At Emcor UK, we believe that a robust wellbeing strategy is essential to our whole person approach, ensuring that we remain true to our purpose of creating 'A Better World at Work' and upholding our core values. We have strategically shifted wellbeing from health and safety to the people and culture department. This move highlights our commitment to a holistic view of employee wellbeing, encompassing physical, mental, emotional, and social health.
A strong wellbeing strategy offers numerous benefits, both for our employees and our organisation. It promotes a more engaged and motivated workforce, where employees feel supported and valued. This engagement directly translates into higher quality work, improved customer service, and enhanced overall performance.
A comprehensive wellbeing approach helps to reduce absenteeism and presenteeism by proactively addressing factors that contribute to the causes of absence. This creates a healthier work environment improving individual health outcomes and reducing operational disruptions and associated costs.
Integrating wellbeing into the people and culture function allows us to align wellbeing initiatives with our organisational culture and values more effectively, linking strategies such as equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I), learning and development and reward together. It enables us to tailor programmes that resonate with our employees' needs and aspirations, promoting a sense of belonging and community. This alignment helps attract and retain talent, as prospective employees increasingly seek employers that prioritise their wellbeing.
Our commitment to wellbeing enhances our reputation as a responsible and caring employer especially through our approach to family-friendly policies and benefits. It demonstrates our dedication to our employees' holistic development and to our contribution to creating a better workplace. This positive perception strengthens our brand and fosters loyalty among our clients, stakeholders and employees.
Our internal employee data within the people and culture department plays a crucial role in delivering our wellbeing strategy. By analysing various metrics related to our employees we can identify areas that need attention and develop targeted interventions such as our financial education support. This data-driven approach ensures that our wellbeing initiatives are effective and aligned with the actual needs of our workforce, linking directly to enhanced employee benefits.
Nicola Shephard is head of HR services, reward and people analytics at Emcor UK
