That’s why I’m also a Wellbeing Champion at LV= GI
I’ve been working at LV= GI for six years now. I started out in the Home team as a Claims Handler before moving into the Buildings team. Since being on BCT I have trained and progressed to a more senior level. Although I'm not really the most confident person, working at LV= GI has definitely brought me out of my shell. Here, you’re supported and encouraged by everyone you work with to be the best you can be. That’s why I love my job. I absolutely love it.
Whether it's customers, suppliers, or colleagues, I just love being able to help people. That’s why I’m also a Wellbeing Champion at LV= GI. Every month I’ll help organise a day or two dedicated to wellbeing. We had ‘Time to Talk Day’ recently, ‘Self-care September’ and at the moment we're running ‘Feel the Love February’ which is all about encouraging people to love themselves and focus on their own wellbeing - especially while we’re all working from home. The company supports me by giving me time out to focus on what I’m going to put together for the next wellbeing activity.
I want to try and get some competitions going in the next couple of months where I encourage people to send stuff in. A while back, we asked people to send in a photo of what makes them smile. That was a good one. The whole department sent in their photos - everything from beaches to pets, sunsets to their children. There were some amazing pictures and it helped everyone get to know each other a little bit better. We also had a ‘No Makeup Day’ in the office. It was brave of everybody who took part and it went down well. We do the step challenge every year too, where individuals across the business commit to doing 10,000 steps a day. It’s great because you see everyone getting together and going out for walks on lunch breaks. And people swapped meeting rooms for walking one-to-ones too.
I get some really good responses from people who enjoy the wellbeing activities. It's lovely to get recognition, even for the smallest little things. And I like giving recognition and making others smile too. We had some really good engagement results last year which was very encouraging. If the activities I run help just one person, then it’s worth it. That's the most important thing.
In the last few years, wellbeing has grown from strength to strength. It's so important to everybody now - it has become intrinsic to working life. LV= GI have recently given us all access to Headspace, a wellbeing app, for free. There are relaxing playlists, stories, meditations and all sorts on there. It's really good. We're now having time booked out each month to speak to each other - just to touch base with colleagues we haven’t caught up with for a while - which has been lovely.
I've got two amazing team leaders who are both very supportive and into wellbeing too. If I go to them with a suggestion, then they do nothing but back me and allow me the time I need to organise the activities. Everybody supports each other here. There's a family feel within the departments and everyone’s respected as an individual. We're so lucky to work for a good company that appreciates us. It's just such a nice company to work for.
Lisa Hopkins, Specialist Buildings Consultant in Bournemouth