Embedding wellbeing at work Hotwire case study
Kam White, head of people and culture at global comms consultancy, Hotwire explains how it’s championing good mental health through its proactive wellbeing culture.
We can only be our best if our people are at their best Life at Hotwire – like any consultancy in this industry – can have its ups and downs. That’s why it’s really, really important to look after people. It’s less about reacting when people need support. Instead, our philosophy is about proactively creating a wellbeing culture where we do our part to stop people needing support in the first place. We want to ensure that people can be open about their mental health without any stigma, and also that work itself is not a cause of stress. This philosophy is a long-term one that we’ve been working on for a while – certainly since before I started two years ago. It’s part of who we are, growing organically as part of our culture. Take our annual bootcamp, where we get everyone in the company together. A couple of years ago our theme was ‘ambitious balance’, and that’s something that’s stayed with us. That means that yes, we want to give the best agency experience, do the best possible job, be a challenger brand. But we can only be our best if our people are at their best. They go hand in hand.
Wellbeing that works for you We’ve weaved wellbeing into so many aspects of what we do. The common theme is flexibility; people love that they can choose what works for them because what may help one person may not necessarily help another. For example, we’ve introduced thoughtful working, which is different to flexible working (which we have as well!). Thoughtful working is about saying as long as you’re thoughtful to yourself, to your team, to your clients, you can work in whatever way is best for your needs. For example, if you need to shift your working day so you can fit in a trip to the gym, you’re empowered to make that choice.
#CIPRWellbeing