This year’s Corporate Health and Wellbeing Summit was recently held in the heart of Auckland city.  The summit, back for its seventh year was packed full with ideas, fantastic speakers and strategies - held by ThinkTank media, it certainly didn’t disappoint.

The inspirational conference focused exclusively on improving productivity and business performance though a healthy, engaged, inspired and invigorated workplace as we remain to re set from the past two years of diversity – post pandemic along with managing the current political/economic unrest.

Speakers chatted on a range of topics beginning with Zeina Jalil (Business Leader/Entrepreneur) speaking to diversity, equality and inclusion highlighting the need for safe inclusive policies that are gender neutral, zero tolerance to bullying and setting up a high trust environment. Zeina touched on the value of high trust workplaces with staff being 74% less stressed, 106% staff being more energised, 50% more productive and 76% of staff being more engaged.  Strategies to gain a high trust workplace begin at the leadership level with role modelling, organisational culture, leaders being vulnerable with a willingness to learn and truly be self-aware. 

The theme of high trust environments was reiterated by Jacqui Maguire (Clinical Psychologist) and Sarah Tuck (Mental Health Advocate) speaking to the need to create flourishing mentally healthy workplaces.

Some statistics are showing that the ideal working conditions involves a split of working from home and in the office (3/2) – this is dependent on the type of work being undertaken. The importance of employee’s time in the office to drive connection/collaboration to come together, co-work design with leaders and staff is still vitally important.  Do your staff feel empowered, included and heard? Leaders that come up with solutions based on agendas take away staff autonomy, so therefore high trust workplaces must show consistency and integrity with the right people to care/grow their people.

Next up was author of the book Silver Linings – Joe Davis.  Joe took us back to the depth of Covid uncertainty highlighting the research of common themes that workplaces rode the storm well adapted now more than ever, as constant change become our new reality. Themes included: Every leader in organisations that thrived in adversity had a disposition to “take action” to empower people, every one of them was adaptable in terms of work, staff and changing directions co-creating with staff, each of them had an awareness away from work of bigger pictures along with connecting to community to gain the big ideas, stay optimistic with an embedded culture of safety.

As the day concluded Liam Scopes (Senior Wellbeing Manager at Air New Zealand) shared the power of protecting your people being one of the hardest hit industries in the last few years post pandemic.  Liam touched on Air New Zealand’s strategy to Survive, Revive and Thrive which aligned to their most important commodity their people. The mental health strategy me/we and us came into play with “Me” alluding to tools and resources, EAP workshops and self-help, “We” relating to direct manager support, peer and culture and “Us” reflecting culture or place/procedures and further staff support. Liam owned the fact that due to circumstance that Air New Zealand are still in the revive phase and are continuing to put measures in place to move through to thrive once again.

All in all, the Corporate Health and Wellbeing Summit is always of value with the last word summed up well by Jacqui Maguire

“Wellbeing at Work is complex and interdependent, wellbeing has a place at the table, it is integral as people come first not outcomes”.

If you would like any further information on our Active Workplaces initiatives, please email sharona@sportnorth.co.nz and check out or Active Workplaces FB page for challenges and events.