Active Prospects has officially been named one of the UK’s Best Workplaces™ for Wellbeing (2023) by Great Place to Work®, the global authority on workplace culture.
Over recent years the social care sector has become an increasingly tough place to work, with support workers particularly affected by the Covid pandemic and cost of living crisis. Recognising this, we worked with our staff and people we support to develop a Wellbeing Strategy. The Strategy sets out how we aim to support the wellbeing of our staff and people we support – with actions ranging from training all managers as Mental Health First Aiders, to running a programme of wellbeing taster sessions and events, to providing free fruit to all of our services.
The Great Place to Work survey
Great Place to Work’s culture experts analysed thousands of employee surveys, assessing people’s holistic experiences of wellbeing at work to determine the UK’s Best Workplaces™ for Wellbeing list. The surveys asked employees to comment on how their company supports their work-life balance, sense of fulfilment, job satisfaction, psychological safety and financial security. Evaluations also included an assessment of how well the organisation was able to deliver consistency of their employee experience across all departments and seniority levels.
228 staff in Active Prospects (70% of our total workforce) completed the survey. Our staff gave highly positive responses to several survey questions associated with wellbeing. For example:
- 90% of respondents agreed with the statement, “My work has special meaning: this is not ‘just a job’” – 15 percentage points higher than the benchmarked average of the Top 100 large organisations nationally.
- 90% of respondents agreed with the statement, “I feel I make a difference here” – 8 percentage points higher than the benchmarked average of the Top 100 large organisations nationally.
Benedict Gautrey, Managing Director of Great Place to Work® UK, said: “At the heart of every organisation are its people and looking after their wellbeing should be much more than a package of impressive perks on a careers website. We know when employees feel genuinely contented and at ease within their roles, they are much more engaged and productive. Now in our second year of the UK’s Best Workplaces™ for Wellbeing list, we’re once again able to showcase the leading organisations providing cultures conducive to outstanding psychological, physical and social wellbeing. A huge congratulations to Active Prospects for making this prestigious list.”
“It’s our responsibility as an employer to support staff wellbeing”
Maria Mills, CEO of Active Prospects, said: “We are proud to be named as one of the UK’s Best Workplaces™ for Wellbeing. Our staff do amazing work working alongside people to transform lives and it’s our responsibility as an employer to do all we can to support their wellbeing. We know that as a social care charity which relies on public funding we’re unable to compete with other sectors in some areas associated with wellbeing, such as pay and benefits, so to receive such positive feedback from our staff is a great reflection of our culture and their brilliant impactful work”
About Great Place to Work® Great Place to Work is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed more than 100 million employees around the world and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. In 2022, they launched the first-ever annual UK’s Best Workplaces™ for Wellbeing list of organisations who stood out as delivering exceptional wellbeing support for their employees across all levels and departments. For more information, visit www.greatplacetowork.co.uk.
