The Callanan Group, which consists of The Prince of Wales Hotel and Karma Nightclub in Athlone as well as the Skeffington Arms Hotel and DNA Nightclub in Galway, has become the first hospitality company in Ireland to achieve the Ibec workplace wellness accreditation, the KeepWell Mark.
The group signed up to the KeepWell Mark initiative in January of 2018 as part of a commitment to provide the newest and highest standards of workplace wellness, health and safety to all of its employees.
An Evidence-Based Accreditation
The KeepWell Mark is an evidence-based accreditation and award that recognises Irish employers for investing in workplace health and wellbeing. Its aim is to help business benchmark workplace wellbeing activity through a set of systematic and methodical steps. The framework includes a self-assessment as well as an onsite assessment from an Ibec-approved external assessor, and culminates with a report that outlines areas for improvement for each business.
Eight Key Areas
The accreditation takes a holistic approach, focusing on eight key areas and how they impact a business. These eight areas of improvement are leadership, absence management, smoke free, physical activity, health and safety, mental health, healthy eating, and intoxicants. To address the above, the different businesses took part in a number of different initiatives including nutritional talks, yoga and Pilates sessions, a 10 week get fit programme, lunch time walks, tag rugby tournament, mental health awareness talks, updated health and safety training, and CPR courses among other activities.
Raising Health And Safety Standards
Speaking about The KeepWell Mark process, Callanan Group HR director Siobhán Howley and group operations manager Ashling Dudley said, “It is becoming increasingly apparent that business leaders in Ireland need to make the health and wellbeing of their employees a top priority. This is why we are so excited to have achieved The KeepWell Mark, having raised the standards of our employees’ health, wellbeing, and safety across all aspects of our business. We hope that our staff will continue to feel the tangible benefits of the initiatives available in their workplace, inspired by our participation The KeepWell Mark, and that we have set an example for other Irish businesses by following industry best practice.”
“Delighted To Congratulate”
Speaking on behalf of Ibec, John Brennan, Ibec regional director for the west of Ireland, said, “I’m delighted to congratulate the Callanan Hotel Group who are the first organisation in the hospitality sector to be awarded Ireland’s national workplace wellbeing accreditation, the KeepWell Mark. The Callanan Hotel Group have shown their commitment to enhancing staff health and wellbeing, and have taken active steps in the planning, design and delivery of an appropriate organisational staff wellbeing plan to ensure these needs are addressed. Extremely well done to all at the organisation for their efforts in achieving the Mark.”
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