Health and wellbeing

Download our impact report 2023 (17MB)

We are committed to positively influencing colleague wellbeing and creating work environments where they have good health and the opportunity to thrive.

How we have performed

Viewpoint scores

Viewpoint scoring for well-being question, ‘My manager takes a genuine interest in my well-being’, up one to 77, the joint second highest scoring question in the survey. We also introduced a new question on work-life balance which scored well at 72.

Mental health awareness

96% of people managers have been trained in mental health awareness.

Health and wellbeing services

We have implemented new occupational health, EAP and health insurance provision in North America and Asia Pacific and are actively procuring in the UK and Middle East. We are also introducing novel solutions at Contract level, such as onsite counselling and text/instant message access.

Serco Middle East has scaled up its colleague 'health check' programme in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and United Arab Emirates. Often conducted in Serco accommodation centres, the voluntary and confidential programme brings professional medical testing and consultation to a network of colleague hub locations. Also offered to customer teams and covering remote sites from which medical facilities can be too distant for routine travel, the service is believed unprecedented in KSA. The programme is enhancing Serco's standing in the community for providing workforce care whilst assisting in the prevention of possible health issues which could have severe consequences if left undiagnosed. Find out more.

Wellbeing ally programme

We have evolved our Wellbeing Ally programme and are progressing well to train 500 allies by 2026, with 149 already having completed this upgraded programme.

CCLA mental health benchmark

We retained our CCLA Corporate Mental Health Benchmark Tier 1 status in 2023, as one of only four in the UK Top 100 companies to gain this ranking and one of only two to retain this ranking from 2022.

In Justice & Immigration (J&I), the wellbeing of our colleagues, and of those in our care, is a critical factor in our capacity to impact a better future. To build and maintain healthy teams of capable colleagues who can better support positive service outcomes, we strive to create safe, secure environments where everyone can thrive. Our UK J&I wellbeing strategy now includes additional dedicated leadership alongside a dynamic programme of bespoke, targeted projects, including remote physiotherapy services to address musculoskeletal issues; health kiosks for monitoring body metrics; and the 'Shout' text service, providing mental health support for anyone in need.

Cigna Healthy Workforce Award

Serco North America received a Cigna Healthy Workforce Silver Award for our focus on the vitality and wellbeing of our workforce.

ISO 45003

Successful re-audit of ISO 45003 at Group level.

Societal challenges

We’ve responded to societal challenges which have seen increasing numbers of crisis conversations and have delivered Divisional toolbox talks and awareness campaigns across the UK whilst also partnering with Samaritans to train our Senior People Partners, Family Liaison Team and My HR team on managing suicidal conversations.

In 2023, parents and carers from across Serco launched a new Parents and Carers Network for colleagues. Working closely with the business, they are helping Serco to be a place where care responsibilities are understood, supported and more easily managed. The network has been busy throughout its inaugural year, from creating helpful resources and signposts to external support, to updating parental leave policy and hosting live events. These have included a Teenage Mental Health Workshop delivered to the workforce by Mad Millennials – a non-profit organisation specialising in youth mental health – raising awareness and sharing knowledge, guidance and a toolbox of resources, helping colleague families to manage youth mental health issues. Find out more.

Psychological health and safety

Continued roll out of psychological health and safety procedure in Asia Pacific, which involves training, risk assessments and ongoing colleague engagement, to ensure compliance with new legislation.

Research projects

Delivered four Masters level Workplace Wellbeing research projects in partnership with Sheffield University Business School. One project on compassion fatigue among detention custody officers has already been built into development work within our Immigration Contracts across UK & Europe and Asia Pacific.

What next

To scale new EAP and mental health support provision to achieve at least 6% EAP utilisation by end 2026.
To train 500 wellbeing allies by end 2026.
ISO 45003 certification at >2 operational Contracts with agreed strategy for scaling across Business Units, whilst maintaining Group certification.
Retain our CCLA Corporate Mental Health Benchmark Tier 1 status.
Review of wellbeing services pilot programme within UK Justice & Immigration to inform global services provision.
Continued development of Workplace Wellbeing research projects in partnership with Sheffield University.