Experts in health, business to judge Southern Cross awards

Southern Cross Health Insurance had announced the panel of health industry and business leaders that will judge the 69 entries that were received for the inaugural Wayfinder Awards.

The judging panel will be composed of the following experts (pictured above, clockwise from left)Nick Astwick – chief executive, Southern Cross Health Society (judging convenor)

• Dr Denise Quinlan, MAPP, PhD – director of the NZ Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience
• Carolyn Luey – chief digital and publishing officer, NZME
• Professor Grant Schofield, PhD – professor of public health, director, Human Potential Centre, Auckland University of Technology, and chief science officer, PreKure
• Victoria Young – investigations editor, BusinessDesk, NZME
• Shaun Robinson – chief executive, Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand

“It’s an honour that this group of business and industry leaders, with such vast experience, have come on board to support these awards. Collectively they are incredibly well-versed in what constitutes true workplace wellbeing,” said Astwick.

The Wayfinder Awards were created by Southern Cross in order to inspire New Zealand businesses to look for ways to improve leadership through workplace wellbeing and celebrate firms that have managed to do so well.

“Workplace wellness is vitally important for businesses in New Zealand, large or small, and in terms of employee wellbeing and productivity,” said Astwick.

“Good wellbeing and good business go hand in hand. In addition to celebrating businesses which prioritise employee wellness, we look forward to inspiring more businesses in New Zealand by sharing the success stories and insights we gain through the awards,” he said.

The awards were created after the research conducted by the Southern Cross Health Society in 2022 called the Healthy Futures Business Edition which found that 89% of the respondents agreed that the businesses as well as its employees would flourish if employers prioritised workplace health and wellbeing.

The study also found that it was important for business leaders to make sure that their employees unwind after work hours and provided initiatives such as wellbeing leave, employer-provided flu vaccinations, and availability of health food options at work.

The finalists for the awards were listed on their website and the winners will be revealed on 21 November.

“There are many inspiring stories of excellence and innovation in workplace health and wellbeing and the people and organisations who do it well need to be celebrated, we don’t see this done often enough,” said Astwick.

“The Southern Cross Health Insurance Wayfinder Awards aim to change this, and we hope more New Zealand businesses focus on helping their people to flourish.”