Wellness Is Key To Maintaining Peak Performance

We kick started 2019 with a strong focus on goals and peak performance and we are already checking in with them on progress, success and challenges. As well as supporting their best work, our culture is focused on helping our people maintain peak performance by investing a bit more in ourselves and taking care of our bodies and minds. Our friend, Jane Sparrow, has the perfect way of describing this in her latest book, Bank of Me, and we take lessons from her in encouraging our people in keeping their bank balances high.

Speaking in the Bank of Me, Jane Sparrow says, we must identify, do and keep doing the right things to build a positive environment and keep our bank balances high. A key part of keeping a high human bank balance is to be aware of the things that send us into the 'red' with our levels of energy, emotions and enthusiasm, and those that keep us in the 'black' feeling healthy, energised and positive. 

Wellness is the key to achieving and sustaining peak performance. It also holds the potential to grow our people which is why we took our #WellnessWednesday up a level and our Culture Champions launched our first ever CCUK #WellnessWeek, encouraging our people to invest in the bank of me and maintain peak performance. Here's how we got on: 

Suzy Frost joined us in Manchester for a Reflexology session. Reflexology can help you to cope with stress, lift your mood and give you a feeling of well-being. 

North Wales have been enjoying daily fresh fruit and they held their first mindfulness session with calming room spray and relaxing music. Mindfulness is a popular type of meditation which can increase your awareness of the present moment. By using techniques such as breathing and yoga, you can manage your thoughts better and not become overwhelmed. 

According to Dogs Trust, dogs can help treat depression, improve mental well-being and reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation in humans, which is why the North East team spent the afternoon with some local pups in Newcastle. 

Alan Scott, Head of Physiotherapy at Hampden Sports Clinic joined us in Scotland to share his expertise on wellness in the workplace offering practical advice and examples of desk exercises that we can use every day to improve our posture and prevent desk based niggles. 

The feedback from our people has been great too. Lauren Watson, Group Administrator, said: "What a week. I think we've all taken things from it that we'll continue to do in the office well past wellness week. It's been a great few days of trying new things." 

#WellnessWeek was all about inspiring our people to take up some positive healthy habits whilst they hit their goals, giving them the freedom and autonomy to do what they do best. We know how easy it can be to forget about our personal and mental health so well-being is here to stay at the top of our culture agenda and through our Me Space programme, we can make sure our people are equipped with the tools and resources to make regular deposits in the bank of me.