The fourth round of Energy for Life workshops started in the Belfast Offices during July with Strabane and L'Derry Offices taking part the following week. Allstate NI aims to have over 1900 employees through the day and a half energy management workshop, helping their engagement and energy levels both at home and work.
Allstate NI has always invested in their people and as such has won both Investors In People—Gold Award 2012 and the 'Work Life and Wellbeing' Award from The Irish News Workplace & Employment Awards in 2012 & 2013. Energy for Life is based on 30 years of Energy Management research by the Human Performance Institute in Florida and teaches employees how elite athletes and corporate executives achieve and sustain extraordinary results in their professional and personal lives. The aim is to show employees how to spread their energy—getting home after a productive day's work with enough energy left for their family, to socialise more, to travel and to have fun outside of working hours.
Energy for Life (EFL) is a day and a half energy management workshop that provides an opportunity to focus on who and what is most important in the employee's life. The programme heavily focuses on the importance and benefits of good nutrition, encouraging participants to eat less, more frequently. Participants are given the opportunity to discreetly have their BMI measured and are provided with demonstrations of quick and easy exercises that can be done at home or the office as well as teaching employees to look after their mental health and wellbeing.
Rose Kelly, Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer at Allstate NI explains:
"In Northern Ireland, we've opted to invest in the Energy for Life programme developed in the States at our home office in Chicago. Since January of this year, coaches have been flown in from Chicago for weeks at a time and to date almost 200 leaders have gone through the program across all three of our sites in a bid to be able to explain the benefits and what is involved first-hand to their teams. Over 400 employees have taken part and we aim to have over 1,500 people completing the course across two years as we are eager to expose as many employees as possible to this wonderful opportunity".
"This is the first programme of its kind in Northern Ireland and has been strongly supported and advocated by staff. Allstate is proud to invest in its people and we continue to look for ways in which we can go further".
Barry, an Allstate NI employee who has experienced the workshop had the following to say,
"This was an excellent course that made me take stock of my life and reflect on what all has happened me. It gave me great insight and helped me evaluate my life goals. I would highly recommend it to others also, very thought provoking!"
Declan, also an Allstate employee who has experienced the workshop added,
"All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable, positive and thought provoking experience. I've taken a lot of positives from this course . . . Thank You!!"
Allstate recognises the link between happy and healthy employees, satisfied customers and business results and has taken a systematic and innovative approach to the health and wellbeing of its people. This "genuine care philosophy" leads to high levels of engagement (evidenced below) which has assisted the organisation to flourish in the face of huge competition globally (over 200 new jobs created in 2012) making it one of Northern Ireland's great business success stories.
