CASE STUDY
Prioritizing the wellbeing of our people
As an employer, we have a responsibility to ensure the welfare and overall wellbeing of our people is supported as much as possible. Our Wellbeing Programme focuses on how we work and manage our workloads, in order to create a better work-life balance for our colleagues.
All of our colleagues—regardless of where they are based—have access to professional emotional and financial wellbeing advice and general support through our global Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), an independent counselling and resource service provided by Optum. Available in local languages, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the programme offers wellbeing and crisis support to both colleagues and their families. This covers anything from everyday life challenges to more extreme circumstances.
In November 2022, we ran sessions for colleagues to provide them with an overview of EAP and highlight how it can provide support in areas such as counselling, legal advice, debt information, and financial wellbeing.
Colleagues and their families can access the services online, via phone, or through Optum’s supporting apps. More recently, colleagues in our Oxford office have been given the opportunity to have sessions with an onsite counsellor, and we hope to make in-person counselling services available at more of our global offices in the near future.
Last year, EAP assisted more than 130 individuals from across all regions in which we operate in. Engagement with EAP increased by 16.5% in 2022 from the previous year, with more than 1,600 colleagues across the world accessing web sessions and online resource pages.
‘I am so pleased that colleagues can benefit from the Employee Assistance Programme. We know how incredibly important wellbeing is, and I believe that EAP will make a real difference in the lives of our colleagues, providing another crucial way to get support when we need it most.’
Philippa Kilgallon
Group People Experience Director, Group HR
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