Heidelberg Engineering UK shows the way to increasing productivity long-term with sustainable employee wellbeing.
Many organisations complain of unmotivated staff who lack drive. Not so at Heidelberg Engineering. With 19 staff who share a keen ambition to achieve high performance, Heidelberg have a dream team. But a new problem presents itself: how can this performance be sustained in the long-term?
Sustainable employee performance and productivity stems from wellbeing, which can be addressed with three key steps.
- Brave leadership
While director of Heidelberg Krysten Williams has a distinct advantage with top performing employees, she knows this should not be taken for granted. By proactively asking staff for their views on the workplace, Williams leads a culture of wellbeing with strength and confidence.
A solid foundation for strategising long-term productivity, Heidelberg worked in partnership with HUM to develop a quantitative and qualitative perspective on staff wellbeing. Using a confidential, anonymous online survey, staff answered questions about organisational communication, the workplace environment and their health, as well as stress, workload levels, and how engaged and valued they felt.
- Creative solutions
Finding out what staff think about the current environment is the first step to addressing long-term wellbeing and, therefore, productivity. But it doesn’t stop there – it’s vital to carefully review and think creatively about how to address the results of what staff think about the workplace.
Following a thorough review of HUM’s report and recommendations, Williams collaborated with HUM to develop a strategic plan with operational actions for positive and sustainable change. One of the creative solutions to staff feedback was a series of ‘walk and talk events’, where staff had the opportunity to openly discuss with Williams their concerns and ideas for improvements. Other changes included a ‘time out zone’ so employees could take breaks from their desks, office and car ergonomics to address the high rate of back issues, and a staff pledge to improve their wellbeing, which helps develop engagement.
- Keep the passion alive
Although wellbeing is a hot topic in HR and organisational culture, it often receives only short-term attention. For Heidelberg, wellbeing has become a standing agenda item in weekly meetings and is now featured in the company’s ongoing appraisal process.
At the core of the program was the need to identify and reduce staff stress. So HUM delivered a workshop on handling pressure. Staff were able to recognise the difference between pressure and stress, identify triggers and build their own resources. Additionally, with 54% of their workforce belonging to the 45-54 year-old group, health and wellbeing prevention is a key feature of this long-term focus. This includes HUM’s health and posture checks and a vitality health program.
Staff feedback and the general response to Heidelberg’s program and HUM’s support has been strong.
One manager commented, “Raising awareness of wellbeing among my team has had an immediate affect on morale.”
William’s feedback was also positive, “Asking staff for their views on wellbeing in the workplace meant that I was able to gain a new perspective on what needed to change and how we could improve things. It was essentially our evidence for investment. Employee wellbeing started as a key priority in our business plan – now it’s part of our culture. Leading by example ensures a culture of wellbeing is top of everyone’s agenda. This is intrinsic to how Heidelberg performs now and in the future.”
www.heidelbergengineering.co.uk
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