Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill becomes Santander’s ‘Wellbeing Ambassador’

Telecoms & Financial Services January 31 2020

Santander’s industry-leading employee wellbeing strategy has started the year in fine fettle – with Olympic gold medalist and triple world champion heptathlete Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill being named as the Bank’s ‘Wellbeing Ambassador’ for 2020.

The appointment of the hugely popular sportswoman to the role last week coincided with a major initiative to improve accessibility to the Bank’s enlightened employee wellbeing offering which provides a wide range of support to help its staff safeguard their mental, physical, social and financial wellbeing.

It’s now two years since Santander launched an innovative mental health wellbeing app called ‘Thrive’ which has already been downloaded by a substantial number of employees and was this week shortlisted for an industry award.

Warmly welcomed by the CWU from the outset, the Bank’s focus on what it terms the ‘four pillars of wellbeing’ received further plaudits last October when it became one of the first UK employers to launch a groundbreaking initiative to support female employees going through the menopause. (See https://www.cwu.org/news/santander-leading)

Last week’s launch of the new colleague ‘Wellbeing Hub’ on the Bank’s ‘One HR’ portal brings together all existing support into one easy-to-access home. Packed with a wide range of content including practical advice, support signposting and tips about how individuals can build ‘personal resilience’ in 2020, the new hub now also contains a suite of videos in which Jessica Ennis-Hill covers topics ranging from tips on physical and mental wellbeing to ‘how to switch off’ after work.

CWU assistant secretary Sally Bridge said: “There’s no doubt whatsoever that Santander is in the vanguard of some very progressive new thinking on employee wellbeing, and this is very much to be welcomed.”