Today, April 7, on the occasion of World Health Day, we want to share with you the projects we have carried out at Grupo Castrosua in recent years, related to the care of our employees.
Since our beginnings, at Castrosua we have taken care of our employees’ health from a holistic perspective. On the one hand, we attach great importance to physical health through, for example, the promotion of internal teams for collective sports practice sponsored by the company or sporadic activities organized by the Internal Communication Team. On the other hand, our Prevention Department, headed by Encarna Teixeira, also focuses on the physical health of our employees, where safety is also paramount. On the other hand, we take into account mental, emotional, and relational health through our Development and Well-being Office. This newly created area is exclusively dedicated to Laura Vergara, a psychologist specializing in the application of positive psychology, whose actions and initiatives are aimed at optimizing personal and professional well-being levels, both individually and collectively. We know that the best way to act proactively in promoting the health of our employees is to adopt an integrated approach where different areas and specialists intervene and collaborate in the process.
Below, we review the initiatives that Grupo Castrosua has undertaken over the years to care for both physical and mental health.
Castrosua and Physical Health, Sports Days, and Much More
According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), “among the lifestyle habits with positive effects on individuals’ health is regular physical activity, which allows for improved health and prevention of diseases, injuries, and disabilities, as well as extending the horizon of years of life in good health. An adequate level of regular physical activity in adults reduces the risk of a large number of chronic diseases, improving people’s quality of life.
Conversely, physical inactivity (sedentarism) is one of the risk factors, along with smoking, alcohol abuse, and unbalanced diet, that contribute to an increase in chronic diseases and a decrease in the horizon of years of life in good health.”
This is why at Castrosua, we consider physical health to be fundamental for the overall well-being of our workers. Therefore, we promote and sponsor internal teams formed by company employees in soccer, indoor soccer, cycling, and running, and on the other hand, through the Internal Communication Team (ECI), we organize sports days of various kinds, such as paddle tennis, skiing, mountain biking, rafting, hiking, etc. The ECI, in addition to promoting sports activity, fosters interpersonal relationships within the company, creating bonds that favor a good disposition in the workplace and contribute to emotional health. At Castrosua, it is also possible to have a physiotherapist on demand at very affordable rates for its employees.
Castrosua’s Prevention Department
The health and safety of our workers are paramount and are based on a policy of occupational risk prevention whose broad objectives are to reduce accidents and improve risk levels.
CASTROSUA, in compliance with current regulations, and with the aim of integrating occupational risk prevention into the business management system, has an occupational risk prevention plan that is reviewed annually.
Furthermore, periodically, our company conducts prevention courses and workshops related to physical health. From the internal prevention department, headed by our colleague Encarna Teixeira, we also carry out campaigns such as glaucoma prevention to promote eye health (annual) or the flu campaign. This area also responds to cases related to COVID-19, which we address with individualized monitoring and control, although this is becoming less relevant given the high proportion of vaccinated staff and control of the pandemic.
Also, from the External Prevention Service, we are alert and attentive to possible problems related to tasks/jobs that cause health problems to our workers.
Mental Health at Grupo Castrosua: Personal and Professional Emotional Skills
In the area of mental health, the INE also indicates that “more than 2.1 million people suffer from some form of depression and 5% are diagnosed with anxiety. In Spain, in mid-2020, there were 2.1 million people with depression, 5.25% of the population over 15 years of age nationwide, according to the European Health Survey. Of these, 230,000 people suffered from severe depression.”
Given the importance of such data, the impact of the pandemic, and the complex demands of the environment, in 2021, the Development and Well-being Office was established at Castrosua.
Castrosua’s Development and Well-being Office
The Castrosua Development and Well-being Office was established in March 2021 with the aim, among others, of combating one of the major burdens that the pandemic has exacerbated in our society: people’s very delicate and diminished emotional, social, and physical health.
Laura Vergara, the psychologist leading this department at Castrosua, works daily with the purpose of creating a healthy environment in the company to increase individual and collective positive resources that help successfully cope with the demands of the current complex scenario. To this end, personal and professional growth and development of our workers are promoted, providing tools that improve quality of life and well-being levels.
Over the past few months, this area, based on the needs and expectations of the workers, has been carrying out initiatives such as activities, individualized programs, group workshops, as well as a commitment to constant internal communication, through which employee motivation and psychoeducation of key concepts are addressed. Below, we highlight some of the initiatives that have worked best internally.
Our Workers’ Balance Through Individualized Programs and Psychology Workshops
To address the complex balance between personal and professional mental and emotional health, the Castrosua Development and Well-being Office has implemented an individualized strengths program. Through this, we help workers identify these strengths and develop them to use them in a balanced way for their well-being. Throughout individualized sessions based on previously designated objectives, we focus on increasing self-esteem, improving efficiency, balancing emotional exhaustion, and enhancing our team’s quality of life.
Also, through a positive psychology workshop, we practically work with the PERMA model, and learned its advantages and applications. In this way, our workers learn to assess personal well-being, identify levers for change, and learn techniques to strengthen each of the involved pillars, developing a personalized action plan with them.
These are some examples of the internal initiatives that, along with periodic communications on well-being and health, have improved the personal and professional comfort of our employees.
We will continue to foster the well-being and health of our employees through new initiatives, as one of our main objectives is to try to improve the health and condition of our most valuable asset, people.
