Provident Insurance – healthy eating and exercise
| Company name | Provident Insurance |
|---|---|
| Sector | Financial services |
| Number of employees | 430 |
| Type of workforce | Office workers |
What issue was the organisation facing?
We wanted to improve the health and well-being of our employees through workplace initiatives in order to:
- generally support our overall business strategy to become an ‘employer of choice’
- attract individuals with specialist skills to the business.
Attracting people to re-locate to Halifax has always been a challenge but is an increasing issue, especially with such strong competition from other insurance companies who already have employee benefits.
What action did the organisation take?
We developed a programme called ‘Well-being at Work’. The focus was on providing a range of activities with something for everyone.
- An initial baseline questionnaire to employees provided essential benchmark data against which to measure the impact of the project.
- Annual sporting events i.e. squash and football tournaments.
- Weight management courses and weight loss competitions.
- Smoking intervention classes are organised for the 17% of employees who smoke.
- The benefits of exercise are continually addressed and employees are encouraged to cycle to work.
- Pedometers are issued and work place challenges focus on making employees walk more.
What has been the impact of implementing health interventions?
- Staff turnover within the organisation has reduced from 20% in 2005 to 16% in 2006.
- Sickness absence reduced from 2.3% (2005) to 2.1% (2006). 8.4 days is the sector average.
- Well-screening programmes delivered by qualified nurses have been attended by 44% of employees. These have been successful in identifying potential health problems early.
- As a result of smoking intervention classes and 1 to 1 support a total 10 employees have managed to stop smoking for a three month period.