Workplace wellbeing practices that are led from the ground up, are key to the team at The Warehouse Invercargill.

The Warehouse Invercargill was one of four finalists in the 2017 Healthy Families Invercargill Workplace Wellbeing Award at the Westpac Southland Business Excellence Awards.

The awards showcase and celebrate the efforts being made by businesses in the workplace wellbeing sphere.

The Warehouse Invercargill manager Vanessa Blackler said ensuring staff felt engaged and valued was a large part of maintaining workplace wellbeing, and there were several initiatives that had been introduced at the store to make sure that happened.

Two exercise bikes were permanently based in the staffroom, for staff to use if they wanted to, and jigsaw puzzles and books were also used to help staff wanting to unwind.

White boards celebrating team successes, such as awards it had won, or achievements made, are also put up in the staffroom, so team members can see the strengths of the workplace, she said.

The Invercargill store was one of the first Warehouse stores in the country to adopt workplace wellbeing practices, which showed how committed managers were to looking after their staff, she said.

Team building events such as staff pot luck lunches are also held throughout the year to help create a healthy team environment – creating that healthy team environment was a crucial part of making sure staff went home each day in the same condition they arrived in.

‘’When they are here, we want them to be happy.’’

Article added: Friday 27 July 2018