WORKPLACE WELLBEING PETER CRAWSHAW
How one of New Zealand's oldest businesses responded to the COVID-19 pandemic Peter Crawshaw, organisational development and wellbeing lead at DB Breweries, shares his practical insights around wellbeing in the workplace and how DB responded to the COVID-19 crisis.
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he topic of mental health now permeates our professional and personal lives. Since 1929, DB has operated along the full end-to-end supply chain as part of the fastmoving consumer goods industry. With diverse people for diverse roles, we know one size does not fit all when it comes to wellbeing. Here at DB, workplace wellbeing is a key driver of engagement and performance. So to ensure a seat at the table, we added it to the portfolio of the organisational development lead’s role late in 2019, to acknowledge that a culture shift is the most challenging element to creating an environment centred on wellbeing. Like many businesses, DB previously relied on the traditional approach to wellbeing – a calendar of flu shots, boot camps, yoga sessions and massages. While this approach still has its place, it was important to go beyond these wellness activities and reframe wellbeing into a more holistic and integrated approach, which was reaffirmed by internal surveys and focus groups. We believe this approach will translate into more engaged employees and a 40
HUMAN RESOURCES
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more productive workspace where everyone feels comfortable to bring their whole, authentic self to work. It is vital to have the fundamentals of wellbeing in place. For us, this includes employee assistance programme EAPworks, accreditations such as the DV Free Tick, family support, and flexible work policies. Twenty years ago, we would have been well ahead of the curve to have this level of infrastructure. Today, most employees expect this level of support as standard, and we are constantly challenged to ensure we keep up with best practices. For DB, the key aspects of this holistic approach are: • to continuously build more inclusive leadership that ensures a culture of trust and psychological safety • internal wellbeing to create a sense of belonging and meaning • mental, emotional and physical wellbeing that is more pivotal than ever following the COVID-19 pandemic and recent national lockdown.
mind’. Co-founded by Sir John Kirwan, Mentemia is a pioneering organisational wellbeing initiative that focuses on equipping the Kiwi workforce with the tools people need to manage stress, anxiety and other mental health pressures. Mentemia acknowledges that wellbeing is a spectrum – some people struggle regularly, others don’t struggle at all, but many people fit between these extremes. With a few simple tools, the natural ebbs and flows of life become more manageable. Mentemia involves a series of diagnostic workshops to ascertain how an organisation is performing at a baseline level. Where are the most significant areas of need? What are the pain points of our people? The next step is facilitated workshops to tackle these specific areas and begin helping people to build their own tailored daily mental health plans.
With a few simple tools, the natural ebbs and flows of life become more manageable.
The most exciting part of Mentemia is a purpose-built app that houses a variety of resources, including an AI-powered digital mental health coach. Research shows people often struggle to open up face to face, particularly in a work environment. Our hope is that this digital feature will mean our employees feel comfortable and can receive the support they need from the app.
A crucial part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic was driving our foundation partnership with Mentemia – Italian for ‘my
Following the lockdown announcement, we brought forward the release of the app to provide immediate support to our people’s wellbeing during the crisis period.
