Case Study: Nestlé UK

Employee Wellness Programme

Nestlé UK's mission is to be the world's foremost food, nutrition, health and wellness company. To achieve this, it needs a workforce that is healthy, knowledgeable about nutrition and engaged, therefore its over-arching approach is transforming well-being into an organisation-wide initiative.

The three strands of activity are:

  • Increased physical activity
  • Nutrition
  • Mental resilience

A governance structure was created, which is led by Nestlé's Head of Employee Wellness, and supported by three Executive Board members – the HR, Wellness and Corporate Affairs directors.

An External Advisory Group, which is made up of external experts on nutrition and exercise plus a National Union Officer, has been established to challenge, support and advise the ongoing programme.

Nestle Employee Wellness SchemeIn the first year of the programme, attention has been focused on the Increased Physical Activity and Nutrition pillars Nestlé wanted to make exercise easier for employees, and the solution was participation in the Global Corporate Challenge (GCC), a unique walking scheme, which helps employees become more active by encouraging them to walk a target of 10,000 steps per day.

In 2008, 1,176 (22%) of Nestlé UK's employees participated and all walked over 12,000 steps daily – 350% more than previously.

On the nutrition side, Nestlé reviewed its catering contracts and stipulated minimum nutrition standards. It is also revitalising inhouse catering to offer employees tasty, nutritionally balanced meals and snacks, and is empowering employees to make better nutritional choices through the provision of nutrition information in the form of GDAs.

The company has also provided employees with access to an external health screening service run by the Nuffield Healthcare Group, and is funding 50% of the costs. Employees' families also have access to the service at a discounted rate.

Nestlé had 21 teams in the top 1% of global teams in the GCC competition, and its top team was third place in the global ranking, each averaging 28,000 steps a day.

Evidence from the in-house restaurants suggests that employees are increasingly opting for the healthy choices on offer and are also actively using GDA information to make healthier choices.

Nestlé is winner of the BBC Challenge Award 2006 for the most improved employer, was short-listed for the Health Work and Well Being category of the National Business Awards, and is a signatory of the Business in the Community commitment to board-level reporting on Employee Wellness.

More Information

This case study is featured in our booklet Workplace Wellbeing: The Food Industry in Action (pdf, 1.2Mb) . Nestlé UK is a member of FDF's Workplace Wellbeing Group.

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Last reviewed: 29 Jun 2009