Kelly Allison is Chief People Officer at Revo Fitness and will be speaking virtually as part of our panel discussion on empathetic and authentic leadership on day two of the Wellbeing at Work Australia & New Zealand Summit on 8-10 November and we wanted to get her thoughts before she takes to the virtual stage.
We are thrilled that you will be speaking at our Wellbeing at Work ANZ Summit in November. Our first and most important question is, how are you doing today?
I am actually fantastic today, I’ve just come back from South Australia where we just finalised an acquisition for our first club in SA. Having just returned from meeting the team and I am really excited about the future for this group of people in expanding their careers.
In my career I have been involved in a few acquisitions, they are always tricky and can cause such uncertainty for people – which can have such an impact on their wellbeing. This has been a key focus on our approach, to support and engage the team from the outset and build those relationships to create a sense of belonging. I’m sure there will be challenges along the way – but so far this is our best acquisition yet!
As a leader based in the region, what are the main challenges your you are facing when it comes to employee wellbeing?
COVID is obviously the biggest challenge that comes to mind, but other than that particular issue, its helping the team manage their stress levels is a big one that comes to mind. A lot of our Club Managers in WA are juggling university commitments – so stress around their exam times can be tricky. This is where we are so reliant on the relationships developed between their managers – ensuring they know the business supports and advocates for them.
To try and pre-empt these times, we have also we have deployed wellbeing pulses with our team so we can get ahead of anything that arises. Those pulses have really helped reach out to any team members who need support but perhaps haven’t mentioned it in person. Our team are able to respond and reach out and connect quickly – this has had a massive impact.
What strategies have you seen developing in Australia & New Zealand over the past 6-12 months post pandemic to address health and wellbeing in the workplace?
I think that the pandemic really highlighted those employers who either had no idea about working flexibly or perhaps said they did, but really didn’t.. Now its something that candidates are really wanting from a prospective employer – its one of their first questions in the process. At Revo we have had to really think and address this for the roles that we can offer this to.
Why is employee wellbeing so important to you personally?
For me its because I have experienced work environments which has been really detrimental to my own wellbeing and experienced first hand how much this can affect every aspect of my life.
Equally – I have also had some great experiences with employers where my wellbeing was impacted due to personal issues and had my employer support and care about me genuinely – that’s the place I want to continue to create.
What are you most looking forward to about the Summit in November?
Story telling! I love listening to the stories that other workplaces bring around how they are addressing the challenges they face, learning from those experiences and adapting to my work context and experience.
Tell us, what is your vision for the workplace of the future, in terms of employee engagement, health and wellbeing?
For employers to look at those three things together with the performance and happiness of their team. I believe when employers look holistically at those areas and how they integrate with one another – that’s when they get a full picture of an employee at work.
What areas do you think employers should be focused on over the next 12-18 months?
Strategies in how to ensure engagement, collaboration and belonging is amplified in this decentralised way of working now. I also believe that employers will have to continually think about collaboration differently, both respecting those people who are working flexibly and not excluding them.
Also with the rising nature of technology and especially Metaverse experiences – its something that scares me with what the future looks like for working environments especially for my children.
How has your organisation been leading the way?
We are a relatively small business at the moment, with around 170 employees, but we have big picture thinking with pretty exciting growth plans. To prepare for this, we have been investing heavily in building strategies and initiatives to preempt issues before they arise.
We are a business who focuses on authentic relationships – for us this means we focus on relationships, create open and agile communication lines at all levels throughout the business, recognising our team across multi sites and states through Revo Shout Outs and look holistically and connection between performance, happiness, engagement and wellbeing. These are important challenges for us to keep our focus on as we know this will ultimately impact our members.
Recently we just launched Revo 360 Wellbeing – a program that looks at all aspects of wellbeing. It’s a big investment for a company of our size – however so worth it. We are also very close to launching a wellbeing program for our 150 Personal Trainers – who are contractors. They run their own business within our clubs and so important to our business – so ensuring we invest in their wellbeing is important to us as well.
Join us at the Wellbeing at Work Australia & New Zealand Summit between 8-10 November 2022 in Sydney, Melbourne and virtually and hear from Kelly and over 50 expert speakers from across the world. Further details here.
