Simplyhealth

Our communities are at the heart of what we do. To support our communities, we donate a minimum of £1 million annually to charities and charitable causes to continue to deliver our purpose more powerfully. But we don’t just donate, we also encourage our colleagues to get involved in a tangible way, and volunteer for local causes close to their hearts. Every colleague has three volunteering days to use per year. Last year our amazing colleagues delivered over 1000 hours of volunteering and this year we have set an ambitious target to achieve 3000 volunteering hours. Our colleagues have lent their support to causes including the BrightBites programme (our collaborative oral health education initiative with Dentaid), BOAZ (an amazing Hampshire-based charity), Let’s Care Together (our programme with Business in the Community to support unpaid carers), and many, many more. We couldn’t be prouder of them!

Workplace Wellbeing in Focus 🎯 Following the launch of our Health and Wellbeing at Work infographic, supported by Simplyhealth, we’re diving deeper into the key insights shaping the people profession. 📊 Did you know? Our latest data highlights the crucial role of wellbeing strategies in driving employee engagement and performance. 💡 What can you do? Explore practical steps to enhance workplace wellbeing, from tackling absence management to fostering a culture of support. Download the latest infographic for essential takeaways and actionable insights 👉 https://ow.ly/8soV50VnTTl #WorkplaceWellbeing #HR #PeopleProfession #Simplyhealth #CIPD

What a week it’s been so far! Today, alongside another incredibly insightful colleague panel, we had the absolute privilege of welcoming the amazing 🌟 Lucy Cox 🌟 to deliver her Unmasking Potential workshop. This session was empowering, uplifting, and deeply thought-provoking, sparking even more meaningful conversations within our group. A huge thank you to Siân Evans Chartered Fellow CIPD & Simplyhealth for making this possible during such an important week of celebration! #neurodiversitycelebrationweek25 #celebratingneurodiverseteams

To celebrate B Corp Month with our colleagues, this week we asked them to B Together and get involved with our walking challenge to benefit Andover Mind. Taking place until the end of March, we’ve challenged our colleagues to get walking for at least 30 minutes every day, with each walk unlocking a £5 donation from us to the charity. We’re also encouraging them to enhance their social connection and B Together during the challenge – by joining one of our five organised in-person walks, walking together as smaller teams, or even having walking one-to-ones. However they choose to get involved, our colleagues are living our B Corp values by taking care of their own physical and mental wellbeing whilst also supporting our community. Now that’s a #BCorpMonth celebration!

Today Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Business and Trade have published Sir Charlie Mayfield's, Keep Britain Working discovery phase. Commenting on the release of this independent report, our CEO, Paul Schreier, said: “Sir Charlie Mayfield, lead of the government's Keep Britain Working review, is right when he says that preventing people from dropping out of work is just as important as trying to get people back into the workforce. Evidence shows it leads to significantly lower economic inactivity than an equivalent increase in 'reactivation' rates.     “We mustn’t lose sight of the value that comes from providing working people with preventative, easy to access healthcare support through their workplace - particularly when the NHS is in crisis. With one in five of the working population reporting that they have a work limiting health condition, this support must be available regardless of pre-existing conditions too.    “Businesses and the government have a shared objective here and we must collaborate.     “With challenging economic headwinds and a shared priority of achieving growth, it’s vital that businesses do not face a greater financial burden to look after the health of their staff. Instead, the government must make it easier to invest in workplace health support, with further incentives to encourage uptake, and the removal of existing barriers, looking again at the excessive tax burdens.    “We welcome the recommendation that people are given faster access to effective health support and treatment, particularly for mental health and MSK, the biggest causes of sickness absence.     “We encourage the government to try and avoid the mistake of looking too narrowly in scope at health support available. While traditional occupational health is great for addressing specific work-related issues, the flexibility of health plans offer more comprehensive coverage – still for a low-cost, and unlike other forms of private medical insurance, pre-existing health conditions are covered. This supports businesses to affordably provide fast access to healthcare for those people that are most at risk of dropping out.” Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eEa9JvRk

🌟 Celebrate Neurodiversity with Us! 🌟 Diverse minds, and their unique ways of thinking, learning, and perceiving the world should be celebrated every day, and neurodiversity should never be a barrier to anyone's success. Neurodiversity encompasses conditions like autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, and Tourette’s, and involves variations the way the brain and nervous system works. Understanding these conditions, and the ways they can impact memory, behaviour and learning empowers individuals to make necessary adjustments and play to their strengths. We’re excited to offer our members access to self-pay digital neurodiversity assessments to help you understand your mind and access any support you might need. Let's celebrate and support each other! 💙 Find out more: https://lnkd.in/dXqNtF5a *These services are provided by a third party supplier.

Some of our colleagues were in Parliament this afternoon attending a CIPD and SOM event on helping women thrive at work, by making women’s and reproductive health a key priority. Improving employment practices is vital for women and economic growth. Our Women’s Health Charity Alliance is working to advocate for women’s health, and tackle stigma, particularly in the workplace. And our health plans allow employers to support employees with women’s health concerns by offering access to women’s health-focused GPs, as well as further support. We’ve also published guides to help people have comfortable conversations about women’s heath, both in the workplace and with healthcare professionals, available here: https://lnkd.in/e6a-pDAx We’re passionate about women’s health and want to #HelpWomenThrive

Our colleagues’ stories are powerful – they can raise awareness, destigmatise experiences, and help foster a more inclusive, supportive working environment. Giving members of staff a platform to share their experiences with their colleagues across the business is a cornerstone of our #LiveAllTogetherHealthier programme. Today, as part of our commitment to becoming a menopause friendly employer, we were focusing on the menopause. In our ‘Let’s talk menopause’ webinar, three of our colleagues were joined by menopause specialist Dr Jacqueline Radley to talk honestly about their menopause experiences. Thank you to Jackie for joining us, and to our three fantastic colleagues for candidly sharing their experiences!

Earlier this week, The Health Foundation published the final report from the Commission for Healthier Working Lives, which advocated for more support for people in ill health to stay in work, potentially saving the government more than £1bn. We understand the challenges people face with regards to access to healthcare and the role employers can play in easing these challenges. In our most recent survey we found, of those employees who weren’t offered health benefits, nearly seven in ten (68%) said having health benefits would help them take better care of their health, nearly half (48%) said it would make them take fewer sick days, and over half (54%) said that it would make them more productive at work. Employees also said simplicity was the factor most likely to make them use health benefits (37%), followed by speed of access (36%), and cover for pre-existing conditions (22%). To support employers in providing simple, affordable and accessible solutions for the whole of the workforce, we’ve launched a suite of new products for businesses. Read more about our recent research and how we are helping businesses support their people: https://lnkd.in/egdwuGaB

Our commitment to a healthier world is unwavering. We seek to deliver this commitment through our positive impact on the environment, in the way we contribute to society, and by governing ourselves responsibly. In all of this, it’s important to us to work with stakeholders who value this commitment too. Collective action and collaboration sit at the heart of the B Corp™ community. Balancing people, planet and profit in an equitable way takes a great deal of thought, care and energy. It’s often what attracts talented people to our business, what keeps them here and ultimately, provides that sense of purpose. Never has the need to simplify access to healthcare for all in the UK been more pressing. Through innovation and a relentless determination to improve our impact and reach more people, we’re confident we will enable a healthier UK, where everyone can fund and navigate their healthcare needs. Read more about our B Corp journey here: https://lnkd.in/eS27aG8K #BCorpMonth