How Entain is transforming culture with wellbeing training for managers

The background

To deliver great customer experiences, Entain knew they had to first deliver great employee experiences. So in 2020, Entain partnered with Unmind to support employee wellbeing and prevent burnout.

Industry research shows that manager support is a critical driver of wellbeing and performance. Managers have a powerful influence on organisation-wide wellbeing but, worryingly, two-thirds of managers aren’t equipped to identify or support mental health at work. Without these essential skills, employees are more vulnerable to burnout and less likely to perform at their best.

Entain’s own assessments supported this research. In 2022, Entain ran a global survey to assess their full wellbeing ecosystem. They discovered an eye-opening link between manager conversations and employee burnout. The more regular, open and authentic conversations people had with managers, the less people experienced burnout.

The need for wellbeing training for managers, at scale, was clear. And so Entain entered the next chapter of their partnership with Unmind: the gaming giant rolled out our industry-leading Workplace of Tomorrow training course across their global population.

“We want to create a culture of psychological safety and trust and Unmind Manager training is a huge step in the right direction." - Stella Gavinho, Group Head of Wellbeing at Entain

On-demand, expert training

To tackle these issues and upskill the workforce, Unmind has developed evidence-backed training tailored to the needs of managers.

We prioritise managers’ time and resources by supporting them with flexible, on-demand training. Our online tools not only scale, they also minimise disruption to managers’ workflow with less demand than in-person training.

“The work culture and environment is changing. It’s vital for us managers to understand the importance of mental wellbeing in the workplace in order to thrive as a strong leader.” - Entain manager

Workplace of Tomorrow course

Upskills managers to:

• Gain skills to nurture and support their teams.
• Support their own mental health.
• Create lasting positive change in the workplace.

Exclusive virtual events

• In-depth sessions with wellbeing experts.
• Proactive an preventative wellbeing content.

“It is very easy to say, ‘You should have more conversations’... but you need to give people the skills and confidence to do that. You have to lay the foundations on mental health and give everyone the same basic skills.” - Stella Gavinho, Group Head of Wellbeing at Entain

Delivering at scale

As an enterprise company, Entain needed a global-scale solution that engages its managers. With engaging content for a global audience and a strategic, targeted roll-out, we surpassed industry targets with a 94% global completion rate.

Step 1: Localised launch

• Training delivered first across local Retail teams to pilot the programme.

Step 2: Global rollout

• Seamless integration with Entain’s own LMS systems.
• 12-month implementation strategy – a tailored launch for each region every one to two months.
• Collaboration between stakeholders, HR teams and comms at every location.
• Flexibility at each location around the time period to complete the training.

Step 3: Monitoring success and engagement

• Unmind’s engagement team supported Entain to deliver personalised campaigns.
• Entain’s people leaders accessed aggregated, anonymised data from Unmind to monitor engagement and training outcomes.

“Having a localised approach to the global rollout of Unmind Manager training was very effective in ensuring everyone was on board and the training had a meaningful impact.” - Jessica Fitz-John, Wellbeing Manager at Entain

Rapid training, powerful results

In just over an hour of online training in bite-sized sessions, managers increased impactful behaviour (33%), confidence (14%) and knowledge (13%).

These increased scores translate into powerful effects for the 3,000 Entain managers who completed the training and their teams. 97% found the training helpful and, most importantly, 73% took action after the training.

By engaging in impactful behaviour to prioritise both their own mental health and their team’s wellbeing, managers have a significant influence on the performance and engagement of the organisation.

“Very helpful module for all leaders in Entain. It is an eye-opener for us all. It will help us to identify and deal with mental health in a better way than we did before.” - Entain manager

What's next?

Thanks to the success of the rollout, Unmind Manager training is now recognised as a key part of Entain’s manager development. Putting these skills into practice, Entain is further embedding wellbeing into its culture by including wellbeing conversations in employee touchpoints, making sure managers put the skills learned into practice on a regular basis.

“Our future plans involve actively fostering a culture of psychological safety within our teams. We see Unmind as a vital component for creating a supportive and healthy work environment, and we look forward to working with Unmind to further cultivate this aspect of our culture.” - Stella Gavinho, Group Head of Wellbeing at Entain