Partnering with The Resilience Project to further support Team Members during Covid-19 times.
At Coles, we care for the mental wellbeing of our team members. That’s why we created the “Mind Your Health” program which provides a range of resources to support every team member to be the best version of themselves. As part of this program, Coles regularly connects with industry experts who can support us in our commitment to a healthy team member experience.
Over the last few years, Coles has worked closely with Hugh van Cuylenburg and The Resilience Project (TRP) who provide evidence-based strategies to support positive mental health and build resilience. Our partnership was extended when the COVID-19 crisis hit Australia in order to give special support to our team members during those extremely challenging times.
In addition to educational videos, TRP and the Coles team created the GEM Movement (Gratitude Empathy and Mindfulness) which has seen 118,000 team members work around 3 wellbeing challenges. These challenges included:
- The 21-day GEM challenge where all team members received their own 21-day Wellbeing Journal.
- The 10 – 20 – 30 Challenge that explore the connection between physical health and mental health focusing on eating healthy, encouraging team members to exercise for a minimum of 20 minutes per day and detoxing from devices 30 minutes before bed.
- The 21-Day Connection challenge where team members received a 21 Day Calendar with daily ways to connect with family, friends and co-workers (adhering to social distancing restrictions of course!).
“Like anything in life, if you want to be good at something you have to practice it. Your mental health is no different. The research says practising gratitude, empathy and mindfulness, helps you feel happier, improves your mental health and helps you support those who may be facing challenges of their own. The team at Coles has done an amazing job through this crisis”, said Hugh van Cuylenburg.
Coles team members got right behind the challenges and supported each other throughout each of the 21-day campaigns sharing their experiences, personal journal entries, tips, photos, inspiring videos and healthy recipes in stores and on Coles’ internal social media platform.
"It has been so enjoyable to work with 118,000 Coles Team members and support them with their mental health. Hearing all the positive stories has been really inspiring and it is fantastic to be working with an organisation that is so committed to supporting their people."
The launch of TRP@HOME for all Australians
With lockdown restrictions, home-schooling and other new rules enforced on everyone’s day-to-day life due to Covid, Coles recognised the need to not only support their team members, but also their families. TRP in partnership with Coles developed TRP@HOME, an online platform which provides a hub of activities and ideas focused on gratitude, empathy and mindfulness to help embed mentally healthy habits into everyday routine.
TRP@HOME is designed to help strengthen relationships with family members, build stronger connections with friends, housemates and partners, and develop positive habits to feel happier and help deal with challenges.
TRP@HOME also supports parents and carers with home schooling with age-specific home-based wellbeing activities and lesson plans, as well as includes wellbeing resources for everyone to build resilience and happiness.
As Coles witnessed firsthand the positive impact of TRP@HOME on team members and their families, we are excited to make this wellbeing platform available to the wider community as part of our mission to help Australians lead healthier and happier lives.
Check out the video below to discover more about TRP@HOME and how it could help you and your loved ones.
