Surf Coast Shire's leading wellbeing culture

For the Surf Coast Shire a past focus on mental health and wellbeing including a traditional program of EAP services, fruit bowls, flu shots and fitness programs was good but didn't go far enough. With a belief that wellbeing and performance were interdependent Surf Coast set out to explore this relationship deeply using data and science to enhance individual wellbeing and drive organisational results.

The team at Benny Button were fortunate that Leanne Perryman, Manager People & Culture reached out to us to explore what a strategic approach could look like. She wanted to have impact and wanted an approach that was human centric and sustainable.

Using a systematic methodology employees were led through a cycle of three phases - to explore - transform - evolve their wellbeing and performance at work and in life:

• Exploring wellbeing and performance through individual Benny Button profiles and organisational diagnostic information
• Transforming wellbeing and performance through a series of learning and development experiences based on positive psychology and wellbeing science
• Evolving to sustain a high-performance culture with wellbeing at it's core

This approach is designed to fuel a process of continual improvement.

The next step was to monitor the progress of their wellbeing & performance strategy. To do this the Surf Coast have embraced the Benny Button Wellbeing Checkpoint platform. This platform provides a framework to support people, leaders and organisations to pause regularly and check in, focus on what matters most and take action for wellbeing and self-care.

"This is one of the most progressive approaches to wellbeing we are seeing at the moment."

Having a leadership team that can normalise the wellbeing conversation and lead a wellbeing and performance culture is critical. A commitment to regularly checking in is the Surf Coast mission. The image below is an email sent to all leaders by the Sam Liston, Surf Coast's Coordinator Workplace Health & Safety. This is one of the most progressive approaches to wellbeing we are seeing at the moment.

The team at Surf Coast are extremely proud to be a finalist in this years AHRI Martin Seligman Health and Wellbeing Award recognising outstanding strategies and initiatives that promote and embed good health and wellbeing of their workforce.?Who knows, with a bit of luck they might even take out the top gong!

What we love about the Surf Coast Shire is it's not just about the awards. It's their long term dedication to the cause that is so progressive. You can't just turn on the tap and create a culture of high wellbeing & performance. It is a long term approach. This is something many organisations are fearful of as they can't see the immediate returns and revert to band aid fixes or adrenalin shots for their people.

The Surf Coast Shire are developing a culture for the future of work. It's a culture that people will be drawn to, in a world where we keep hearing about the Great Resignation. The Surf Coast Shire is and will be a Great Destination and we couldn't be more proud to be supporting them on their mission.

To find out more about this leading wellbeing culture you can contact the team at Benny Button ([email protected]) or contact Leanne Perryman at the Surf Coast Shire ([email protected]).