Northland Regional Council (NRC) came on board with the Active Workplaces Programme in September 2019 after it was identified by staff and management that workplace wellness was a priority. The team developed a formalised process to add to staff experiences, participation, support and education.

NRC formed an inhouse wellness committee and a wellness calendar of initiatives, based on what staff wanted (all of which was identified in the Active Workplaces initial survey). The intranet, posters and emails were then used to communicate upcoming events and initiatives. The team went on to roll out the wellness initiatives which were easy to fit in timewise and low cost, as specified by staff in the survey.

“Whatever the capacity, the improvement of wellness being adopted in a business effectively causes better output for the business and the happiness of the person” says a Northland Regional Council staff member.

There were many wellness initiatives throughout the year, such as Staff care packages, healthy morning teas, snack box options, fruit bowl, recipe sharing, education opportunities, resilience session, mental wellbeing support and in-house massage.  Flexible working conditions was also introduced, with over 100 applying. Team building challenges with Ray White Hatea Loop Colour run/walk, Movember and Active Workplaces Steptember added a fun element and walking/biking groups were promoted and supported.

Bio impedance health checks proved popular and helped supported employees to set achievable goals, based on results from a body composition scan. Anonymous feedback was collected on the testing, which follows:

“It was worthwhile and made me change some behaviours such as drinking more water to stay hydrated and start some exercises to improve muscle mass”.

“I was dehydrated…so I made a daily goal and have been sticking to it so I will be interested to see how this makes a difference from the second (bio-impedance) reading”.

“It holds you more accountable and gives you info to make specific changes/improvements”.

NRC have made real inroads during their first year of workplace wellness. To start this year off, the wellness team will again be asking staff what they would like to see in workplace wellness. The plan is to continue to keep it simple and fun, and all importantly - keep providing workplace wellness opportunities for all!

If you would like any further information on the Active Workplaces programme, upcoming events, challenges and support, email sharona@sportnorth.co.nz or check out our Active Workplaces FB page.