Last year, Harvard Business Review shared a thought leadership piece entitled ‘to retain employees, support their passions outside of work’. This is an attitude that we wholeheartedly agree with at Alternit One. The Harvard Business Review article was shared during the outbreak of the ‘great resignation’ trend, commenting on how businesses were struggling to both recruit and retain their very best talent. Following the health crisis in 2020, greater focus was placed on health, both physical and mental, and employers and employees have become ever more aware of the need to establish a reasonable work/life balance.
When looking to establish a work/life balance that prioritises mental and emotional wellbeing, pursuing outsideof work passions can be overlooked. By really engaging in understanding employees for who they are and what they enjoy, firms are more likely to retain their talent. Everyone wants to be thought of an as individual and treated as such. This can help build loyalty, friendship and good feeling at work.
In March, we shared an article about how we are shaping our company culture by embracing passions outside of work. We talked with Elly, who is a Senior Account Manager at Alternit One and she shared how her love for sports such as skydiving and running can have synergies with her professional life.
This time, we talked football with Dan Kent, Technician Delivery Manager. For a long time, Dan has been involved in local non league football, operating at different levels. Not only has he played in physical games, he has also been general secretary for his club, so is also involved on a managerial level. His passion for football has meant that he has been able to create line ups, manage teams and support other people in the club withtheir roles. At work, Dan spends time working in a wider team too, so he can apply those out of work skills to his day-to-day operations at Alternit One as in both cases they relate to working with other people and within certain guidelines and procedures. Dan sees teamwork activities as “people sharing the same goal and vision to achieve a desired result. Everyone is working together towards something. This builds a sense of camaraderie that ultimately makes each activity more enjoyable too.”
Dan also talked about the importance of sport for supporting his mental wellbeing, which enhances his overall wellbeing. “When I arrive on a pitch to play, I am able to place myself into a mental space that is completely separate from work. Its 90 minutes on the pitch not thinking about anything else. It is an opportunity to be fully present in the moment and to focus on the one task that is ahead. Most importantly, I’m on the pitch to enjoy it.”
At Alternit One, we believe in supporting overall wellbeing and that means helping our teams to find time to invest in themselves outside of the workplace to help switch off from work. By doing so, we encourage our employees to find and retain a balanced and healthy lifestyle, therefore bringing their best selves into their activities at work and home. Embracing passions outside of work is therefore integral to our company culture and is important to the entire team.