Mewies & co. launch mental health and wellness programme for staff

Published 14th Apr 2021 by kieran

Mewies & Co. has implemented a 12 week mental health and wellness programme to support employees returning to the salon as part of a greater focus on long-term support towards employee wellbeing. The salon underlined the negative impact the past year has had upon its staff, citing a recent YouGov survey which reported that 51% of full time staff and 57% of part-time staff who have been placed on furlough claimed their mental health has deteriorated since last year’s first lockdown. To counteract this, Mewies & Co. in Charnwood, Leicestershire launched the mental health and wellness programme with a specific focus on transitioning back to work. The 12 week programme includes:

Working with their own dedicated mental health first aid external educator who will explore their own personal journey in returning to work. Staff will learn to recognise personal and work pressures and discuss helpful coping mechanisms through employee workshops.
Two accredited in-salon Mewies & Co. mental health first aiders (one management and one non-management) on hand proactively encouraging an open door policy.
Every week the management team will spend time with each individual to chat through anything from personal or salon issues to career progression as part of ‘Ten Minute care’.

In addition, Mewies & Co. has also formalised a number of initiatives in an employee focused restructure of the business to support the long term mental wellbeing of their team. This includes:

Each team member will have lunch booked out every day
Appointments will be booked in one hour slots
Designers will benefit from further assistant support to help grow the business
In order to reward staff and celebrate the business post Covid-19, Mewies & Co. have introduced their own bank holiday
Provision for multiple yoga class vouchers
Provision for dietician and nutrition coaching
Fresh fruit will be provided in the team room along with juicer and smoothie machine
Better pay opportunities and more transparent wage structure

Dan Mewies, founder of Mewies & Co. and Authentic Beauty Concept ambassador, said: “ In creating our return to work programme and restructuring the business to focus further on the mental wellbeing of our team, I believe we will have a happier, motivated and more productive workforce and as a result the business will grow stronger.” “We’re not forcing anyone to participate but instead supporting our team to take control of their own wellbeing. I try to lead by example and I too have taken a number of steps to look after my own wellbeing this past year. Employees may be suffering from a multitude of personal worries, social isolation and transitioning back to some sort of normality. There’s certainly a need for support measures to be implemented to protect our industry’s mental health.”