Creating positive work places
Stress is one of the leading causes of performance dropping at work and a new mental health programme developed in Nelson aims to reverse this trend.
The Best of Today programme had its national launch in Nelson.
Founder Anna Gibbons said cultivating positive mental health within workplaces was proven to minimise stress, increase productivity and creativity, and improve workplaces’ reputations. She said 91 per cent of employees at companies that supported wellbeing felt motivated to do their best.
‘‘This is why I have created Best of Today, ensuring it has within it the dimensions of hauora – spiritual, mental and emotional, physical, family and social, and land and roots.’’
The eight-week programme highlighted areas that required attention for people to feel good, including communication, eating and sleeping well, and exercising.
Participants on the course received boxes containing tangible tools and gifts to strengthen the learning, Gibbons said. What was in the box was a surprise.
‘‘To create healthy habits, we need constant reminding. The gifts are to trigger the brain to remember what the healthy habit is for that fortnight.
The boxes go home with employees to create a ‘‘work life harmony’’.
Pic’s Peanut Butter was one of the first companies in the country to embrace the initiative.
Founder Pic Picot said he was keen to do anything he could to make people’s lives better, so he got on board with the initiative before its official launch.
‘‘You want your people to get the best out of their lives. And if they get the best ... they’re going to make the best of their contribution to the company.’’