Awarded for our workplace health and wellbeing

Joining a room full of exceptional Greater Manchester organisations on 2. July, we were thrilled to bring home the highly commended trophy at the Greater Manchester Good Employment Awards 2024 in the 'health and wellbeing' category.

As an SME employing 60-people, we harness the support and resources from a number of external networks/organisations for the very latest thinking around health and wellbeing. As the first architectural practice to achieve Investors in People and also the first practice to achieve Good Employment Charter membership, we’re proud to be championing better working practices across our industry and the Greater Manchester region. Our mental health first aiders are trained via MHFA England. We are mindful not to stop there. By harnessing these external resources, we are able to continually refine our own health and wellbeing strategy, creating a bespoke approach for our people which is aligned with the specific nature of our profession.

As a leading architectural practice with a head office in Altrincham, our day job is to design buildings and spaces which improve the lives of those who live/work/play in them, and the wider community. We believe that a building’s architecture can have a profound and lasting effect on both mind and body. We replicate this in our own working practices.

Our people are creative thinkers, they work collaboratively to ensure the most innovative design solutions are met and, often, need to work to very tight deadlines. Our priority is ensuring our workplace provides stimulating positive interactions and experiences, as well as offering accessible support and resources when they are most needed.

Our health and wellbeing qualities and characteristics are set by our ‘People, Academy and Training’ working group and sit across three key pillars:

• Mental/emotional wellbeing
• Physical health
• Workplace wellbeing

Over the last 12-months we have been further developing our workplace wellbeing. Led by our Mental Health and Wellbeing’ sub-group, which champions best practice initiatives, we have specifically been targeting ‘collaboration and staff engagement’ which has a direct correlation to people's improved health and wellbeing.

Our working group has been focussed on expanding our range of activities for workplace wellbeing:

Socials programme – expanded to allow for increased inclusivity. Within our business we have a wide range of people with very different preferences to social activities. In the past we have organised games nights, kayaking, chocolate making workshops, rounders matches and BBQ’s. Our 2024 calendar includes a comedy night, a Kokedama workshop, and a walk around our local National Trust property followed by a hearty pub lunch, along with some physically challenging activities such as climbing the three peaks.

Office refurbishment – our workplace environment was given a facelift in 2023. Proposals were put forward by a working group and communicated to staff with the designs presented on mood boards in our communal kitchen, allowing for feedback and comments.

Walk and talk - recognising the importance of mindfulness on happiness and productivity, our quarterly Walk & Talk events are very popular, even when the weather is not so happy.

Design reviews – we pride ourselves on creating an open and honest ethos, and one which encourages discussion. Our design reviews are open for all to attend ensuring that everyone has a voice and can feed back within an informal group setting.

Out to lunch – an opportunity for a small number of staff to have lunch with a director and colleagues from other parts of the business that they may not normally have day-to-day interaction with. This encourages positive employee engagement and provides an opportunity to socialise with colleagues.

Yoga/boot camp – our HR Advisor is a qualified yoga teacher, so we have introduced free yoga sessions once a week during lunchtimes. These sessions have been complemented with breathing technique workshops to assist with stress and anxiety. This compliments our popular subsidised bootcamp sessions on a Thursday evening with a personal trainer.

New PDR process – the process was launched in January and is firmly aligned to the Pozzoni 4Ps. It allows for transparent career development conversations, targeted training, mentoring with the first section specifically focused on wellbeing and culture.

HR drop-in sessions – our HR Advisor works within one of our communal spaces each week to encourage employees to go and have a chat and discuss any issues they may have.

Additional holiday purchase – launched in 2023, this specific initiative encourages a healthy work/life balance for all staff.

View the video to hear why health and wellbeing is so integral to our business and how it positively impacts our people.