Bright Horizons officially named one of 250 UK’s Best Workplaces for Wellbeing

Employees have spoken! Bright Horizons is ranked among the UK’s Best Workplaces™ for Wellbeing (2022) by Great Place to Work®, a global leader on workplace culture.

To determine the UK’s Best Workplaces™ for Wellbeing list, Great Place to Work’s culture experts analysed thousands of employee surveys, assessing people’s holistic experiences of wellbeing at work by asking employees to comment on how their company supports their:

• Work-life balance
• Sense of fulfilment
• Job satisfaction
• Psychological safety
• Financial security

Evaluations also included an assessment of how well the organisation was able to deliver consistency of their employee experience across all departments and seniority levels.

Bright Horizons has over 30 years’ experience of working with leading employers to identify and support the dependant care needs of their employees throughout their careers and at every life stage. Its wellbeing strategy for its own employees is a three-fold focus: Emotional, Physical, and Financial, believing that a holistic approach is essential to provide support and benefits which are appropriate and meaningful to all members of its diverse employee community.

Bright Horizons supports Emotional wellbeing by enabling its people to navigate life’s ups and downs with confidence and resilience. It’s Employee Assistance Programme enables colleagues to access counselling and its Work+Family Space, which is a hub of resources relating to all aspects of work and family life, is a crucial support tool in this area.

On the Physical wellbeing side, Bright Horizons encourages and promotes a healthy quality of life, both at work and at home. In 2020, Bright Horizons introduced Smart Health [in the UK]. This benefit is a virtual health service provided by AIG Life which gives all employees the opportunity to easily manage their health and wellbeing. This benefit is available to all colleagues and their immediate family members. Smart Health provides unlimited, 24/7 access to everything needed to create long-term wellbeing habits. These services include, a Virtual GP, Mental health support, nutritional support and tailored fitness programmes.

With Financial wellbeing, Bright Horizons provides its colleagues with the relevant skills and knowledge to enable them to have control over their finances and thereby improve their financial wellbeing. Elements that help to contribute to this focus include childcare discounts, back-up care for loved ones of all ages and discounts/cashback that can be used to purchase a wide range of goods and services.

Underpinning all the wellbeing support that is in place at Bright Horizons are its HEART principles (Honesty, Excellence, Accountability, Respect and Teamwork).

Janine Leightley, HR Director at Bright Horizons, said:

“Our guiding HEART principles are at the core of how we operate. The wellbeing of all our colleagues is essential as it all comes back to our mission to provide exceptional care and education for children. We always take the time to reflect and look at ways about how we can improve our rewards and benefits for our colleagues.”

“Being better for people is better for business, especially in tough times,” explained Benedict Gautrey, Managing Director of Great Place to Work® UK. “When employees feel genuinely cared for, their loyalty, engagement, and productivity improve. Happier people also become brand advocates for the business and will often go the extra mile to provide a positive experience for their clients and customers. We’re delighted to launch our first-ever UK’s Best Workplaces™ for Wellbeing list in 2022, shining a light on the 250 companies who have succeeded in ensuring staff experience high levels of wellbeing across the organisation. Hopefully this recognition and acknowledgment will inspire more workplaces to do the same in years to come.”

Ros Marshall, Managing Director at Bright Horizons UK, said:

“Wellbeing is a key priority for us all in order that we can successfully make a difference in the lives of children, families, and the communities where we live and work. We champion great workplaces and supportive employers, so to make the UK’s first-ever list of Best Workplaces™ for Wellbeing is a wonderful achievement. Through our own research, such as our Modern Family Index and other benchmark reports, we help to shine a light on the needs of working parents and carers, so they may thrive rather than survive. We reflect on the insights ourselves, to help inform our own approach as well as sharing information externally to enable policy change and courageous conversations between employees and employers.”