Since we launched Live Well last year, we’ve been keeping busy.
We’ve set a new standard for air quality and toxicity reduction in new-build homes; we’ve been working closely with local people, schools and businesses around our developments; and we’ve conducted sustainability reviews on the materials and products we source and use throughout the construction process.
But Live Well is also about making changes closer to home – home for us being our offices and sites. So, to find out what Live Well means to the Joseph Homes team, we sat down with our Office Assistant – soon to be Customer Experience Executive & HR Coordinator – Chinah Keen.
Having worked in customer service for a number of years, including two and a half years with British Airways, Chinah decided 2019 was the year for a new challenge.
“I’d never worked in the property industry before joining Joseph Homes,” she says.
And it’s been so great being able to learn so much and progress so quickly.
It’s this idea of learning and growing as individuals that’s so important when we consider Live Well in the workplace.
“It’s key that there’s something for everyone,” says Chinah. “Which is why we’ve created a rounded Live Well curriculum. So far, we’ve hosted nutrition workshops with the amazing Rhiannon Lambert, and another with the fabulous Clarissa Lenherr; a mindfulness session with Ruth Ormstrom; and a financial fitness introduction with Barney Whiter – all of the hosts being incredible experts in their fields.”
And the lessons learned from these workshops aren’t just theoretical. They’re born out day-to-day around the Joseph Homes sites and offices.
“We have massages every six weeks at each of our sites and offices, and we’re always well-stocked with fruit and healthy snacks,” says Chinah. “And we have a few glasses of wine on a Friday!” she adds with a smile.
Because life is all about balance, after all.
Indeed, finding that balance is vital for managing workplace stress and making sure people are happy and healthy, in body and mind.
“I’m one of two Mental Health First Aiders in the office, and two more are taking the course later this month. We put on mental health workshops and we’re always around whenever anyone wants a chat,” says Chinah. “Just this month we got involved in Mind UK’s Time to Talk Day, where everyone took part in a quiz and wrote their own personal pledge, which was great because it got people thinking about their own state of mind and how they can make a positive difference for themselves and others.”
Just as the Mental Health First Aiders are there to promote and support mental health in the workplace, a new sustainability team is set to champion sustainable, eco-friendly practice at work.
“Yes, we’re hoping to set up the Green Team soon,” says Chinah. “We already encourage sustainable choices wherever we can. We always order stationery with recycled content, buy plastic-free toilet paper and use glass milk bottles.”
And this eco-conscious attitude doesn’t end when employees leave the office.
“I’m a bit of a recycling and eco-enthusiast anyway, but I’m so delighted to see the behavioural changes across the whole team,” says Chinah. “Our CEO, Joseph, has stopped eating meat, and a few of our directors have told me how they’re now opting for eco-friendly cleaning products at home. All because of what we’re doing with Live Well at work!”
This ripple effect from work to homelife is hugely positive, but Chinah knows there’s still plenty of work to do.
“We’re just scratching the surface, really,” she says.
Next on the agenda, I’d like to host a sustainability workshop to help deepen people’s understanding of the climate crisis, and the steps we can take both as a business and as individuals.
“Then I want to set up workplace gym sessions and meditation classes,” she adds enthusiastically. “I see the workshops as an opportunity for everyone to try something new, something they otherwise might not have tried or had the opportunity to try. That’s one of the great things about Live Well and working at Joseph Homes: you get those opportunities.”
Chinah’s right. Live Well is all about opportunities. For our employees, it’s an opportunity to learn, develop and enjoy a working environment that brings out the best in them. But more broadly, Live Well is an opportunity for all of us at Joseph Homes to do better, to set a new standard for workplace culture, to build healthier homes for our customers, to make positive contributions to the communities we build in, and to protect and preserve the world we live in.
Put simply, to build better homes for a better world.
