A SOLIHULL company has been recognised for promoting the health and wellbeing of employees.
IM Group is one of 50 companies across the region which has been accredited with the West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) bronze level of the Thrive at Work programme.
The programme promotes the importance of good health and wellbeing, and how this affects productivity and performance at work.
It is part funded through the Mental Health and Productivity Pilot across the Midlands Engine and the foundation level programme was introduced a year ago to help organisations start the accreditation process.
Employers who achieve accreditation can display a Thrive at Work logo to demonstrate their level of commitment – from foundation to gold – to improving the mental health and wellbeing of their employees.
IM Group, which operates in the automotive, property and finance sectors and employs around 500 staff across the world, joined the programme in a bid to further promote mental health and wellbeing in the work place.
Judi Wood, IM Group’s director of corporate social responsibility, said: “The Thrive bronze award is the next step in future proofing our business after we moved into our new offices which were designed with employee wellness at the core.
“The accreditation gave us a framework to help improve further, to ensure that we are listening harder to and acting upon the feedback of our teams, to improve what we are already doing and delivering in terms of overall wellness.
“We’ve learnt a lot over the past 18 months going through the Thrive process and it is great we’ve got some external recognition of what we do across the various initiatives we run.
“This varies from standing desks and a variety of supportive chairs for everyone, to walking meetings, Pilates classes, healthy food options and trained mental health supporters and resources.”
Now the WMCA is calling for more employers to join the 460 businesses across the Midlands and beyond who have signed up for the free programme.
West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, said: “It is really encouraging that 50 accreditations at either Foundation or Bronze level have been achieved, but we want to be handing out more accreditations to more businesses.
“That’s why I am encouraging all those businesses across the region who aren’t already signed up to get involved to help support and improve the mental health of both employees and their employers.
“By investing a small amount of time in wellbeing, businesses will reap the benefit of a happier, healthier workforce.”
