LPP has implemented a programme to support employees and their loved ones
The Polish clothing group LPP has launched a new wellbeing programme, ‘heLPP’, dedicated to employees and their loved ones, who can benefit from expert advice from psychologists, financial and legal advisors –free of charge and anonymously. The decision to implement an additional project in the area of employer branding is the company’s response to the dynamically changing environment and the new challenges and needs of employees that arise as a consequence.
The labour market of today requires exceptional concern for the comfort of employees who give even more appreciation to companies which ensure that the workplace operates on the basis of long-standing values and fosters the development of an open organisational culture. These are the very areas that employees nowadays want to identify with, but they also greatly influence the sense of security and the guarantee that one’s career goals are achievable in an uncertain socio-economic environment. For LPP, recent years have been a test of its ability to manage crisis situations affecting the atmosphere within the entire organisation, including the mood of each and every employee. The volatility of the environment and the serious challenges posed by new circumstances have left their mark, opening up space for entirely new needs.
– Employer branding today is no longer just about the standard benefits we have known many companies have been offering for years. Since the foundation of our business, we have prioritised employee comfort and health. As a responsible employer, we are concerned not only with providing the right conditions for the development of professional passions and creativity, but also with tailoring an appropriate benefits offer. That is why we listen very carefully to the needs of our teams, being aware of how important a role mental health and work-life balance play in everyone’s lives, especially in such dynamic and uncertain times – emphasises Agata Osmólska, HR business partner at LPP.
Social responsibility, embedded in the business strategy of LPP, responds not only to the needs of the company’s external environment, but also to the challenges of building a friendly environment for current and future employees. The outcome of the company’s ability to respond flexibly to the increasingly frequent opinions voiced by the employees regarding the care for their psychological comfort is the ‘heLPP’ wellbeing programme implemented this year by the Polish clothing manufacturer.
The new initiative gives employees quick, free and anonymous access to expert support; they, in turn, may use their experience to help them cope with everyday difficulties. In this regard, the company offers support in three areas: psychological, financial, and legal. Through a chat room, dedicated website and by telephone, those interested in the assistance may report their need for consultation with a psychologist to better cope with the accompanying feelings of fear and anxiety, which are particularly exacerbated in uncertain times or crisis situations. As part of the programme, employees and their relatives also have the opportunity to contact financial and legal experts and discuss matters such as tax and family law or household budget planning.
– We started our internal promotional campaign for the programme even before its official launch by putting up wellbeing slogans –which became the theme of our activities – in the office areas. The next step was to involve employees in a competition to come up with a name for the programme. We received almost 400 proposals, of which the name ‘heLPP’ was the most appreciated one. The positive reactions we elicited with such activities translated into interest in the programme itself. So far, over 160 people and their relatives have already benefited from the help of experts – explains Krzysztof Barański, employer branding specialist at LPP.
Consultations with specialists are not the only tools prepared as part of the project. In addition to access to the service, the company also reaches out to employees through engaging webinars whose topics are tailored to their current needs. So far, two online meetings have been held as part of the programme – “Life balance? I only know it from Instagram” and “You don’t need superpowers to get along, or how to build relationships at work”. In the course of these meetings, participants had the opportunity to learn stress management techniques and tools to restore balance. They also learnt methods for building relationships in the workplace by developing the skills of active listening, expressing thoughts clearly and distinguishing facts from subjective judgements. Over 600 employees signed up to take part, and further meetings have already been scheduled for next year.
– As the coordinator of the programme, and at the same time a psychologist by profession and HR professional by passion, I know how important it is to support a business whose strength lies in its people. The idea of this programme is extremely close to my heart, because what I value most in my work is contact with people. Thanks to our openness to feedback, employees are willing to share their opinions, which allows us to jointly create and improve a programme tailored to the needs of each individual – adds Agata Osmólska.
The effects of the ‘heLPP’ programme to date confirm that going beyond the basic benefits package and, above all, extending the support programme to relatives is the right course of action. This is needed especially in today’s increasingly demanding times, generating new needs among teams, but also challenges for employers. As practice shows, an employee who is struggling with life’s difficulties but who has the possibility of seeking solutions and access to the substantive knowledge of specialists, finds more strength to face the difficulties.
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LPP is a Polish family business and one of the fastest growing clothing companies in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. For 30 years, it has been successfully operating in Poland and abroad, offering its collections in such prestigious capitals as London, Helsinki or Tel Aviv. LPP SA manages five fashion brands: Reserved, Cropp, House, Mohito, and Sinsay, whose offer is available today in stationary and online stores in nearly 40 markets worldwide. The company has a chain of over 1700 stores with the total area of 1.4 million m2 and distributes clothing and accessories to 3 continents every year. LPP also plays an important role as it employs over 24 thousand people in its offices and sales structures in Poland, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The company is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in the WIG20 index and belongs to the prestigious MSCI Poland index.