Cambridge Judge Business School brings apps to staff

Cambridge Judge Business School (CJBS), at the University of Cambridge, is providing its 250-strong workforce with access to Rize, a mental wellbeing app for IOS and Android devices. The mobile app aims to enhance mental wellbeing and lower levels of stress and anxiety, by guiding users through bite-size, interactive tutorials and exercises built on therapeutic concepts. It will be introduced on a trial basis from September 2015 and the business school will look at longer-term implementation if this proves successful.

The app was developed through CJBS’s entrepreneurial programme Accelerate Cambridge, and underwent a trial run at the business school earlier this year. Feedback from the initial trial has informed the development of the app, and it is this updated version that CJBS will make available to staff. Julie Brown, HR director at CJBS, says: “Hopefully it’s going to help people in terms of their mental wellbeing, and it’s also supporting a new initiative that has been developed through the business school.”

The September roll-out coincides with the beginning of the academic year for the business school, which can be a time of heightened stress for staff, says Brown. “It’s when people’s stress levels tend to be quite high, so it’s a good time for them to be thinking about and monitoring [their mental wellbeing], and having something proactive to help them deal with [it].”

A range of communication methods will be harnessed to raise employee awareness of the app’s availability, such as email, the intranet, posters and mentions in staff and manager meetings.

CJBS is looking at ways to increase its focus on employee wellbeing, which includes the establishment of a wellbeing working group. This group entered the school into the Global Corporate Challenge. September also sees the launch of workshops on mindfulness and managing those coping with anxiety and depression.