Photo caption: Left-Right: Scott Reid, Environment and Sustainability Officer at Nestlé Waters’ Buxton facility, University of Derby Student Roberta Kruzikaite & Louise Buxton, Senior Lecturer at University of Derby.
Nestlé Waters UK has strengthened its ties with the local university through a joint research project involving Wellness Management students from the University of Derby.
The students undertook in-depth research at the company’s Buxton facility, interviewing line managers to determine their participation and support for wellness in the workplace and to gain an understanding of how Nestlé Waters could help them embed and cascade good working practices to the rest of their colleagues.
“As a company, we place a high value on the wellness of our colleagues and we take a holistic approach to health at work, focusing on both mental and physical health, nutrition, work-life balance and the workplace environment,” said Scott Reid, Environment and Sustainability Officer at Nestlé Waters’ Buxton facility. “The team from the University of Derby were able to offer an objective view of our programme, evaluating the work we’ve done to date and using their knowledge to identify opportunities and continue to embed our wellness programme across the business.”
The programme now includes a range of areas including ‘Wellbeing at Work’ surveys, employee focus groups, and one-to-one lifestyle coaching sessions that include topics such as building resilience, a guide to weight loss, and understanding cancer risk if you’re over 40. The university students also recommended Nestlé Waters’ mental health champions programme, which helps increase employees’ awareness of wellness opportunities in the workplace.
“The research team found that an engaged leadership team is vital to the successful rollout of our wellness programme,” concludes Reid. “Our team needs to receive consistent messaging on the importance of both physical and mental wellness to help our programme succeed. Leading by example is vital to drive the long term success of the work we’ve done to date.”
Louise Buxton, Senior Lecturer at University of Derby said, “Working with Nestlé Waters on this project was an extremely rewarding experience for the students as it exposed them to real life working practices relating to employee wellness and allowed them to apply knowledge and skills gained through their studies. Students gained in confidence throughout the project as they realised their input was providing new insights and they were able to make recommendations that would enhance the valuable work Nestlé Waters is already undertaking to support employee wellbeing”.
The students identified that ‘nature inspires feelings that connect us to each other and our environment’. They offered recommendations on how Nestlé Waters could promote the benefits of nature, encouraging outdoor wellness activities that extend employees’ experience and enjoyment of nature outside of the work place.
Scott Reid concludes: “The project has been a great way of working with our local University and its students. We enjoyed sharing our knowledge and expertise, and the students in return have given us a fresh perspective on some of the employee wellness projects we are working on. This Autumn we are delighted to start working with University of Derby for a second year with a new array of students”.
ENDS