Pictured above: A Nuffield health rep with D&G team
leader Jahred Harris
Notts-based call centre Domestic & General (D&G) has
given its employees the once over….by holding a wellness
event in conjunction with Nuffield Health.
The call centre, which employs over 800 people at its Talbot
Street office, hosted the event to help its staff maintain their
new year resolutions by giving its staff the chance to get advice
and tips on exercise and eating plans. D&G's Wellness team also
gave out NHS 'Quit Kits' to help employees who smoke, but want to
give up.
A number of health reps from Nuffield visited the call centre
and went to each of the office floors to offer their services and
hand out goodie bags. Staff were also given the opportunity to take
part in assessments such as 'body composition', which allowed them
to understand their weight in relation to their height and
understand where their body stores its fat. The Nuffield advisors
were then able to talk to employees about how to maintain or
improve weight and shape and stay healthier though both nutritional
and exercise therapy
The Nottingham site of D&G is focused on the health of its
staff in a bid to encourage wellness instead of sickness absence.
In 2008, the company launched an initiative called Wellness
Wednesdays, aimed at promoting healthy eating, cholesterol and
general health awareness, the initiative has been running for three
years now and the company has even hosted a wellness week.
Deborah Martin, site operations manager at D&G says:
"D&G takes the health and wellbeing of staff very seriously and
by working with Nuffield, we have been able to bring in some
outside experts to offer people advice and support. We know that a
key way to target sickness related absence is to help people to
take better care of themselves. This is beneficial to not only the
company in terms of productivity, but also to our staff who will
feel healthier and happier. "
The day was a huge success and as well as the wellness advisors
from Nuffield, D&G's own 'wellness team' also distributed over
65 Quit Kits, and some staff members who weren't working on the day
asked if a kit could be reserved for them to pick up on their next
shift.
Jane Winfield, contact centre manager at D&G said: "The day
was a great idea and it gave me a kick start to get back to the gym
and do some exercise. Since then, I have been swimming, booked in
for Zumba classes and taken up lunch-time walking."
Craig Richards of Nuffield Health said: "On the day all
employees seemed attentive to the service and the uptake was very
good. The HR team at D&G had clearly taken positive steps to
back the event and ensure their staff had the support to utilise
the advisors who were there. Staff were freely able to down tools
and come and spend time with us which is a real plus, the more an
employer can do the more positive it looks for the employee!"