This blog is part three of our four-part series on some of the unique employee benefits available for the team at IT Partners. This article highlights our quarterly wellness allowance and how this initiative looks different for each member of our team.
In recent years, we have begun seeing a societal shift with the knowledge that employee wellbeing in working life can have a significant impact on other factors including retention, engagement, and business success. Fostering a Team of happy, healthy, and resilient individuals is at the core of IT Partners investment in our Team’s wellness.
The standard working week in New Zealand is40 hours. That’s a third of all your time during the work week! It goes without saying that people’s wellbeing while on the job has a big effect on their lives overall. “Building the best place to work” has become one of our mottos here at IT Partners. We want our people to come to work each day feeling excited, inspired, and happy, so fostering a culture of employee wellbeing is important to us.
Outside of the office, wellness looks unique to every member of our team. Whether that’s outdoor exercise, memberships, mindfulness, spending 30 minutes each day being active with their kids, or some other form of self-care. We encourage our team to nurture the things that make them tick, and the way we go about this includes a 45-minute ‘Wellness Session’ (during workhours) per week, where our team has the flexibility and availability to pick and choose when and where they want to use their time to be the best versions of themselves.
Several years ago, IT Partners introduced the ‘Wellness Allowance’ to encourage, reward and remove the financial burdens for team members who consistently invest in their wellbeing.
The quarterly wellness allowance is put towards expenses that will encourage our team to take ownership of their wellness so they can perform at an optimum level both personally and professionally while creating new life-long habits.
“Crossfit memberships can be quite expensive, so I put my wellness allowance towards the cost of that” – Marteli Studer, Office Coordinator
“I use my wellness allowance for health supplements or physio when I require it” – Mike Davis, First Line Engineer
“I very much appreciate the IT Partners wellness allowance. I use it for all sorts of things from getting a massage, visiting the doctor, or getting my nails done” – Teagan King, First Line Engineer
“Our team use their wellness allowance in unique and wonderful ways. From using it on new running shoes, fitbits, lunch containers for meal prep, yoga teacher training, workout equipment, Mental wellbeing app fees, and race/event registrations. The uses are endless. It all comes down to what ‘wellness’ looks like for each member of our team” – Leigh Martel, Personal Trainer, and Wellbeing Coordinator
The variety of benefits that introducing office wellbeing initiatives can have in your business will have a significant impact on the lives of all your employees. Some of the benefits include a morale boost amongst teams and a greater drive. Not only do current employees feel strongly valued, but it also attracts top talent to your business and makes you a place that people want to work for.
A wellness allowance or wellness session may not be the right fit for your business. However, there are plenty of other ways in which your organization can foster wellbeing. Here are some ideas:
All of which are further initiatives within the IT Partners wellness program.
Inclusiveness is crucial to any wellness program. Keeping in mind that wellness can look different for everyone and coming up with a strategy that encompasses every member of your team should be a consideration. And as always, if you think you’d be a great fit at IT Partners, do not hesitate to reach out to us at careers@itpartners.co.nz
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