Equiniti

In January 2023, shareholder, retirement and remediation services provider Equiniti introduced Peakon, a new employee engagement platform, which enabled employees to provide feedback on a monthly, rather than annual, basis. The initial health and wellbeing results – one of three core sections of the survey – showed a score of eight, well below the industry benchmark of 25. 

As a result, Equiniti’s ED&I networks were refreshed and three new networks created: Inclusion, Multicultural and Wellbeing. The last’s aim was to provide opportunities to improve colleagues’ overall wellbeing, raise awareness and tackle stigma, and provide safe spaces for colleagues to share experiences.

Before 2023, mental wellbeing had been the main focus – there was a team of trained ‘mental first aiders’ across the business plus free confidential access to a 24-hour colleague assistance programme. However, the Peakon insight and the Wellbeing network enabled Equiniti to widen the health and wellbeing offering to include physical as well as mental wellbeing. This included a “raft of in-person and inclusive digital activities like webinars, fun runs and regular virtual tea breaks”.

Social wellbeing was also identified as a focus area in Peakon, so Equiniti ran a Summer Socials event programme globally, designed to bring everyone, especially remote workers, together. Each local organiser received a budget with the scope to run an event that worked best for their teams, and the plan is for these events to be repeated annually.

With the help of the network, Equiniti doubled down on its annual walking challenge in which teams of three compete to do the most steps throughout July, encouraging colleagues to get active and connect with others. And Vitality wellbeing was rolled out to the UK in January as a pilot for the global group – network members act as champions, giving the organisation real-time health data for the first time.

Now there are 250 active ED&I network members, and health and wellbeing engagement scores increased throughout 2023, with 43 points recorded in February. The judges said it was “really good to see the employee survey results having a direct influence on the development of the wellbeing strategy” adding that “the programme seems to offer a diverse range of initiatives and activities and is holistic”. They also welcomed the focus on prevention and how the company invests in line manager capability to support employee wellbeing, embedding it through performance management.