Blogs

Joel's Story

27/03/2023

Looking after the safety and wellbeing of our people is an important aspect of life at QinetiQ. We’re committed to creating an environment where we can all thrive, looking after ourselves, each other and the world around us.

Helping us to create a wellbeing programme which ensures that we have the tools, techniques and support networks to take care of our people, is Joel Newman, our Wellbeing Lead.

Find out more about Joel, the importance he places on wellbeing, and his hopes for the direction of wellbeing at QinetiQ:

Joel says:

“I took on the role of Wellbeing Lead back in 2018. Taking care of our wellbeing is something I am passionate about, as feeling well is fundamental to our overall health, enabling us to overcome difficulties and achieve what we want out of life.

“Through our Wellbeing strategy, we continue to look at the variety of ways in which we can achieve our collective and individual potential through emotional support, practical guidance, and like-minded communities. Whether that be supporting colleagues through the cost of living crisis, with initiatives such as the QinetiQ Hardship Fund, Financial Wellbeing Webinars, or, at a broader level, creating an environment that supports openness and discussion about mental health, using tools such as our wellbeing action plan.

“It is our aspiration to create a culture where physical and mental wellbeing is embedded into what we do every day. We want to create a psychologically safe working environment which ensures we are able to have conversations on wellbeing matters, and can reach out for support when needed. Our wellbeing culture is supported by the importance we place on empowering our people to make healthier lifestyle choices, as well as our approach to adaptive working, enabling us to balance our work and personal needs.

“As we move forward into the new financial year, we are adapting our approach to be increasingly focused on what our people need, listening to feedback through our regular employee engagement survey, our Global Employee Voice representatives and specific forums such as focus groups. It’s important to me that this is a vital part of developing and maturing our strategy and what we offering our people, as well as looking at what we might need to do at an operational and behavioural level to empower and enable our people to thrive."

Thank you, Joel, for speaking so openly about our approach to wellbeing and plans for the future.

To find out more about Safety & Wellbeing at QinetiQ, visit our Life at QinetiQ webpage: Safety & Wellbeing.