The importance of meeting CII’s wellbeing standards

1. Produce, implement and communicate a ‘mental health at work’ plan that encourages and promotes good mental health of all staff and an open organisational culture.

Our workplace wellbeing programme ensures wellbeing activity happens continually throughout the year. The wellbeing plan is promoted to all employees via posters around the office, all staff emails and regular team catch-ups delivered by our Wellbeing Champions.

Mental health is by no means uncommon, yet it is often not discussed in the workplace. 73% of workers experience mental health problems, yet just 32% take time off. We want to de-stigmatise mental health here at Romero, and our employees are actively encouraged to talk openly. Furthermore, managers and colleagues are trained to actively listen, be understanding and act respectfully. Our range of support materials signposts staff to professional help if necessary, too.

2. Develop mental health awareness among employees by making information, tools and support accessible.

Wellbeing Champions across the business ensure key tools and support materials are easily accessible for all staff. This includes printed material as well as a range of advice and information saved on our shared system for employees to access at all times.

We also want our employees to feel empowered to manage their wellbeing outside of work, too. We offer an Employee Assistance Programme, gym discounts, free counselling and much more.

3. Encourage open conversations about mental health and the support available when employees are struggling, during the recruitment process and at regular intervals throughout employment, with appropriate workplace adjustments offered to employees who require them.

Our new starters receive a wellbeing induction with one of our Wellbeing Champions. This ensures all members of staff know who to talk to, and know what support is available. Wellbeing Champions regularly check up on new starters and colleagues within their team to make sure everyone is aware of upcoming seminars, internal campaigns and more.

We view mental health the same as physical health here and encourage employees to keep open dialogue with their line manager if they are struggling. We will always be accommodating and help our team where we can!

4. Provide your employees with good working conditions and ensure they have a healthy work-life balance and opportunities for development

The workplace culture here is often commented on by customers, colleagues and new starters. Our team are always smiling and there’s always something happening, from a charity bake sale to a fundraising dress up day! We do the serious stuff well, too. We regularly assess our employee’s work stations, workplace satisfaction and career development to make sure everyone is on track.

We want passionate, interesting people to work for us. And that means having a life outside of work. Our team are encouraged to work hard and be themselves. We offer training and development opportunities to all staff, even launching our own Academy to make sure our team achieve their goals.

5. Promote effective people management to ensure all employees have a regular conversation about their health and wellbeing with their line manager, supervisor or organisational leader and train and support line managers in effective management practices.

Supporting managers to support their team is important to us. Our management team take part in specific manager training, mental health training and more to ensure they are equipped and empowered to have open conversations with their colleagues. Employees know they have the option to speak to their manager, other members of their team and of course our Wellbeing Champions. But our senior management team are also incredibly friendly people and their ‘open door’ policy encourages a welcoming feeling of transparency for everyone at every level of the business.

Managers regularly have one-to-one sessions with employees to help them keep on track with tasks, objectives and overall wellbeing. Our team feel involved and included in every big business decision and celebrate with us when things go right.

6. Routinely monitor employee mental health and wellbeing by understanding available data, talking to employees and understanding risk factors.

Our annual Wellbeing Insights Reports gathers the opinions and thoughts from the whole business, helping us to identify which areas of wellbeing our team need the most assistance and advice. This then forms the foundations of our yearly strategy – helping us programme in seminars, workshops and health checks that will really make a difference to the team. We trust our employees to lead the way and help us help them.

TINYPulse allows us to regularly ask the team important questions about life at Romero, allowing staff members to make anonymous suggestions and give valuable feedback. We’ve actioned plenty of these suggestions and regularly monitor the feedback to see how we can further improve our workplace culture and support our colleagues.