Worker wellbeing is at the heart of healthy businesses

Ireland’s Best Workplaces for Health & Wellbeing honours organisations that cultivate an exceptional culture for employee wellbeing. That’s a subject close to Melissa Jones’s heart.

Jones is spa development manager at The Kingsley, a luxury four-star hotel overlooking the river Lee in Cork city. It’s a sister property to Fota Island Resort, one of the country’s best-known hotels, and the place where Jones began her spa career.

“I had started out working in an office but soon realised it wasn’t for me, so I retrained as a therapist, got a job at Fota Island Resort and worked my way up,” she explains.

Today she heads up The Kingsley’s team of spa professionals and therapists, all of whom are dedicated to looking after the wellbeing needs of guests. But as part of her role, Jones also helps look after the wellbeing needs of the hotel’s 224 staff.

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She is chairwoman of the hotel’s Great Place to Work (GPTW) and its wellbeing committees, and a firm believer that only a happy staff can guarantee happy guests.

“We know from recruiting that we have a great reputation for having open and friendly staff, a reputation that helps bring people to us to join our team. We also hear the same feedback from guests,” says Jones.

The hotel is an urban escape, with an heated outdoor pool that overlooks the river and offers plenty of ‘wow factor’.

For spa staff it’s a beautiful place to work but being a therapist is hard work.

“In the spa industry staff wellbeing is huge. It is a very physically and mentally challenging job. It’s very full on and very intense,” says Jones, who is also general manager of the Irish Spa Association, an industry body.

She saw firsthand how the sector struggled in Covid when, almost overnight, spas went into lockdown. As a result, the number of student therapists declined. “Today we are trying to create an industry that people want to come and work for,” she says.

As part of The Kingsley’s therapist care programme, massage quotas were introduced, to ensure therapists only had to undertake a certain amount of massages in any one day, to guard against exhaustion.

“To help with the fact that therapists work in a dark room, we made an amazing space for ours to chill and relax, with treats and coffee machines and loads of natural light. It’s just a lovely space for them to decompress,” she says.

On “Sunday Fundays” spa staff use the facilities after work, order in pizza and generally kick back.

Not alone has the therapist care programme helped ensure spa staff stay with the hotel, “student therapists who come here from college want to stay with us too”, she adds.

As it happened, what she developed initially for spa staff worked so well that it was soon rolled out across the hotel’s entire workforce.

Today employee wellness at the hotel, which is a collaboration between its GPTW, KWell, and human resources teams, includes a wide range of initiatives, including regular “town hall” meetings with expert guest speakers.

“Today we brought in a wellbeing speaker who talked about identifying what is important to you and setting and achieving goals,” she explains.

“On other occasions, it could be a nutritionist or a fitness guy, and next up is a financial adviser to work on financial health. Staff now come to us with ideas for experts they’d love to hear from,” she adds.

A culture of staff wellbeing comes from the top in any organisation and Jones credits the hotel’s general manager, Fergal Harte, with being hugely supportive.

“We have been given space for a dedicated Employee Wellness Centre which includes The Kave — a fun zone with pool and table tennis and PacMan games. The Pod is a space for staff meetings, training and KWell activities. The Sensory Space is a quiet zone area with calming music and a starlight ceiling. It’s a place staff can go to ground themselves if they feel stressed or overwhelmed,” she explains.

The Sensory Space has flat bean bags with heated eye masks. “We run half-hour guided power nap sessions at lunchtimes where we tuck them in and everything, they love it,” says Jones, who might include sound healing elements such as singing bowls and tuning forks.

“Every Wednesday is Wellness Wednesday. We might do gentle stretching classes, yoga or meditation, and once a month we have our KWell wellbeing days. The next one will be a walk to Fitzgerald Park, followed by art therapy and painting, and fun sessions such as bingo and a table quiz,” she explains.

“We try and incorporate games as much as possible in order to be as inclusive as possible because we have people from all over the world working with us.”

The hotel works with Down Syndrome Cork project Field of Dreams, and Rehab Group’s National Learning Network, “to make sure everything is as inclusive as possible,” she adds.

“It’s a way of getting people together and of knowing one another better across teams, which makes for a lovely atmosphere. Every second week we have team building micro sessions too, led by a member of staff. We did hip hop at a recent and the laughs you’d have are amazing. Of course, we do things like yoga and meditation, but having a laugh together is a huge part of wellness. You want to have an atmosphere at work that people enjoy,” she explains.

Putting staff wellness centre stage saw a 30 per cent reduction in staff turnover last year alone.

“It’s great to have a tangible measurement like that and to know we are making an impact on the team. We see it first hand,” says Jones.

“At our mindfulness sessions you visibly see your colleagues relax, their faces change and their shoulders lift. And they leave with a smile.”

How trusted leadership supports wellbeing

“At Great Place To Work we measure trust, a cornerstone of fostering and maintaining employee wellbeing,” says Great Place to Work partner Jim Flynn.

“Over the past 40 years, across over 60 countries, our work with organisations has demonstrated how a culture of trust establishes a foundation where employees feel secure, valued and supported in their roles. This psychological safety encourages open communication, enabling team members to express their concerns, share ideas and collaborate effectively.”

Trust encourages autonomy, allowing individuals to take ownership of their tasks, fostering a sense of control and accomplishment which “in turn reduces stress and promotes a healthier work-life balance,” he adds.

Trust in leadership enhances engagement. “When employees believe their leaders have their best interests at heart, they are more likely to engage in their work with enthusiasm and commitment. This positive relationship between leadership and staff contributes to a high-performance work culture,” says Flynn.

“Moreover, trust plays a pivotal role in conflict resolution. In an atmosphere of trust, conflicts are more likely to be addressed openly and constructively, minimising negative impacts on individuals’ wellbeing. Overall, workplace trust creates a foundation for a positive, collaborative, and healthy work environment, essential for the overall wellbeing of employees, and to organisational performance.”