Marina Gainova
People & Culture Director, Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland
More companies make employee health and wellbeing a core part of their agenda, whether through assistance programmes or new policies.
Through 2020 and 2021, we, at Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland, experienced increased uptake in the use of our wellbeing services by employees. Most were engaging with the service for the first time, and engagement has continued.
Working with employees
The suite of supports we developed are based on feedback from employees. Recently, we ran a weekly health and wellbeing talk series delivered by industry professionals covering suggested topics — financial wellbeing, mental health, nutritional health and more.
We were accredited with the KeepWell Mark in 2021, subsequently winning the ‘Best in Class Leadership’ award which recognised Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland for consistent communications with employees, a strong rewards and recognition programme and evidence that we focus on upskilling our people in leadership development. Our dedication to investments within and structured approach to developing our people is also an important cornerstone of wellbeing.
Volunteering options
In addition to our confidential Employee Assistance Programme, we have several trained mental health first aiders for employees who prefer to speak with a friendly face in times of need.
Volunteering and out-of-work activities are actively encouraged and supported. Our volunteering policy allows employees to take up to eight hours per annum for team or individual volunteering purposes through our existing community partnerships such as #YouthEmpowered, FoodCloud and FareShare.
Too often, people think only of salary, but we believe in a holistic benefits package.
Policies for parents
We recently launched our improved maternity and paternity policies with the aim of facilitating parents to spend more time with their newborn or newly placed child while minimising the impact on career progression and earnings. Our improved maternity policy offers 52 weeks of leave with 26 weeks at 100% pay and 13 weeks at 50% pay. Our enhanced paternity policy offers 6 weeks of leave at 100% pay. The benefits of both policies apply from an employee’s first day at Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Holistic thinking
In times of financial uncertainty, we must remind ourselves of the benefits offered by the organisations we work for. Too often, people think only of salary, but we believe in a holistic benefits package. To do this, our comprehensive benefits package includes competitive company pension contributions, an enhanced share purchase scheme, a performance bonus, private health insurance options and an employee discounts programme to mention a few.
By working with employees to review and improve our offerings, we continue to support and protect the wellbeing of our people, retain our talent of today and attract the talent of tomorrow.