5 Star Breaking Mental Health Stigma
May 2022 - Europe’s leading flight case manufacturer joins The Healthy Workplace service and offers Employee Assistance Programme to the team, providing mental health and wellbeing support.
As one of Europe’s leading flight case manufacturers, 5 Star Cases has been serving multiple industries for over 40 years with products that ensure safe and secure transport of vital goods around the world. From entertainment, medical and telecoms to motorsports, many companies & organisations have entrusted us and our 75+ strong team to deliver the packaging solutions they require to successfully run their businesses. For 5 Star, building a team who trust each other, lean on one another, and share common values has been its utmost priority right from the start. This also includes normalising discussions about mental health at work and breaking down barriers when it comes to the stigma of mental illness.
Rob, the company’s Purchasing Manager, started working at 5 Star over 20 years ago as a stores operative. Over the years, he has held several positions and is currently responsible for developing purchasing strategies and maintaining positive relationships with suppliers like Penn Elcom. Rob has been instrumental in advancing the company’s success and materialising his own professional aspirations, which would not have been possible without strong support from the team. “Just the fact that I`m still here (and happy) after 26 years’ service says it all really,” smiles Rob. “Building authentic human connections is one of the things that has kept me with this 5 Star for over two decades. The openness and mutual respect we share for one another is so important.”
According to 5 Star’s Accounts & HR Manager Kirsty Locks, authentic human connections need to start with treating every member of the team as an individual and ensuring everyone feels that they belong. “This is what creates true diversity and inclusion, and that’s why we’ve been so passionate about advocating this within our team,” says Kirsty. “For everyone to feel they belong, this also means being vulnerable at times, which is why we have been integrating mental health and wellbeing services within our workplace to keep employees happy and in a healthy state of mind.”
The company has taken some important steps to ensure the mental wellbeing of its workforce is being looked after. “We’ve always known how important our staff’s mental wellbeing is, but during the pandemic we realised just how vital it is, so we did something more about it. We signed up for The Healthy Workplace, funded by Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council and delivered by Everyone Health Ltd. The Healthy Workplace service supports workplaces across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to improve the health and wellbeing of their employees. 5 Star is also running an EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) in partnership with Peninsula and Health Assured, which includes mental and wellbeing support for all employees and their families, including phone and face to face appointments,” Kirsty explains.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has really shown us how important it is to see our team as individuals with their unique talents, needs and challenges,” Kirsty concludes. “Attracting new talent is much more about listening to them and understanding who they truly are than just looking at their qualifications and experience. Open and friendly discussion about wellbeing and mental health in the workplace is essential to building a strong team of individuals. We want our employees to be the best version of themselves.”