As an Agency founded in rural North Devon, Bray Leino has long offered a holistic well-being element to its culture. But in 2019 that was packaged up into a cohesive programme – Wellness.

When I was asked if I would be interested in joining the Wellness team I jumped at the opportunity. Wellness is a passion project run within business hours and led by a dedicated team of people from across the Agency, from junior team members to board-level – including our CEO, Kate. The team meets regularly to discuss ideas and initiatives, to ensure Wellness remains at the heart of how we operate; to break down barriers, embed practices into the business, spark conversations and fuel a compassion-led culture.

Pre-Covid, our activities centred on creating an open, supportive culture within our offices – we held Tea & Talks, introduced a team of Mental Health First Aiders, and ensured visibility through a series of decorative artworks exploring what Wellness means and where to seek help. There were also a number of physical well-being initiatives available to staff – yoga, fitness classes, walking groups and running club. During the Covid-19 pandemic, our role and output changed; Wellness became the primary platform for connecting a remote workforce and sustaining a sense of unity, as well as offering support and advice at a particularly challenging time. We shared weekly newsletters to inspire, offer practical advice and signpost helpful resources. We felt grateful to already have a team in place, as this enabled us to respond quickly, and having a peer-lead group meant we had a more rounded view of the challenges our people were facing.

Staff surveys have helped us understand the impact of Wellness and identify focus areas. We learnt that the increase of screen-time and back-to-back meetings through lockdown was contributing to a sense of fatigue and increased presenteeism. Off the back of this we introduced ‘No meeting we’re eating’ – a protected, work-free hour at lunch time to help make sure people get away from their desks. Every second Wednesday of the month we also have ‘Wellness Wednesday’, where we take the afternoon off and encourage people to do whatever makes them feel their best; run a 5k, go surfing, volunteer, paint, bake, see friends, learn something new, or just relax. Both of these initiatives are hugely successful and valued by our people and remain a part of our ongoing Wellness offer.

Since returning to the office, we have developed a robust new strategy and formalised our ambitions with a 12-month plan and measurable objectives. Alongside this, we have signed up to the Mental Health at Work Commitment which provides a framework with six standards against which we can measure success and identify areas we can continue to grow and improve. We also run regular anonymous pulse surveys through The Happiness Index to track staff sentiment and understand our people’s needs - working with an external partner ensures a level of objectivity and transparency. And when Bray Leino held a ‘House Day’ to regroup and refamiliarise everyone following months of working from home, we ran a series of Wellness workshops for all staff – remote or hybrid working in our offices, to fully bed Wellness into the new Agency culture rather than tie it to a single location.

Because of how early we established Wellness and how it has evolved in line with changing business practices, a lot of our initiatives have become models for use in other Agencies within MISSION Marketing Group, allowing the spirit of Wellness to filter through to our people and across to other Agencies’ people.

The group of people behind Wellness are truly special and it’s something I am so proud to be a part of. Working together, I have learnt that it’s not only possible to do great work, but to do so whilst celebrating a culture of compassion, support and positive change.