Yvonne Moir, HR director at Spencer Group, explains how an innovative new app is helping the organisation to track and boost employee wellbeing.
The statistics around mental health in engineering – particularly, rail – are alarming. In 2022, The Office of Road and Rail (ORR) reported that suicide rates were 1.6 times higher in the rail industry than other sectors, while over 50 per cent of rail workers had experienced poor mental health.
To address this issue, our industry must think outside the box, embracing new initiatives – and, where possible, new technologies.
At Spencer Group, we’ve always taken a proactive approach as industry leaders in employee wellbeing. This means seeking out innovative solutions that help to break the silence around mental health in engineering, and to challenge its culture of stoicism.
Initiatives to promote wellbeing
It’s an ongoing process. In 2019, the business began to establish a company-wide network of mental health first aiders and champions, linking the scheme to Time to Talk Day. Later that year, we introduced Moodbeam, a wearable device that enables users to log their mood and emotional wellbeing.
And the next phase of our work around employee wellbeing is an exciting one. We’ve just launched Hapstar, an innovative new app that enables employees to track their mental, physical and career health, set happiness actions, access support and resources and provide completely anonymous feedback.
As an employer, we can use this anonymous data to gain a clearer understanding of our workforce’s wellbeing, spotting and responding to trends. It’s a data-driven, people-centred approach.
Steven Lawrie (left) – HR Administrator and Adam Campbell (right) – Hapstar CEO, launch the app at Spencer Group’s Humber Quays office
Trialling new technology
This people focus extends to our supplier relationships, and we’re always keen to support start-ups. Like Moodbeam, the Hapstar app was developed by a local company. Spencer Group jumped at the chance to be the first company to onboard the app, working with Hapstar’s CEO – Adam Campbell.
Adam commented; “Innovating in the world of wellbeing, with the goal of changing the way businesses support their people, is no easy task. We’ve been developing the concept and technology of Hapstar for over 4 years, and our approach to truly data-led wellbeing strategy has evolved immensely in that time. A large driving force behind that evolution has been the insights and support of the team at Spencer Group. From guiding us in the process of Learning & Development, to being the first company in Engineering to launch Hapstar, Spencer Group have shown a commitment to their people that stands out above all others.”
Hapstar CEO – Adam Campbell
It’s a collaborative way of working, and Hapstar has been very hands-on during the launch period. Every employee has received a Hapstar login and will be encouraged to use the app as little or as much as they wish.
We’ve also recruited a group of ‘super users’, who will fully complete the mental health, physical health and career ‘stars’, helping us to understand Hapstar’s potential during this start-up phase.
The more data an individual inputs, the more they’ll get from the platform. However, employees can benefit by investing as little as 15 minutes a week. This might be a Friday afternoon task, during which they log everything that’s gone well and review their scores. Any data we receive will be completely anonymous, which is important for our staff.
The response in the run-up to Hapstar’s launch was great, with people keen to learn more. Within a few hours of the first blog going live on our portal, 20 super users had volunteered; Spencer Group is all about innovation, and people who innovate love new ideas!
We hope that these super users will act as advocates for the platform, spreading the word and supporting other employees. Hapstar’s team is also on hand to help and open to tweaking the app as required.
Data-driven insights
We’ll receive data on teams rather than specific demographics, ensuring that individuals remain anonymous, and this data won’t be used to create charts and graphs, but rather as part of a blended approach to employee wellbeing.
If someone asks a question via the app, this will be sent through to the HR Team who can respond but it will not identify the sender. If the question is one which may affect others in the workplace then we might create an internal blog post to address this. Or, if the data indicates that a specific team is feeling underappreciated, we can look at ways of addressing the issue.
Data will reflect the physical health of our workforce, too; if it suggests that people are feeling sluggish and demotivated, we could, for example, bring in personal trainers for a fitness session.
It all feeds into Spencer Group’s modern approach. For us, it’s about ensuring that wellbeing is at the forefront of people’s minds – because, from a mental health perspective, the worst thing they can do is stop talking. Coupled with our profile-raising work (last year, we raised just over £7,000 for Andy’s Man Club support group) and growing network of mental health first aiders, Hapstar should make a tangible difference. It might not be the answer to all our wellbeing challenges – but, armed with the data it provides, we can establish whether our efforts are working.
Yvonne Moir – HR Director at Spencer Group presents a cheque for £7,008.91 to Andy’s Man Club Hull representatives Paul Bentley and Mark Chatwin
Challenging the industry
Now, we’re challenging other engineering companies to follow suit. There’s a misconception that, in our industry, introducing this kind of tool is too difficult. In reality, it’s no different to rolling out an initiative in the care or education sectors.
We believe that a business can’t claim people are its most important asset unless it backs this statement up with support for everyone in the business.
