The Association for Online Publishing (AOP) yesterday announced a collaboration with organisational culture consultancy PROJECT 23, to focus on employee engagement, health, and wellbeing for its publisher members.
The initiative aims to highlight the need for better people-based strategies in media, by giving publishers information on topics such as diversity and inclusion, mental health and wellbeing, and workplace culture.
The AOP and PROJECT 23 recently joined forces at the AOP’s Crunch event in December, ‘How will the industry will support you for a better 2019?’. The industry event focused on the importance of employee health and wellbeing where speakers discussed open and inclusive career pathways and working practices, positive approaches to wellbeing, and actionable ways to develop a person to their full potential.
Richard Reeves, Managing Director, AOP, said: “Our recent Crunch session received extremely positive feedback from attendees, highlighting a strong appetite for similar events over the coming year. The organisations we work with have to deal with multiple demands and stresses on a daily basis, but in the face of continual changes, the talented and hard-working people in our industry consistently deliver on these challenges with positivity and vigour.
“The aim of this new and exciting partnership with PROJECT 23 is to tackle the inequalities and bias that still exist in media through improvements in diversity, generating awareness, promoting good mental health, and highlighting the importance of people strategies in a competitive commercial market. By striving to increase employee engagement, achieve better working practices, and boost wellbeing across the industry, we will inevitably improve traditional performance metrics for our members and their clients.”
According to NABS and MIND research from December 2017, 60% of employees say work has had a negative effect on their wellbeing, and the top reason NABS received calls in 2018 was for emotional support.
Elaine dela Cruz, Co-Founder of PROJECT 23, commented: “We can unquestionably do more for employees within this industry and publishers have a clear opportunity to make a positive impact in a win-win situation.
“This is a people and talent based industry, yet the progression of human resources or the need for diversity and inclusion are rarely seen as a core priority by our industry leaders in comparison to say, product, advertising or data strategies. There’s a gap between what organisations do to inspire, develop and support their staff and what their staff actually want and need. With high employee engagement directly correlating to profit and productivity, we aim to help organisations deliver what their employees genuinely expect and need in order to be their happiest and do their best.”
