OLIVER Launches Wellbeing Programme for UK Staff During Second Lockdown

OLIVER – the only company to exclusively design, build and run in-house agencies and ecosystems for brands – has today launched its MOVE, MIND, MONEY programme to support the wellbeing of nearly 1500 UK staff now entering a second national lockdown. 

MOVE, MIND, MONEY comes in direct response to new government guidelines - as well as qualitative and quantitative data received from OLIVER staff during the course of Covid-19 – and aims to address the ongoing health impact of the pandemic on staff as they return to working from home in the lead-up to Christmas.



‘MOVE’ recognises employees’ need for physical daily exercise and time away from the screen. OLIVER will add to its already mammoth Care programme of weekly exercise classes (including dance classes from West End musical professionals) by providing every UK member of staff with a free Fitbit step-tracking device – along with the personal challenge to complete 50,000 steps per week, resulting in 300 million steps company-wide by January.



‘MIND’ is a critical part of the programme as the days become shorter and less time is spent outdoors. OLIVER has appointed designated People Partners for staff to contact should they feel stressed, anxious or in any way burnt-out from working at home during lockdown. The People Team will also run two Employee Assistance Programmes consisting of free support and counselling. To guarantee that people switch-off, the company has issued each member of staff an extra day’s holiday for the winter months and will trial designated ‘screen free’ times on a daily basis, as well as ‘work’ and ‘life’ hours to help maintain a sense of routine. 

'MONEY' is a key part of wellbeing, OLIVER staff feedback has showed. For that reason, OLIVER is giving staff free 1:1 financial planning consultations with money experts throughout November in order to help people plan ahead for Christmas. Each person working in the UK and EU will also receive £50 from the business to use towards gifts.

Amina Folarin, OLIVER’s global HR director, said: “The disruption of 2020 has impacted every person’s wellbeing in different ways, which is why we’re offering more 1:1 support than ever. 



“In the first lockdown, we learned that people missed physical connection and the freedom to do as they pleased. Entering a second lockdown, these feelings could be exasperated by the colder weather, shorter days and added pressure of Christmas being just around the corner.”



Despite remote working being part of OLIVER’s in-house model and DNA, Amina says that every business must do more under such unconventional circumstances. 



“Through surveys, webinars and a 24/7 support line we’ve been able to encourage staff to engage in their own wellbeing practices. But MOVE, MIND, MONEY is a way to guarantee that staff are putting their health first. We don’t know how many lockdowns there will be, which is why we are treating this as the start of a long-term strategy. We look forward to our people putting it into action, hopefully, hearing positive results.”

Sharon Whale, CEO of global markets and operations, added: “Every business should be primarily concerned about the welfare of its staff and client teams at this time. The country is now at the intersection between a Covid-19 pandemic and a mental health pandemic. So, on entering lockdown as a business, our biggest concern is people (not revenue) and the sustainability of our staff’s wellbeing. We are going further than ever to stay close to our employees, and we hope that our people feel the benefit from this brilliant MOVE, MIND, MONEY programme.”