Blackrock Clinic awarded the IBEC KeepWell Mark™ for Health, Wellbeing & Safety in the Workplace

29th Sep 2021

“We know we need to get healthier as a nation, and the workplace, where we spend so much of our time, is an ideal place to encourage healthier lifestyles.”

Danny McCoy, Ibec CEO.

Moving into autumn 2021, Blackrock Clinic celebrates the attainment of the prestigious Irish Business and Employers Confederation (“IBEC”) KeepWell Mark™. This is an accreditation for ‘health, wellbeing and safety’ in the workplace. It is awarded to support and celebrate organisations which consistently prioritise employee health & wellbeing. Achieved following a stringent evidence-based framework assessment, the accreditation attests to our commitment to invest in employee workplace standards.

Through aligning with this IBEC initiative, we have been able to benchmark our employee wellbeing policies against the national backdrop. A KeepWell Mark™ post audit report has allowed us to analyse our position, and progress the implementation of a robust corporate wellbeing strategy. This roadmap for policy analysis is already familiar to Blackrock Clinic, having acquired over a decade’s worth of accreditation as a hospital from the Joint Commission International (JCI).

The Process

The KeepWell Mark™ process sets its benchmarking against eight pillars (areas) demarked for ‘wellbeing at work’:

• Leadership 
• Absence Management 
• Health and Safety 
• Mental Health 
• Smoke Free 
• Physical Activity
• Healthy Eating 
• Intoxicants

To ensure we employed a company-wide dynamic for assessment purposes, we established a Wellbeing Steering Group from diverse areas within our organisation, including: Allied Health, Finance, ICT, Senior Management, Nursing, and of course HR. This group assimilated the information required for audit and responded to the IBEC assessors at every point.

KeepWell Mark™ (2021) Post-Audit Report.

The following are some extracts from the post-audit report.

“Strong Support from Senior Management”

‘From the assessment, it is evident that Blackrock Clinic is committed to improving the wellbeing of its staff. There is strong support from senior management in promoting wellbeing throughout the company.’

Blackrock Clinic recognises the importance that wellbeing is for its teams, and senior management is open to, and supportive of, many sound initiatives:

• Our “Employee Forum” is the conduit for staff representation, where open communication exists between staff and management on collective matters that affect all employees.
• Blackrock Clinic’s Prosper Group is a company supported holistic volunteer peer group which motivates and supports staff with practical solutions to the life challenges which impact all of us.
• The Employee Assistance Programme (“EAP”) is a resource available to all Blackrock Clinic staff, their family and households. The EAP portal is brimming with information to help us improve our personal life, work life, health and wellbeing. It also provides an excellent free confidential counselling and information service 24 hours a day.

“Clear and transparent communication”

 ‘[There is] evidence of clear and transparent communication from leadership regarding the national state of [pandemic] affairs and BRC, feeding back the sense that leadership were [Sic] in control and that people felt safe to come in to work …. signalling positive levels of trust between leadership, management, and employees.’

A strong culture of communication is a great asset at Blackrock Clinic, fostering trust and inclusiveness which underpin our corporate staff wellbeing. We consistently invest in resourcing ICT, and entering into the Covid-19 period we were already sharing information with employees digitally.  Propelled by the urgency of pandemic remote working and social distancing, our digital networks have expanded exponentially. Staff can now access company comms via: CEO office E-News Bulletins; Microsoft Teams; Blog and Social Media platform posts, to name but a few. These are all fast and convenient ways we now keep in touch, keep up-to-date, and keep each other informed.

Belongs to the Entire Team

Whilst our Wellbeing Steering Group worked tremendously hard during the accreditation process, the KeepWell Mark™ belongs to every member of the Blackrock Clinic team. Commitment to the wellbeing of our employees allows us to attract and retain the best talent. We can all feel very proud of the part we contribute towards Blackrock Clinic, and the attainment of this accolade.