Wellness Culture, Mental Health Support, and Wellbeing Week!

At Kubus, we take the mental health of our employees very seriously. Wellbeing is always a top priority for us, and we encourage our team to take care of themselves both inside and outside of work. We are always flexible and adaptable when required, and take feedback on board with new, strategic approaches to working implemented where possible. For example, once we were made aware of employee feelings toward the 40-hour working week, we were able to make the necessary changes and we now operate a 37-hour week, with hybrid working included. We are very responsive when issues are brought to the fore and try our best to accommodate the changing needs of employees where possible.

We have an exclusive online wellbeing center available to our employees 24/7/365 including exercise videos, healthy recipes, financial wellbeing support, and video tutorials to help with mental wellbeing. We also provide an Employee Assistance program, with access to 6 free counselling sessions either over the phone or online, covering a wide array of topics from poor mental health to family issues. If it’s impacting your wellbeing, it’s always good to talk about it, and this resource is readily available to help those who need it.

Mental Health First Aiders

In addition to the general employee support services, we also have five MHFAiders available during working hours, to provide support and assistance to those who may be struggling. Every member of this team has completed the official Mental Health First Aid England training course and is fully certified to assist in a crisis situation. Kubus’ journey with MHFA England began in 2019, when HR business partner Liv Duncan introduced the concept to us. Liv was the first person to become MHFA certified and has been the key driver of expanding this concept further within the business.

In recent years we have seen more people become willing to open up and talk about their issues with poor mental health, and this is something we encourage enormously here at Kubus. In addition to the MHFAiders, and the above resources, all of our management teams have also received a level of training in mental health awareness, so they can better support their teams. This has done a number of things, It has made it easier for employees to speak up and access the help we have available, it’s encouraged them to feel safer to come forward with problems, and has facilitated easier communication when requesting support with work related issues.

Wellbeing Week at Kubus!

Although wellbeing is a priority for us every day, we put a special focus onto Wellbeing Week this year to further highlight the importance of taking care of yourself. We have made space to enjoy some exiting activities, whilst of course making sure to take regular breaks and keep hydrated in the unusually hot weather.

Smoothie Bikes with Outspoken Cycles

What better way to cool down in the hot weather than with a refreshing, freshly cycled smoothie? On Tuesday, the lovely team from Outspoken Cycles brought us feel-good movement and our five a day with their Urban Smoothie Bike event!

Taking regular breaks is hugely important to your wellbeing, as it can help to prevent burnout and reduce stress levels. We have a variety of snacks delivered every Monday, with everything from crisps and chocolate to a variety of fruits, and we routinely encourage our employees to stop and have a break. It was a great change of pace to see the team stepping into the sunshine throughout the day to whizz up their smoothies, and our special guest Ben Turnbull from Pentera joined in the fun too! Although not all breaks are as exciting as this one was, they should still be encouraged in the workplace as a vital element of daily wellbeing.

Nutrition for Wellbeing Workshop with Lauren Windas

There is an undeniable link between gut health, mood, and mental wellbeing. Taking care of your health is a key element to mastering your wellbeing, and ensuring you are eating a healthy balanced diet is the first step.

Wellbeing Week Wins

Throughout the week, we have been encouraging our team to take greater pleasure in their mindfulness moments. It’s important to be present during down-time, making sure you are engaging fully with your hobbies, and take time to properly recharge from the stressors of the week. In celebration of intentional unwinding, we asked our team to send us their moments of mindfulness from the week. Here are some of our favorites!

Food Truck Friday

In the spirit of bringing everyone together, on the last Friday of every month we have a team day in the office, and our lovely food truck, That Fish Guy, visits us for a team lunch. This week, it was Mexican food!

Taking care of our team will always be our priority here at Kubus, and as you can see, we have had an action-packed week of wellbeing activities. For more information on what we got up to this week, had over to our LinkedIn or Facebook to see more.

Kubus Celebrates Commitment to Real Living Wage

We are extremely pleased to share that we have been accredited as a Living Wage Employer. This means that our commitment to fair wages will see everyone working with us receive a minimum hourly wage of £12 an hour, higher than the government minimum for over 21s, which currently stands at £11.44 per hour. 

The real Living Wage is the only rate calculated according to the costs of living. It provides a voluntary benchmark for employers that wish to ensure their staff earn a wage they can live on, not just the government minimum. Since it began, the Living Wage movement has delivered a pay rise to over 360,000 people and put £3 billion extra into the pockets of low paid workers.

We are based in the South-West, a region where 11.8% of jobs pay less than the real Living Wage, that’s around 285,000 jobs. We don’t want to be a part of this statistic, as we believe in delivering a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work, hence our commitment to paying the real Living Wage. 

As the cost-of-living crisis continues to rise steeply, it’s important to us to ensure that our employees are able to live comfortably, and that they are paid according to what they need to make ends meet, rather than simply the government minimum. This reduces the costs and pressures they face in their everyday lives, and enables them to live happier, less stressful lives. 

Kubus receives ‘Outstanding’ Best Companies Rating

When it comes to measuring employee engagement here at Kubus, The Best Companies process is still a relatively new concept. Introduced to our business last year by HR Business Partner Liv Duncan, this accreditation is regarded as one of the most prestigious standards of workplace recognition. We currently boast the second highest rating, having been awarded two-stars for ‘outstanding’ levels of engagement after our most recent B-Heard survey.

Having been with our company since 2018, Liv has been key to driving pivotal changes in the structure and culture of our business, all in the name of improving the general environment and making it a more collaborative, creative, and supportive place to work. The implementation of the Best Companies process serves to safeguard this immense progress, and our rating stands as a testament to the countless hours of time, effort, and energy that everyone has invested to make Kubus both the company, and the place of employment that it is now.

Being able to provide feedback and give opinions is incredibly important for job satisfaction, and it has been one of Liv’s personal missions to make sure our employee Voice is heard.

“The Best Companies accreditation seemed like the best way to check in on how people were feeling. With the survey being completely anonymous, I feel like people are more inclined to be truly honest about their experience here.”

The focus on the employee Voice and gaining feedback through surveying has had an overwhelmingly positive effect on our business, not only from the perspective of increasing employee engagement, but also through cultivating a sense of trust and understanding between our employees and decision makers. One of the first issues brought to the fore in an assessment prior to the B-Heard survey was the concept of our in-office 40-hour working week. Many employees felt that this structure was outdated, and not compatible with a healthy work-life balance. The senior leadership team took this feedback on board and implemented a new system of a 37-hour working week with hybrid-working; demonstrating that employee concerns will be heeded, by implementing measurable actions and changes.

“The B-Heard survey gives us some really specific areas of improvement that we need to focus on, which is incredibly useful to drive change.”

A significant area of improvement identified within our first B-Heard survey was the drive for further efforts within sustainability, and also the ability to give something back to our local community. Having been at the forefront of pursuing our charitable efforts, Liv is passionate about engaging with our charity partners, so this immediately resonated. From this feedback, our existing relationship with Young Gloucestershire blossomed even further, and to date we have raised almost £17,000 to help sustain the incredible work they do to support young people.

“We’re really excited about our charity partnership with Young Gloucestershire. We occasionally attend their offices on a volunteer basis to do CV workshops and mock interviews with their young people, and each time we visit, it’s clear to see that we’re really helping to make an active difference in people’s lives.”

Whilst our employees do participate in ad-hoc volunteer work within the careers hub of the charity, we also aid them with fundraisers on a larger scale. Previously, we have organized bake sales, participated in the ten peaks challenge, and even had a few courageous team members perform a sky-dive, all to raise money for this worthy cause.

The B-Heard survey, having highlighted our employees’ desire to do more, has made us consider how we can further support our charity partnerships. One area we have been able to make change is by implementing a donation structure for our survey responses, wherein we give £5 to Young Gloucestershire for every survey response we receive.

“Seeing the impact of the changes we have made is a huge incentive for us to keep pushing and trying to drive our engagement and employee satisfaction levels to the top of the scale. This, coupled with our ability to raise money for charity through survey engagement means the Best Companies system is something I would like to keep doing for years to come.”

The survey results not only serve to quantify the ranking achieved, but they also provide insights into the areas of existing success we should be promoting more heavily. One particular highlight which we take a lot of pride in is our attitude towards Mental Health. We currently have four fully trained mental health first aiders available within working hours if anybody needs assistance, and all of our line managers have received mental health training to be able to provide better and more well-informed support to any employees that may be struggling. Additionally, all of our employees have access to an enhanced health and wellbeing hub, which signposts helpful resources and access to further support.

“Working in an environment where you feel comfortable and secure is always going to make you feel more connected, and given how much of our lives we spend at work, creating an enjoyable environment improves this even further. Better well-being translates to better engagement at work, and we want all of our employees to feel safe and secure if they ever need to ask for support. We all struggle at times. No issue is ever too big or too small, if it’s having a negative impact on you, let’s talk about it.”

The most significant area of success derived from the Best Companies system is within our talent acquisition for open positions, as we have found that this is a significant driver in encouraging people to want to work for us. It is mentioned frequently by candidates in interviews, as it provides them with peace of mind that not only is Kubus a great place to work in terms of benefits, support, and culture, but that their opinion within our business matters.

Given that we have moved from ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ within one year of implementing the Best Companies process, we see it as a huge success. Our initial B-Heard surveys gave us great insight into the parts of our business which had not been effectively monitored previously, and the process has helped us better understand our employees’ wants and needs. In order to keep building on this progress, Liv will be trialing the Best Companies enhanced feature package for our next survey.

The implementation of the Best Companies system is paramount to our success as a business. The feedback system is already helping curate a better culture and working environment, with more engaged employees who know their opinion is valued.

“We will continue to put as much time and energy into improving the business as possible, and we can see ourselves continuing with the Best Companies solution for years to come. We are really hoping to obtain our third star from our next survey, and we will continue to push beyond that to make sure our employees always feel valued, engaged, and supported.”