Why looking after our colleagues is pivotal

With Blue Monday upon us, Yodel’s Chief People Officer, John Hardman talks about the importance of colleague wellbeing and why it's such a key year for supporting our colleagues

“Our colleagues are incredibly important to us and we need to reward their hard work and efforts with stability and development opportunities

2020 laid the foundations for building a new Yodel. During an unusual year, our fantastic People team were putting plans in place that enabled colleagues to be the best they can be. This involved looking at opportunities to improve development, health and safety and wellbeing for all.

The team highlighted what we already knew; Yodel already have the best colleagues, so we want to develop them. We’ve partnered with educational establishments to provide Level 3 and Level 5 NVQs to enhance their management skills. This year, we will see over 150 colleagues take advantage of these courses. We really want our colleagues to embrace their interests outside of work too, which is why we also offer a variety of lifestyle courses.

2020 was a strange year for us all; our frontline colleagues kept the nation at home and it was important for us to ensure that all employees felt supported – whether that be, financially, emotionally or mentally, wellbeing was already a high point on our agenda before we entered the first national lockdown in March 2020.

We’ve partnered with some fantastic organisations, such as the Retail Trust, to provide colleagues with a multitude of advice, guidance and materials to help them through difficult times but also to promote healthy attitudes to all aspects of life.

We’ve also looked at how we can support one another internally, and we are about to start training up 70 Health & Wellbeing first aiders and 12 Wellbeing Champions across all departments and sites. We really want our colleagues to feel they can discuss any topic with their champion or aider with those selected completing a VRQ – Level 2 Mental Health course. I’m excited to see the roll-out and progression of this programme over the coming months and hope to promote some healthy conversations across the business that focus on mental wellbeing.

As a bunch, ‘Yodellers’ are humble, hard-working and good at what they do. As a business we need to develop, grow and support all colleagues and that is why health and wellbeing is such an important part of Yodel’s plans”