On the 10th of July, the Workplace Vitality Hub organised a round table titled ‘Vitality as an HR challenge’. Over 60 HR and Vitality managers from various companies located on the High Tech Campus and in the region came together to discuss this subject.

Researcher Frank Bauman of the Fontys Sports Academy welcomed everyone to the meeting and presented the first results of his investigation into inhibiting and supporting factors in vitality programs. A first, cautious conclusion is that the impact of interventions greatly depends on the context. Where one organisation easily adopts vitality initiatives, another needs a different approach, often starting with the creation of bottom-up support.

Under the animated guidance of Eveline Kersten, the panel – consisting of Marjolein Janssen MSc (Philips), Peter Vossen (Ergon), Rianne Appel-Meulenbroek (Technische Universiteit Eindhoven) and Mariëlle Volleberg - Verberne (imec) – shared their opinion on eight propositions.

At the end of the round table, we asked all participants what they would like to see happen in the regional HR and Vitality management community. An animated response followed, ranging from sparring, exchanging experience on what works and what does not, sharing knowledge, inspiring each other by taking a ‘look behind the scenes’ and participating in research.

The Workplace Vitality Hub is eager to comply with this initiative, as it fits with our aim of spreading knowledge and making it available to HR and Vitality Managers in organisations with a focus on wellbeing.

At the moment, we are developing an activity program consisting of both topical meetings and toolkits with practical knowledge that can immediately be implemented.