellbeing Tick, we seek to transform how organisations approach workplace wellbeing and mental health through a framework that is easy to action. I’m proud of Contact for grabbing this opportunity with both hands and making the needs of their staff, a priority,” says Philly Powell, CEO and Founder of the Wellbeing Tick.
A commitment to wellbeing
In March last year, Contact made a public commitment to be the founding member for the Wellbeing Tick with the aim of ‘embedding wellbeing in everything we think, say and do’.
“We realised that if we were going to make a real difference to the wellbeing of our people, we would all need to get comfortable with vulnerability and open up to share a real picture of where we were at with wellbeing, and where we wanted to be,” says Jan.
Throughout the programme people at Contact shared their thoughts, opinions and ideas in surveys and focus groups. “Amongst the positive results, we could clearly see there were some significant things we needed to change and improve on to support our people.” says Jan.
Addressing burnout
“Almost half of the people who responded to survey’s were at risk of burnout, which highlighted a very important challenge for us to do better. Our Wellbeing Programme gives us the tools to identify workplace issues early.
“Our burnout indicator has decreased by eight per cent (46% to 38%); showing our people are feeling less exhausted. We also saw a big shift in the number of our people who felt they could take a day off to focus on their mental health, returning to work refreshed.
Our latest Wellbeing Tick survey results show:
- Leadership engagement has increased 15% (now at 79%) through role-modelling wellbeing behaviours, storytelling and open conversations around mental health;
- Our people are feeling less exhausted, and 23% of people say they would take a day off to focus on their mental health last year (now at 51% - increase by 33%);
- We are providing better access to wellbeing support (result now at 81%, up by 24%) by partnering with Clearhead, removing barriers and making things easier to find.
In the last year, Contact has launched a specialised Wellbeing Programme which includes:
- A ‘Flexible Mahi’ guide;
- A ‘Good to be home’ annual payment of $400;
- Contact’s ‘Growing your whānau policy’ - a trail-blazing policy that is one of the most comprehensive in the country;
- Access to Clearhead – free counselling sessions for our people and their whānau;
- Better guidance and access to wellbeing information for leaders;
- Free skin checks/mole map – which have found 5 early malignant melanoma in-situ (5 lives saved).
Contact is committed to making things better
“Contact has committed to the wellbeing of its people by investing time, money and resources in them and the results are showing. Yes, there is a still work to do because cultural change takes time, but Contact is paving the way,” says Wellbeing Tick founder Philly Powell.
Constant evolution
“Our people are the heart and soul of Contact, and whilst we are really pleased with results so far, we need to keep evolving. We haven’t got everything right yet, but we are on a journey, and we are committed.” says Jan.