Staff wellbeing at heart of Seaham firm ’ s senior appointment
BY IAN WILLIS
PEOPLE
POWER
When a company kicks off a feelgood campaign under
the banner of " Achieving Greatness Together " you could be forgiven for being slightly cynical . After all , isn ’ t that what we all want to do ? But for Great Annual Savings ( GAS ), the B2B cost reduction specialist operating from a spectacular £ 3m sea view HQ at Seaham , this isn ’ t just a box-ticking exercise aimed at sticking a hashtag in front of a random corporate message and hoping it gets a few likes on social media .
GAS takes the welfare of its staff seriously and as things start to move closer to normality following the latest roadmap issued by the government , the 300-strong workforce throughout the business are quickly learning that their health and wellbeing is high on the list of priorities .
GAS is more than just a workplace , and as the firm ’ s health and wellbeing manager Gavin Cogdon explains , a behaviour change among the staff is already well under way .
“ We want our staff to get the most out of the day , and that doesn ’ t mean just sitting at a desk , taking a quick break and then going home ,” said Gavin .
“ We have invested heavily in a state-of-the-art gym which is fully subsidised , we have the GASTRO area which serves healthy meals , and we have what we call the Snug where people can have some quiet time away from their working environment .
“ It ’ s all about a work / life balance , but there doesn ’ t need to be a dividing line between the two . People can incorporate work and life . We have been pioneering in what we have created here at GAS and I ’ d fully expect in the next 10 years that most businesses will be following suit .
“ People are getting the message about taking their health and wellbeing seriously and we ’ re constantly encouraging them . Take the stairs instead of the lift , even if it ' s just for one flight , and build on that .
“ They can work on health apps from home , following their own programme , or take advantage of pre-prepared healthy meals . They can challenge their colleagues , get a bit of competition between themselves .
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New role – Great Annual Savings Group health and wellbeing manager Gavin Cogdon outside the firm ’ s impressive new HQ in Seaham . PICTURE BY TOM BANKS
“ Now we ’ re up and running , we want to continue to progress . We ’ ve won the Gold Better Health At Work Award and we ’ re now regarded as Maintaining Excellence by mentoring other companies .
“ The business is growing at a rapid rate and it is my role to ensure we stay ahead of the game when it comes to health and wellbeing ,” adds Gavin .
When the plans for the wellbeing side of the business were first mooted , the senior leadership team – like the rest of us – were oblivious to the fact that words like lockdown , furlough and social distancing would become part of everyone ’ s daily vocabulary .
But rather than using Covid as an excuse , Gavin and his team pressed ahead with their plan .
“ We have the gym , but like everyone else we ’ re following the government guidelines ,” he says .
“ We ’ ve adapted things , as I mentioned earlier people can follow programmes from home . But what we do hope to see is staff using the facilities as part of their routine .
“ We ’ ve all said we ’ ll go to the gym after work , but by the time you ’ ve driven home you ’ ve decided to give it a miss . By having the gym and qualified staff in place to offer help and support , this can be tied into your daily routine .
“ We have employed tech-based programmes for all colleagues , including live online exercise classes , one-to-one sessions and group mindfulness Zoom sessions .
“ It ’ s vital that the good habits we have encouraged are just the beginning and our people get to take full advantage of the facilities at the new HQ when the time is right ."
For more information about GAS , visit greatannualsavings . com