Engagement: Wellness Corporate Ambassador

VHI is a leading health insurer in the Irish market. Its extensive operations include a busy call centre, where they had identified a need for a speaker who would build resilience and motivate staff with the goal of optimising retention and boosting morale in the longer term.

Looking at the brief and having met VHI’s team leaders, we straight away recommended Neil O’Brien, an expert in mental fitness and human potential. Limiting factors meant that an initial proposal for a more comprehensive programme had to be postponed, but the client decided to make a strong start with a keynote on resilience entitled Keep on Keeping On, focusing on easy, practical tips that people could implement quickly and scale up over time. This live event was held in a hotel in Dublin in early 2020, before the pandemic. 

The event was hugely successful, with excellent feedback from staff and management. Retention rates have improved significantly, and overall morale and motivation are higher.

And the work continues. The success of the keynote resulted in an invitation for Neil to visit the centre and create a series of six 5-minute videos for staff, with support notes to help apply the tips in the videos. Exploring factors such as mood, stress and dealing with uncertainty, the series was a huge hit. Neil has gone on to deliver a webinar for VHI management, and in early 2021 he will deliver another for the call centre staff to support them through their busiest time of the year.

The words here all come from the call centre staff themselves.

“Easy to listen to, very witty. Content was helpful with simple ideas for managing stress and boosting your mood”

“Neill’s approach was very simple and I liked that. I came away with several new tools to help me live a better life and strengthen my mental fitness”.

“Excellent speaker who made us realise a lot of things about ourselves which we are happy with and a lot of things which we can endeavour to change”.

“Neil O’Brien was excellent. The content was pitched perfectly with a back to basics approach and key things that people could work on to build their resilience. This should pave the way”

“Neil’s tips will bring value to not only my work life but also my personal life. Would love more initiatives like this”

“I personally walked out of that room last night feeling ten times better than when I walked in”

“I found the resilience talk excellent. It was not what I was expecting at all and found the whole thing very uplifting and very informative.”

“The discussion about mental fitness was so beneficial. I thought the advice about going back to basics was so simple but so effective. I find it has helped me in my role and in my day to day life. I have shared the advice with family members who have really appreciated it.”