Working in conjunction with local business GT Massage, staff were selected to take part in an eight week programme. The programme provided staff with posture advice, massages and techniques for enhancing wellbeing in the workplace.
All participants had reported some neck, back or shoulder discomfort which may be attributed to spending long periods of time on the phone or on the computer at a desk. Following an initial assessment, advice on how to improve posture and weekly massages tailored to their individual requirements were given to staff along with exercise technique to improve posture in the long term.
Autoline Insurance Group teamed up with Newry local, Garreth Thornton, from GT Massage to provide their staff with massages to help improve posture, wellbeing, and productivity in the workplace. Kristin Aiken, Autoline Marketing Manager, is pictured receiving a massage from Garreth Thornton, as Claire Curran, Autoline HR Manager looks on.
Commenting on the scheme Claire Curran, Human Resources Manager, Autoline Insurance Group said, "Many of our customer service staff spend a large proportion of their day sitting down talking to customers both on the phone and at desks. We want to ensure that our staff are happy and comfortable in their workplace as we firmly believe that translates through to our customers. This wellbeing initiative with GT Massage has established that bad posture and back trouble can be attributed in part to how you sit at work. We were delighted that 83% of those who took part felt immediate benefits and were more comfortable when they went back to work after the massages while 66% have felt a long term improvement from the assessment of their posture and how they sit in work."
Garreth Thornton, from GT Massage who organised the programme, said "Autoline is the first company we've worked with who have brought us in to address potential work related health issues. The results have been outstanding and we hope that the advice and treatments will contribute to continued improvement in staff wellbeing."
Autoline who are the most recent winners of the Irish News Workplace and Employment Award for Most Innovative Employer are now looking at number of new initiatives to improve the health and productivity for their staff during 2012.