Peter Russell

Columnist

Peter Russell

Managing Director Ireland of Telefónica Tech UK&I

Insights From a Commonwealth Cyclist on Wellbeing

We had the pleasure of welcoming a Commonwealth Games cyclist to our offices recently as part of Telefonica Tech UK&I’s Wellbeing Week.

Matthew Teggart who finished fourth in the Commonwealth Games Road Race in August was one of three speakers at the event for our team, alongside fellow Banbridge Cycling Club member Mal McGreevey and Action Mental Health’s Jonny Smyth. The Wellbeing Week is part of our commitment to being a healthy place to work and also included a Men’s Health Webinar organised by The Blue Ribbon Foundation, an Eat Well, Live Well session with healthy meals being provided to team members, and a webinar about menopause linked to Telefónica Tech recently signing up to The Menopause Pledge. There was also a coffee morning in aid of Action Mental Health, a debt management webinar with the StepChange Charity, virtual mindfulness sessions, and a Mourne mountain guided hike to finish off the week.

The backdrop is that in early 2022, we commenced a three-year programme called Healthy Place to Work, which is a global standard for healthy workplaces. This significant investment by the company is ultimately intended to ensure better organisational performance through improved workplace health. Our Wellbeing Week was part of that commitment and we brought together a whole range of activities during the week to showcase to team members the support that is available to them and to help really embed healthy practices within the company. The event with Banbridge Cycling Club and Action Mental Health brought together two of our big partnerships, both of which are focused on health and wellbeing. We are jersey sponsors of BCC’s race team and Action Mental Health is our chosen charity. It is my firm belief that organisations have a huge responsibility to promote healthy practices in the best interest of employees and the organisation. It is something that has perhaps come to even more prominence due to the pandemic, but it is something that is here to stay and must be built upon. The message from all of our speakers at the event was that managing both your physical and mental wellbeing is critical and key to being successful in sport, in business and in other areas. Mal McGreevey of Banbridge Cycling Club gave his own experience of how cycling helped him manage stress and improve his overall wellbeing. Matthew Teggart talked about how he manages his wellbeing whilst being a competitive athlete. Action Mental Health’s Jonny Smyth highlighted the five ways to wellbeing: • Connect - Spend time developing and nurturing relationships with friends, family, neighbours and colleagues. • Be active - Try to find an activity that you enjoy, and that keeps you active, such as walking, swimming, cycling or playing football. • Keep learning - Learning new skills can boost confidence and give you a sense of achievement.

• Give - Helping others, saying thank you, or giving someone a smile can help to improve your self-esteem and improve your emotional health. • Take notice - Being more aware of the present moment, the world around you and your own feelings and thoughts, can help you to positively change how you’re feeling about life. Our view at Telefonica Tech UK&I is that you can’t be a healthy employee in an unhealthy organisation, and you can’t be a healthy organisation with unhealthy employees. A healthy organisation with healthy employees is therefore the sweet spot for sustainable high performance and something that we aspire to achieve.

Telefónica Tech:

Telefónica Tech is the leading company in digital transformation. The company offers a wide range of services and integrated technological solutions in Cyber Security, Cloud, IoT, Big Data and Blockchain. With our worldwide presence and strategic hubs in Spain, Brazil, the UK, Germany, USA and Hispam, our capabilities reach more than 5.5 million B2B customers in 175 countries every day. We unlock the power of integrated technology for all businesses, bringing together a unique combination of the best people, with the best tech and the best platforms, supported by a dynamic partner ecosystem. We do this in a simplified manner, to facilitate and accelerate tech adoption and make a real difference every day, to every business.