Be well, event well!

Last week we were delighted to debut in C&IT Magazine’s Top 50 agencies – in 16th place. This is significant to us as it’s one measure that we’re on the way to achieving our vision – to be recognised as the most successful client-focused and client-relevant UK agency in the events sector.

It’s also important to us as we know this is something our people value and are proud to be associated with. We will only be successful in achieving our vision by having the best people in the industry working for us, proud to work for us, driving us forward every day to achieve great things for themselves, our clients, Strata, and the industry.

And it’s our people that I want to focus on here… this week is Eventwell Week, a week established by people in the events industry, to shine a spotlight on the wellbeing of people in events. Whilst these themed national weeks and days do sometimes face criticism for being “flash in the pan” as opposed to something that should be considered every day of the year, they are a great opportunity to stop, reflect and consider what things might need to shift in the balance between work and life to ensure that health and wellbeing is prioritised.

At Strata we do place the wellbeing of our people at the heart of our culture and are proud of what we think is a relatively unique approach to our people’s career development and personal wellbeing, every day of the year. Our CEO, Simon touched on our happiness programme in a recent article, and its place in the business strategy of organisations within the events industry. And campaigns such as #Eventwell19 highlight there is still very much a need to raise the profile of wellbeing and mental health within an industry which is still very traditional in many senses of the word.

Mental health is a specific area within wellbeing that we have focused our attention on over the past six months. We recognise that mental health, much like physical health, needs to be maintained and managed responsibly within an industry associated with stressful deadlines and long hours on site. We have so far invested in training six of our people as Mental Health First Aiders, as part of our duty of care to our teams. And an internal taskforce has been formed who are responsible for being the first point of contact to support those showing the early signs of stress and anxiety at work.

The Happiness Programme is an ambitious one with a clear purpose of providing our people with the support and infrastructure to produce work of outstanding quality within an agency culture that they relish being a part of. We recognise that to ensure we continue to innovate and deliver beyond client expectations, we need a talented workforce who are engaged, effective, loyal and healthy, and supported in their ambitions to progress and develop within this dynamic and exciting industry.

Whilst it’s still early days in the roll out of our Happiness Programme, as we approach our first birthday as the newly formed Strata, we are excited about further developments and initiatives which we’ll continue to roll out to support the health and wellbeing of our people, our clients, and the industry. Watch this space, and in the meantime, be well and event well!