Lifetime Achievement
A truckdriver, a journalist and two winemakers were presented Wine Marlborough Lifetime Achievement Awards at a celebration dinner in Blenheim late last year.
What inspired this initiative?
Wellbeing is a growing conversation throughout New Zealand. For the wine industry, it was clear that our permanent workforce carried a significant burden during the Covid-19 pandemic. Focusing on their wellbeing was a priority identified by the Marlborough workforce steering group, which landed on the idea of a "wellbeing week" leading into vintage. We didn't make that pre-vintage deadline, but a group of industry folks jumped on board with the concept and felt it would be a great way to help reset after vintage and prepare for the new season. Wellness Week evolved from there, dedicated to amping up the wellbeing conversation and instilling some friendly competition.
What's the Marlborough Wine Industry Workplace Wellbeing Impact Award?
It's all about showcasing positive impact on the people in the workplace. There are some great business reasons for investing in employee wellbeing, but we'll miss the mark if the only driver is the bottom line. This award puts people at the centre of wellbeing for their own sake, and it demonstrates an employer's commitment to this. What was important about this award is not only what was executed for the wellbeing initiative, but also how it was developed and why. There's a lot of scope for positive impact and at the heart of it, the most positive impact comes from responding to meeting the needs of your people.
We had 17 entries for the wellness week competition, and they showcased a wonderful range of initiatives. We asked people to post wellbeing initiatives on Instagram that had taken place during the past year. It was great to see the Five Ways to Wellbeing theme coming through in many of the entries, and all of the entries shared things that other businesses could replicate, which is where we all win.
Who won and why?
Spy Valley wines took out the Wellbeing Impact Award for their Taco Tuesday entry. The entire Spy Valley team, from vineyard to winery, connected over Taco Tuesday and had an exclusive preview of the 2023 vintage. It was simple, effective, and covered several aspects of wellbeing, including connecting, giving, and learning. Sharing kai was noted as a simple and nourishing way to support and connect people and the judges acknowledged the importance of creating space for informal conversations that allow people to open up. Of special note about Spy's entry was its inclusivity - it was easy for everyone to participate in it.
Who else caught your attention?
It was great to see different aspects of wellbeing drawn together in initiatives such as wetland planting at Grove Mill, and 'walk & talk' meetings at Hortus. When it comes to wellbeing, one of the judges acknowledged that the "worthiness of wellbeing can be a buzz kill" and entries such as chalk drawing (Saint Clair) and rock hunting (Delegat) remind us of the importance of play and having fun while also reinforcing that wellbeing doesn’t need to be costly or complicated. One of the aims of wellness week was to provide members with inspirational ideas they could replicate in their workplaces, and we definitely achieved that.
The wellness week post from Yealands inspired us in terms of its leadership, culture, and employee-driven approach to wellbeing. Yealands’ entry showed a high level of commitment to integrating wellbeing as part of a high performing organisation. The wellness week judges created the Marlborough Wine Industry Workplace Wellbeing Leadership Award specifically to recognise Yealands – emphasising that big gains come from lots of small things sustained over time.
Why were social media platforms a good vehicle?
Check out Wine Marlborough’s Instagram grid to see how social media captured and showcased a range of ideas and initiatives. We will be able to share posts again or use them as examples for future wellness week initiatives. It was very visual and easy for people to engage with the wellbeing initiatives showcased.
As well as business initiatives and inspiration, we had amazing posts sharing wellbeing resources from Farmstrong. Wellness week partners and stakeholders could like and comment on posts, which brought new perspectives to the conversation. And of course, the wine industry in Marlborough received a terrific shout-out from Sam Whitelock.
Businesses could post on their own channels and promote their initiative, or have Wine Marlborough post on their behalf. We have already heard of posts helping to demonstrate certain companies as good places to work.
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