As a family-owned business, The Grosvenor Group places great importance on looking after its employees.
Wellbeing is a critical part of that commitment, and we have recently intensified our focus on protecting wellbeing through wide-ranging support and education initiatives.
Mary Dopson-Taylor, customer services director, explains the range of initiatives that have been taken.
“We created a dedicated team of ‘mental health first-aiders’ last year to offer all staff somewhere to turn to if they needed help or support.
“They provide front-line support and advice, backed by an extensive wellbeing campaign, and our first aiders are qualified in mental health support through St John Ambulance.
“This enables them to identify those who require assistance, and offer help when required, which reinforces our wellbeing-focused culture.
“We also encourage conversation through active participation in key events, such as Mental Health Week, National Thank You Day, National Stress Awareness Day, and World Suicide Prevention Day.
“Simple initiatives make a difference, including our ‘Kit Kat’ day that encouraged people to ‘have a break’ from their desk and chat to someone they may not have spoken to before in the business.
“We have also introduced staff yoga sessions, a table tennis league, dress down days, ‘pizza Fridays’, team quizzes, and guest speakers, including Ella McCrystal, the renowned mental health guru and host of the New Mind podcast.
“During a company-wide team talk in 2023, Ella explained the link between good mental health and physical wellbeing, saying it is vital to ‘release yourself from the emotional traps in your body’.
“Further still, our flat management structure and open office environment means senior managers sit alongside customer teams to enhance communication and support.”
The Grosvenor Group’s wellbeing campaigns are given very visible support by senior managers, which is key to their success.
Grosvenor Group CEO Nick Hughes encourages participation in activities, leading by example. He introduced Ella McCrystal with a heartfelt message about wellbeing before her talk, where he also thanked the mental health first aid team, made up of Steph Redhead, Emma Batten and Priyam Savani.
As one staff member said after the Mental Health Awareness Week campaign, “Hats off to the team. What a great buzz there was in the office all week. Great participation and thoroughly enjoyed. You have led the way Grosvenor!”
According to NHS experts, ‘giving to others’ has a direct positive impact on mental health and at Grosvenor charitable activity takes place at a personal level, as opposed to a corporate one.
“Rather than have a major charity that we send a donation to each year, we prefer to encourage all employees to participate in local causes or ones that matter to them,” continued Mary.
“Simply sending a corporate donation does not mean anything to individual members of staff, but by encouraging more personal participation creates a culture of kindness. Staff are encouraged to help fundraise for our community and local charities with a ‘pay it forward’ mindset. We believe that kind acts can have a ripple effect; just hearing that someone else behaved kindly can motivate people to do the same, which is why cultural shift is so important in business. To succeed, you cannot simply rely on structures, processes and road maps. The key change agent is people.
“We also focus on engagement with charities supported by our customers and contacts, for example we provided a 9-seater vehicle to Sykes and Sons so that they could travel to the Lake District for a fundraising walk for the Sick Children’s Trust. Rather than just send the vehicle, our sales director, Giles Bolton, asked if he could join their team on the 50Km challenge which raised approximately £5,000 for a superb cause.
“There are other examples too of where members of staff have helped cook Christmas dinners in local care homes, been to the cash and carry to load vans up with food that are being delivered to charities or for local homeless centres.
“This positive approach to wellbeing instils a sense of pride in the business and what it stands for, and I believe this is one of the reasons why our average length of service is 12 years. Showing people that we care, and creating that community, family feel within the company makes people want to stay and it also manifests itself in high levels of service delivery and a willingness to step in when colleagues are struggling.”
The Grosvenor Group was one of the first leasing companies to introduce independent ESG analysis to benchmark its performance in Environmental, Social and Governance issues.
The Omnevue research found Grosvenor is ahead of national benchmarks in key areas linked to wellbeing, including average wages, gender diversity, employee support, and business ethics.
We are also ahead of benchmark for customer satisfaction, reflecting our own CSI index score of 98%, and our customer retention rate of 99% last year.
This reflects the greater lengths our team will go to when helping customers because they feel cared for and supported. When employees see the business taking care of colleagues and friends, they in turn want to take care of the business, which provides long-term benefits for everyone as we grow and thrive while retaining staff and customers.
The end result is very powerful and effective, with happy, focused teams and individuals cohesively driving us forward as a business.