concept of Leveraging Knowledge whilst tackling the specific challenge of workplace stress.

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1 Time To Be Well Abstract Stress is a silent killer in today s busy world, and something that can no longer be ignored. Sonae Sierra s Sustainability and Human Resources (HR) teams recognised workplace stress as a key risk and sought a plan to mitigate it by promoting employee health and well-being. But with no in-house expertise and pressures on operational costs, the team had to think creatively about how to proceed. In the spirit of leveraging knowledge, they initiated a partnership with a local university which led to a fruitful exchange of knowledge and a zero investment solution to create a well-being strategy for Sonae Sierra. The successful outcome Project Be Well shows how leveraging knowledge can create shared value and deliver win-win outcomes across the company. Introduction In 2004, Sonae Sierra began to develop a pioneering approach to safety and health within the shopping centre industry. The approach is now deeply rooted in our culture. We take the view that achieving excellence in safety and health is not only beneficial to our stakeholders and society at large, but it also differentiates us from our competitors and helps to ensure the long-term sustainability of our business. Prompted by work-related stress alerts from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, in 2013 we took on stress prevention and management as an emerging area for action. As we looked into the issue in more detail, we realised that we did not have detailed information about the levels of health and wellbeing of our employees, especially with regard to stress and anxiety. We realised that we would benefit from access to specialist knowledge to not only understand the scale of the challenge, but also to devise an effective strategy to address work related stress that reflected our needs and circumstances. But without the right skills in-house, or the budget to pay for consultancy fees, how could we achieve our objective? The Sustainability and HR teams saw the potential to work with a university in a partnership as a way of sharing academic expertise and practical experience. In exchange for free access to Sonae Sierra knowledge and our support with research, a suitable academic organisation could bring the necessary theoretical know-how. Moreover, partnering with a university aligned well with our sustainability strategy, one aspect of which is to promote employee knowledge and skills whilst developing the same in society at large. The project would therefore offer the chance to trial the 1

2 concept of Leveraging Knowledge whilst tackling the specific challenge of workplace stress. Background According to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, psychosocial risks and work-related stress are among the most challenging occupational safety and health issues. Around half of European workers say that stress is common in their workplace, and it contributes to around half of all lost working days. When viewed as an organisational issue rather than an individual fault, psychosocial issues and stress can be just as manageable as any other workplace safety and health risk. However, promoting employee wellbeing means more than simply meeting legal minimum requirements on safety and health; it requires companies to actively take steps to improve general health and wellbeing. Within this context, it is essential to involve employees and accommodate their needs and views on how to organise their workload and workplace. Workplace stress the facts and figures 1 Challenge Considering the importance for Sonae Sierra of fostering employee health and wellbeing while enhancing organisational performance and productivity, we set ourselves the challenge of tackling the impact of stress on our employees. In order to research and implement an effective strategy, Sonae Sierra needed either access to specialist in-house knowledge or the financial resources to employ external support, neither of which were available. We had to challenge ourselves to come up with a creative solution how could we access the right skills at no additional cost? 1 Sources: Creating Sustainable Performance, Harvard Business Review (January February 2012) & European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. 2

3 To this end, we contacted the psychology faculty at the University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE) and put together a project team including Sierra employees, faculty teachers and students. The team developed a six stage methodology and worked together for nine months sharing knowledge and experience. The team s first goal was to perform a comprehensive diagnosis of employee health and well-being across the European business by exploring organisational, group and individual resources and demands. It did this through one-on-one interviews with select employees, an interview with the head of HR, and an online survey for a much broader group of employees. The study revealed some interesting findings. Generally, employees consider Sonae Sierra to be a dynamic company with clear and ambitious objectives, a strong commitment to sustainability and a good work environment. However, its high standards and expectations mean that some employees are affected by stress and anxiety. The main issues were: Challenges associated with entering new markets with different cultures. Deadline management, time management and planning. Excessive work hours (in some cases employees worked at home, at night and during the weekends). Multi-tasking. Competing demands from different managers. Solution and results After analysing the results, we produced an action plan - Project Be Well which identified a series of initiatives across eight categories to be implemented over the next two years. 3

4 All initiatives were based on employee suggestions, whilst the mitigation measures were suggested by our partners at the university. The list of proposed initiatives was mapped against two criteria: potential impact on well-being and effort required to implement them. This method enabled us to decide which initiatives should be prioritised. The initiatives selected included: List of categories used as a guide to the proposed initiatives Leadership Tips A periodic newsletter/ that contains simple people-management tips for an engaged and productive workforce. The content links to relevant external case studies or articles that lead to a more comprehensive understanding of each topic. Wall of Activities A new section of the intranet site that promotes group activities outside the workplace. Be Healthy An initiative to promote healthier lifestyles among employees. Resilience workshops Voluntary internal workshops facilitated by an internal trainer, the goal being to provide employees with the tools to cope with the challenges they face in their daily life. Sierra Shot on Work-Life Balance Five employees from different functions and with different lifestyles were invited to share their personal experiences and recommendations on how to achieve better work-life balance. Awareness for Less Noise in Offices A communication campaign to encourage employees to reduce office noise. Awareness of Respect for Rest A communication campaign to encourage employees to respect their rest times (such as evenings, weekends and holidays). 4

5 Energize Your Time an internal workshop focusing on physical and mental tips to raise energy levels and improve productivity, both professionally and in employees private lives. Closure Through a successful academic partnership, Sonae Sierra s Sustainability and HR teams devised a creative solution to the challenge of accessing the right skills to develop and implement a workplace wellbeing strategy without any financial investment. Project Be Well has a clear win-win outcome. Sonae Sierra provided a testing ground for faculty members, and in exchange we received specialised know-how and a detailed report on health and wellbeing at work, including suggestions on measures to manage it that were implemented across our European operations. The feedback from employees has been overwhelmingly positive, with many requesting that the initiatives are repeated in Furthermore, our efforts are starting to bear fruit. We have seen significant reductions in employee absenteeism since 2014 as a consequence of our continued focus on promoting better health and wellbeing. In 2015 we recorded a 71% drop in the lost day rate compared with The project is a perfect example of the opportunities for companies and academics to build bridges in non-traditional ways (such as trainee programs, executive education or financial contributions) with a strong focus on creating shared value by leveraging knowledge on both sides. 5