EXCLUSIVE: Roffey Park Institute has launched a series of half-day wellbeing workshops for its employees.

The first three events, which were rolled out in September and October, were attended by around 60 of the organisation’s 80 staff.

Roffey Park Institute creates programmes on leadership, organisational development, HR and coaching, so it is keen to ensure its employees are also developed, engaged and happy.

Caroline Disano, head of programme delivery and HR projects at Roffey Park Institute, said: “We’re quite aware that employees are going to be asked to do more with less, and will be busy, so we wanted to be very mindful of the health and wellbeing angle.”

The organisation partnered corporate wellness organisation The Tonic to introduce the workshops. The Tonic’s owner, Jeff Archer, encouraged all attendees to choose three wellbeing commitments.

Disano added: “Mine, for instance, were to make sure I got into the gym for a half-hour session once a week, to try to drink more water and to try to spend a bit more me time.”

Roffey Park Institute offers a range of health and wellbeing initiatives to employees, including flexible-working arrangements, eye tests, enhanced paid annual leave above the statutory minimum, free fruit, herbal teas and refreshments, healthy options in itson-site restaurant, use of its on-site gym, sauna and steam room, use of the grounds and access to the forest for exercise and recreation.

“We have a super site here,” said Disano. “We’ve got 65 bedrooms onsite, a pool and a gym, and beautiful grounds. We do an awful lot around health and wellbeing. We wanted to tie [the workshops] in to complement our existing initiatives that we do around health and wellbeing.”

The organisation communicates its health and wellbeing strategy using a noticeboard, quarterly staff updates and management meetings.

Roffey Park Institute intends to follow its 2013 workshops with an event in the first part of 2014. Disano added: “It will cover content again, but also revisit people’s commitment and giving them the space to have a discussion in their break-up groups about how successful they have been and what hurdles they have encountered.

“People walk around the building asking colleagues if they’ve done their commitments this week. It’s created quite a lot of energy with members of staff. We want to keep that momentum going.”