Health and wellbeing is central to what we do at Cerner. Showing a commitment to our associates, and demonstrating that we are promoting a wellbeing culture within the workplace is vital to what we do. Healthier and happier associates mean a better working environment which in turn allows us to be able to achieve our own objectives and that of the business.
This is why it was even more of an honour for my colleague Tim James and I to accept an award on behalf of Cerner UK for Health & Wellbeing in the Workplace (Commitment Level) from the London Healthy Workplace Charter at City Hall with Jeff Jacobs, Executive Director GLA representing the Mayor of London.
Why did we apply?
We were already working on ideas to improve health and wellbeing in the workplace, and when we signed up to the Charter we realised that we were already doing a lot of things but people were not aware of this.
More and more organisations are starting to understand the importance of employee wellbeing. They see the link between good staff health and wellbeing, and better performance. However, there is so much information out there it can be difficult to know where to start which is why we decided to sign up to the healthy workplace Charter.
Why is it important for us?
It gave us the opportunity to benchmark ourselves against an established and independent set of standards, allowing us to identify what we are doing well in health and wellbeing practices and what gaps there may be that we can improve upon.
Throughout our application we got great support from our local borough of Westminster, working closely with the assigned Workplace Health Lead who were always on hand to answer questions and guide us through the process.
What does it mean for our associates?
Health and wellbeing is central to what we do as a business, so achieving the Charter is great proof of this. It shows our commitment to our associates, and demonstrates that we are promoting a wellbeing culture within the workplace. Healthier and happier associates mean a better working environment which in turn allows us to be able to achieve our own objectives and that of the business.
We believe that better health and wellbeing in associates will lead to improved business outcomes. Most importantly, we believe that we should promote and encourage employee health and wellbeing simply because it benefits all.
So what is the London Healthy Workplace Charter award exactly?
The London Healthy Workplace Charter, is an accreditation scheme that supports and rewards companies within London, who promote staff health and wellbeing according to best practice. The scheme is Backed by the Mayor of London and endorsed by Public Health England. Over 140 organisations have been accredited and awarded, with more than 260,000 employees benefiting.
The Healthy Workplace Charter defines a set of standards that organisations have to meet in order to receive an official accreditation.
The Charter covers 8 areas of a healthy workplace:
- Corporate Support
- Health and Safety Requirements
- Attendance management
- Healthy eating
- Mental health and wellbeing
- Physical activity
- Tobacco use
- Alcohol and substance use
The Charter awards at 3 different levels:
- Commitment level – for organisations who have recently started the process
- Achievement level – for organisations that have a more advanced and comprehensive approach to employee wellbeing
- Excellence level – for organisations that demonstrate that health and wellbeing are embedded in their corporate culture and values
This year, Cerner was awarded the Commitment Level, and it doesn’t stop here, this is an ongoing journey for us! We want to continue to improve the health and wellbeing of our associates and achieve the next level hopefully in 2017.
