As HR Manager, and looking after over 100 members of staff at Ayima, it’s my job and passion to focus on their wellbeing and offer assistance to a hugely diverse bunch of brilliant employees.
I’ve worked at Ayima for over 10 years now, and in that time I’ve naturally developed personal relationships (and had plenty of cups of tea!) with the team. Over time, I’ve realised the importance of wellness and how different incentives support different individual needs. From office dogs to discounted gym memberships and free food, we try to cover all bases.
What does Ayima do to encourage wellness in the workplace?
Healthy food
Ayima believes in preventive healthcare, so we stock our fridges with healthy food and also receive a bi-weekly fruit delivery.
Discounted gym membership
For our London office staff members we started a relationship with Virgin Active that allows us to offer subsidised gym membership. There is a gym located just around the corner from our office, providing the opportunity for employees to fit in a workout or class before or after work, and even at lunchtime.
Social events
Ayima has its very own social committee to help plan and organise fun events for the office. These are often seasonal and include our festival themed summer party, Halloween dress-up and Gatsby-themed Christmas party, plus the odd quiz night every so often.
Open plan workspace
To work in a happy, relaxed environment is one of Ayima’s main goals. We all spend a lot of time at work so it’s important to feel comfortable and calm in our surroundings. There’s nothing worse than a stuffy, dark or claustrophobic workspace, which is why Ayima’s offices are open plan and airy. Plus we’ve even got a pool table and arcade machine in the London office if you need a break.
Music
Did you know that 79% of employees can boost productivity at work by listening to music? We definitely see offering the option of listening to music as a positive, and have a Sonos music system in the London office that everyone can access to play their favourite tracks. Well, as long as it’s not Florence and the Machine—that’s banned by our CEO!
I’d also like to make a special shout-out to Parker, our office dog, owned by our Head of Client Services. He’s sure to put a smile on people’s faces when he arrives in the office!
Bupa Healthcare
I am incredibly proud to say Ayima offers private healthcare for all our staff members and their dependents. All policies are paid for by the company, therefore there is no charge to the staff members on a monthly basis. However, healthcare is considered a benefit in kind reported to HMRC via an annual P11D and deducted from the staff members annual tax free amount.
Why should we care about mental health?
Wellbeing isn’t just about your physical health. Your mental health is equally as important to your overall well being. Stress, anxiety and depression are the biggest cause of sickness absence in our society and mental ill health is responsible for 91 million working days lost every year.
Everyone has mental health and there can be periods when it is positive and periods when it is poor. At Ayima, we understand the importance of being able to talk about mental health. We offer our staff members the support they need, as well as tools and training to allow us to recognise when people are struggling.
We have fully qualified Mental Health First Aiders who are always approachable and ready to listen and help in any way they can.
I attended this training course myself and there was a particular stand-out moment when we did an exercise about visualising the ‘stress container’. The explanation and visualisation really made me realise that you can't keep piling on the stress without having a tap to release some of that stress.
If you want to find out more about what it’s like to work at Ayima, get in touch!
