Looking after our greatest asset

It is World Mental Health Day on Sunday, October 10th. At Polygon, people are at the heart of its business philosophy – the Polygon Model – and a central part of the company’s ‘Our Responsibility’ programme. Employee mental health has always been an important topic within these frameworks, but even more so now, when considering the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic. There is always more that can be done.

Polygon has a diverse workforce of more than 5,400 employees across 16 countries. The company strives for a better society by acting as a responsible and respectful employer. Regardless of background and experience, everyone at Polygon should feel respected and included. This is a cornerstone of the company’s corporate culture and is consistent with its business values of Integrity, Excellence, and Empathy. Polygon promotes diversity, as well as health and safety in its workforce, through its published Code of Conduct and country-level employee handbooks, its Responsible Business Partner policy, and inclusivity training.

• Polygon countries have their own local initiatives to promote wellbeing, for example, health services helplines, activities to create awareness of the subject, employee development talks, as well as leadership training.
• Questions about mental health are featured in the company’s annual employee survey and the results are followed up by each country locally.
• Polygon aims to be a first-choice employer and has been ranked as an attractive employer, for example ‘Investors in People’ received by Polygon in the UK, and in Germany POLYGONVATRO was recognised as the ‘Top National Employer 2021’, for the second year in a row, by the employer evaluation platform ‘Kununu’.
• The wellbeing of Polygon employees is a high priority. The company does not accept any form of bullying, e.g., isolation, verbal or physical abuse, or harassment.
• All countries have local health and safety policies in place, dedicated specialists, and established processes to mitigate risks. The company benchmarks and works to continuously improve its health and safety processes.

Polygon is a decentralised organisation; however, its sick ratio and employee turnover are examples of two important business review KPIs. These are reported within Polygon Group and are key statistics in its Group sustainability report.

Polygon country teams work locally to try to prevent mental health problems from developing. As an example, POLYGONVATRO in Germany was heavily affected by this summer’s storms and floods. Team members had to work day and night to help the community recover from the disaster.

To help motivate its employees, and to show appreciation, each branch received wellness and motivation packages. Leaders were instructed on how to encourage all employees to openly talk about any concerns and were offered professional help from POLYGONVATRO’s company doctor if needed.

A special communication plan was established for the customer service centre team, with other departments stepping in to help answer the high volume of incoming calls. To reduce individual branch pressure caused by enquiries, an exclusive email was introduced to POLYGONVATRO’s framework agreement partners. Positive messages and inspiring feedback was also shared via the company Intranet. These are just a few of the initiatives implemented during this difficult time.  

“It’s the people at Polygon that make the difference to our ongoing success.” #WorldMentalHealthDay

Read Polygon’s latest Annual Report to learn more about its work towards sustainability: https://www.polygongroup.com/annualreview20/