International Stress Awareness Week – putting principles into practice at Porterhouse
November 13, 2018 | Core Values, Porterhouse Medical Group, Stress Awareness
As a busy, fast-paced agency, Porterhouse Medical Group recognises that stress can affect anyone, at any time. With this in mind, we have a number of measures in place to help safeguard the mental and physical health of our valued team.
Our Core Values
Our core values comprise our Porterhouse PATH, focusing on Passion, Ambition, Togetherness and Humour. These values are built into our daily working lives and two of them speak directly to the well-being of our team:
- Together as a family, we grow and flourish
Committed to the ongoing professional and personal development of our team, we believe that the support we give each other like a family helps to combat stress. We encourage individuals to look out for each other, while each company member has regular one-to-one sessions with their line manager to discuss any concerns or issues. They also have a workplace mentor to turn to for guidance and advice.
- Humour and happiness in our working lives
We start by employing individuals who have a positive attitude and bring enthusiasm to the company. We want our team to enjoy being part of the Porterhouse family and believe that a happy, supportive culture helps to relieve the stresses that can be inherent in working in a busy company.
We also provide an environment that is not just all work and no play! We understand that employees need a good work-life balance and the chance to relax and enjoy themselves. We offer flexible working, and organise monthly social events to help keep the Porterhouse community well connected and promote togetherness.
To further ensure that our team feel valued and support each other, we have a LOVE Awards scheme (Living Our Values Every Day) in place. These are monthly small cash awards that go to staff nominated by their peers who they believe have gone above and beyond the usual expectations to breathe life into the values, for instance, staying very late to help a colleague with a tight deadline.
Mindful Employer
Porterhouse has been registered as a Mindful Employer (www.mindfulemployer.net) for over two years; this involves the voluntary signing of the Charter for employers who are positive about mental health. The Charter sets out the concept that employers recognise the difficulties faced by those with mental health issues in the workplace, and highlights the steps that should be taken to provide equal opportunities, create a happy and comfortable working environment, and offer non-judgemental support for those experiencing stress and other symptoms of poor mental health.
Exercise
We recognise that physical activity can be a great way to relieve stress. We encourage our teams to lead active lifestyles, and offer gym membership as a reward to staff that have been with the company for two years. We also always encourage our teams to look after themselves in the workplace by taking regular breaks from their screens and walking about the office rather than using the phone and email for all communications. The New Economics Foundation pinpointed five essential steps to improving well-being on a daily basis (see below), and these are a great way for our teams to check on how to keep stress at bay … [1].
At Porterhouse Medical, we take pride in working together as a family, fuelled not only by hard work but also by humour and happiness. We hope that by living our core values, the measures that we have put in place will result in a healthy, stress-free team. If you would like to learn more about our valued team or smart med comms solutions, please get in touch: www.porterhousemedical.com/contact.
References 1. https://issuu.com/neweconomicsfoundation/docs/five_ways_to_well-being?viewMode=presentation
This content was provided by Porterhouse Medical Group