Acquarius in Gibraltar is a winner of GibSams 2023 Wellbeing in the Workplace Awards. This has come as welcome recognition of the efforts put in by its management and all staff, according to Georgia Severs who leads the firm’s Wellbeing Committee.
Wellbeing
We define “Wellbeing” in a corporate context as referring to employees’ overall health, satisfaction and fulfilment. It has many different facets, such as physical health, mental and emotional needs, work-life balance and a positive working environment. Promoting wellbeing within a business involves initiatives that support these different facets and leads to a deeper engagement and overall better job satisfaction.
The old adage about a business only being as good as its people has taken on a new relevance in recent years with an increasing focus on staff wellbeing across many industries. Far from being just another fad or virtue signalling, it is rightly becoming more important to businesses, their clients and of course their people. However, like most things in life, actions speak louder than words.
GibSams
Thus, it is truly refreshing to see how the Gibraltar business community has taken a lead in this field. Encouraging businesses from diverse sectors is GibSams, a charity established to help improve the emotional and mental wellbeing of Gibraltar’s community-at-large. Founded by Marie-Lou Guerrero MBE in October 2017, GibSams offers a range of support services and aims to remove the stigma associated with mental health in Gibraltar.
The charity launched an annual “Corporate Wellbeing Recognition Scheme” in 2019 with the purpose of recognising businesses, regardless of their size, that are driving this message by successfully implementing positive changes for their employees’ benefit.
Acquarius is one of the firms that answered the call. Georgia Severs, the lead of its Wellbeing Committee, prepared an application for the 2023 GibSams award which resulted in Acquarius being named as one of the winners this year.
The Acquarius Way
Georgia is rightly proud of Acquarius’ success and its approach, dubbed “The Acquarius Way” that led to this recognition. She stresses though that what is more important to the business than the winning of an award is recognising that Acquarius are only at the beginning of their journey and will continue to strive for more for the sake of their employees.
At Acquarius, the Wellbeing Committee is just one of four separate teams (the others being Social, Sustainability and Community) established for the good of the workforce and its overall wellbeing.
Moving forward from tried and tested in-office techniques, Acquarius has gone on to introduce several key initiatives that focus on major aspects of wellbeing, including psychological, physical and financial wellbeing. These include long-term initiatives such as critical illness insurance, death in-service insurance, and access to an enhanced pension scheme as well as more instantaneous initiatives, such as a local retailers discount scheme.
The firm also ensures it has solid foundations in place, by focusing on the basic fundamentals such as Health and Safety. It has done so by updating first aid plans regularly and training several members of staff in both first aid at work and mental health first aid. It also facilitates a continuous open dialogue for wellbeing by hosting regular wellbeing discussions and check ins every quarter for those who wish to engage.
Acquarius’ social aspect has also been enhanced to encourage a wide range of activities. By encouraging a more diverse range of events and being more inclusive, Acquarius engages its entire staff. This extends to family members who are invited to work events, such as barbecues and beach cleans, which then allows them a chance to bond with the wider team whilst doing good for the community.
There are many more important initiatives which Acquarius have introduced, such as more flexibility through flexible working arrangements and also fostering professional and personal wellbeing through the offer of opportunities and Continuing Professional Development. A huge part of wellbeing is education, which is why Acquarius have introduced monthly newsletters that incorporate relevant articles on different topics related to sustainability and overall wellbeing.
Georgia says that initial staff feedback is overwhelmingly positive. Staff are extremely appreciative of seeing words turning into actions and can see the sincerity of Acquarius as members of the leadership team are engaging in the initiatives and opening up about their own challenges with mental health, highlighting how wellbeing does not discriminate in who it impacts.
These improvements have led to improved teamwork and feeling of camaraderie across the whole team. Maintained in the long-term, this is hugely beneficial and translates to better outcomes not only for the people but for the business as a whole.
Acquarius Managing Director Oliver Andlaw commented upon the firm’s success at the GibSams awards. “I am delighted that the whole team’s hard work led by Georgia has been recognised in this way. We are totally committed as a business to wellbeing and this goes right to the top. The award is gratifying as it demonstrates what we have achieved thus far. However wellbeing is about much more than the award and I look forward to yet more exciting developments in the years to come”.