This week, we had a chat with Rosie Kay, HR Search Specialist Consultant at Annapurna. Rosie is a key member of The Annapurna Wellness and Charity committee and has been very involved with our charity initiatives, and social/wellness activities that we plan. Rosie wanted to give an insight into the various wellness programmes that we offer!
Before Rosie joined Annapurna, she was not used to having mental health benefits as part of a role (her previous role was as a pub manager in a completely different industry). It wasn’t a culture where you can put your hand up if you need help, especially if it isn’t a physical problem.
“Annapurna has a very positive culture around mental health. Your managers want to listen to you and care about how you are.”
Rosie expressed that she now is able to talk about her personal life, relationships, and moving house, with her manager keeping on top of how she is. She recognised that there is a good culture here in terms of being able to open up and feel comfortable.
“It’s really important for me as an ex-sports player to have the option to use the gym in the office. Not many businesses have that offering.”
There is an array of fitness benefits, including money towards a gym membership or towards equipment. Annapurna also has a yoga class every Monday evening at 6pm after work, free of charge with a professional yoga instructor. In Summer, these sessions take part outside in the local park.
“It’s great to have access to facilities where you can relieve any stress during the day”
Rosie expressed her love for Workout Wednesdays, which is an opportunity for everyone in the office to gym together!
Rosie said that being in recruitment can be stressful at times, requiring her to spend long hours on the phone, and staring at a screen, which can take its toll in terms of her own mental health.
She expressed that the recruitment industry is very sales and KPI driven, and you are working for your own commission, which can be stressful if you are saving for something or if you have big payment commitments.
Something that helps Rosie is Annapurna’s subscription to Plumm. This provides tailored 1-to-1 therapy sessions with 24-hour access on the app. Plumm run seminars on various mental health aspects for example looking at things like body confidence and affirmations.
We also each have a Calm subscription where there are many available resources with meditation, breathing exercises and podcasts to listen to.
“Annapurna have taken their time to choose a provider that will fit for each employee as they recognise that being able to speak to someone about burnout or mental health is important”
Rosie recognised that we’re trying to create more of a talking culture and introduce things that mean everyone can speak freely without judgement or hesitation about how it will be received. She said, “my manager, Luke, is great and has allowed me to be able to speak freely about life’s pressures”.
Rosie has noticed, by talking to a lot of HR professionals on a day-to-day basis that people are prioritising health benefits and wellness programmes in terms of what they want in their next role. Everyone now wants a healthy work-life balance and a workplace that promotes a healthy working culture, more so than pre-pandemic. Rosie has seen that companies who have those offerings are the ones getting the most interest in candidates.
From Annapurna’s side, we recognise that in order to help staff, it will make a happy work environment and improve output.
If you have any questions, please do feel free to get in touch and connect with Rosie on Linkedin.
If you believe in our initiatives and want to get involved, then come see what could work for you. Have a look at the jobs on our career page.
