Global Aerospace

Global Aerospace outlines the varied approach it a has been taking to support staff health and wellbeing

The group HQ for Global Aerospace Underwriting Managers Limited is located in the City of London.

Harriet McArthur, Head of HR Europe, at Global Aerospace, has written the following case study for Business Healthy.

“We wanted to achieve the London Healthy Workplace Award because we strive to be an excellent place to work and to bring out the best in all our employees whatever their role, characteristics or capabilities.

Employee benefits

We actively encourage health and wellbeing and promote a work-life balance for all employees, as we believe this contributes to our low staff turnover figures and high records of long service and aids the attraction and retention of highly skilled people.

Global Aerospace is passionate about the health and wellbeing of its employees and offers a variety of extra-curricular activities free of charge, including health and wellbeing workshops led by clinical specialists, meditation and mindfulness classes, guided walks, free fruit and nuts.  We also offer free flu vaccinations, annual health checks with a clinical practitioner and eye tests and a contribution to glasses for VDU (visual display unit) use and massage therapy.  Social lunches and the provision of board games encourages face-to-face interaction and inclusion at all levels, which is particularly important with the rise in home-working and electronic communication.

As part of our employee benefits offering to all employees we offer Occupational Health and an Employee Assistance Programme.  Private Medical Insurance is also part of our benefits programme with in-patient and outpatient mental health treatments such as psychiatry and counselling offered as standard.

HR work with senior management to prioritise health and wellbeing initiatives; we then monitor the impact of programmes on a quarterly basis.

Communication, engagement and measuring impact

Employees have the opportunity to communicate their views at regular intervals and are encouraged to give feedback on roles and responsibilities, the work environment, and experiences with management as well as engagement and morale.

Our annual and mid-year performance reviews present opportunities for employees to communicate with their line managers in a more formal and structured way. All employees are, however, encouraged to raise any concerns or problems that may arise on a day-to-day basis with their line managers, rather than wait for the review periods.

Employee feedback is collected by HR through a number of processes, including post-hire interviews, company induction presentation feedback forms, exit interviews and post-training course questionnaires – all of which enable employees to feed back on their positive experiences as well as suggesting ideas for improvement.

The “Ideas Inbox”

The company also has an “Ideas Inbox” where employees are encouraged to suggest ideas under three categories:  innovative business ideas; ideas for improving the local office environment; and ideas to promote social interaction in the workplace.  Ideas are reviewed regularly by senior management, who give out voucher awards for those taken forward to implementation stage.

Resourcing the approach

The CEO has approved an annual Health and Wellbeing budget of £10,000 to reinforce the commitment to this area.  We expect our Health and Wellbeing Action Plan to increase employee engagement, improve talent attraction and retention and provide a measurable improvement in organisational performance. We also have a senior management ‘champion’ who supports many initiatives.”