Promoting Happier and Healthier Workplaces

Reiland Hipolito joined our Canberra office in 2019 as an Assistant Project Manager and has been involved in the ACT Government’s Healthier Workplace Initiative since September 2019 and TSA’s Best4Life committee since December 2019. In 2019 the Canberra office reached Gold Status with the ACT Government’s Healthier Workplace Initiative, and subsequently, Rei has had the opportunity to showcase what the Canberra office does to promote healthy working in the 2019-20 Healthier Work Case Study Book which is being launched next week.

Rei will also be representing TSA as a guest speaker at the book launch webinar on Tuesday 23rd June 2020. Register for the free webinar here!

What is the Best4Life (B4L) Program and the Healthier Workplace Initiative?

TSA’s ‘Best4Life’ Program was established to promote employee health and well-being, which embraces four key pillars such as:

1. Healthy Living: aims to create a balance between work and life commitments.
2. Healthy Body: aims to raise awareness and knowledge about food and nutrition and encourage our people to take action to improve their health and fitness.
3. Healthy Mind: aims to encourage a focus on building resilience and positive mental health.
4. Healthy Connections: the opportunity to create positive connections with our people and communities in which we live, work, and play.

The Best4Life team comprises of representatives from all our offices and is facilitated by our People and Culture team, new events and initiatives are launched regularly to address these four pillars.

The Healthier Workplace Initiative is an ACT Government scheme that promotes and facilitates creating healthier environments for Canberra businesses and for staff to be recognised for the work they do in this area. The ACT Healthier Work team works with businesses to tailor health and wellbeing programs designed to better the workplace health and employee wellbeing journey.

How did you get involved in the B4L committee and Healthier Workplace Initiative and why is it important to you?

I got involved in the Healthier Workplace Initiative initially to help the People and Culture team in our Canberra office. Since then, I found it very enjoyable to be able to share ideas and be in touch with the office community in Canberra. I was then asked to be a part of the B4L Committee in December 2019. Having this committee lead initiatives is very important to bring our people at TSA together socially and share knowledge around how we should think about our wellbeing in and out of the office environment.

What is Xactivity and how does the Canberra Office promote wellness?

Xactivity was established in 2008, with the goal of offering our staff company run social wellbeing activities. The Canberra office has embraced this and together have completed boot camps, mental health and wellbeing workshops, and annual family BBQ as well as various other indoor and outdoor activities throughout the year. The name Xactivity is a homage to Xact, our old brand before we merged with TSA Management and rebranded in January in 2019.

What suggestions do you have for how we can make our work from home spaces healthier?

A key suggestion is to follow an ergonomic ‘WFH’ checklist to ensure you have a comfortable set up at home. It also helps to be equipped with nutritionally healthy snacks (fruit and vegetables are always best!) and take regular short breaks to stretch and rest the eyes from the computer screen.

Can you give us a few tips on how to keep the work/life balance going while we are working from home?

A good one I personally found is setting boundaries (both mentally and physically) of your work environment and home environment and knowing when to put pens down after a hard days work. Working from home can sometimes get you carried away with time around the clock, so also keeping a to-do list and checking in with your manager is also a good way to check-in and communicate your tasks have been complete.

How has your workplace been impacted by the COVID-19 measures? In what ways have you been able to support staff to remain healthy and productive during this crisis?

With social distancing rules in place, office work rosters have been put in place to ensure that only a limited number of staff are working from the office. Despite this, we have been using Microsoft Teams in new creative ways to continue to catch up virtually and hold staff meetings, staff ‘virtual’ drinks, trivia, and charades to stay connected.

What tips would you give to other businesses about promoting health and wellbeing at work?

A healthy workplace should consider more than the body and mind and the office environment. Considering the employee lifestyle, working flexibly, connections and external forces outside work definitely helps with their wellbeing, focus and drive at work!

What are three things you have learned from participating in adding content for this case study book?

1. Sharing experiences can make a larger and positive impact on the community.
2. It has allowed me to gain and expand my network.
3. It has given me the opportunity to reflect on my own health and wellbeing!

Main Picture: Resilience Training organised by our Best4Life committee.  Session run by Chelsea Pottenger from EQ Minds.