The facility’s longest-standing employee, Greg Dellow, who is legally blind, says the award could not have gone to a better employer.
‘‘In my 25 years here they have supported me through all the ups and downs and been absolutely amazing.
‘‘If I’m having a bad day there are several people that I could go and have a chat with, including the general manager, Graeme, whose door is always open,’’ Greg says.
Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa won the Aquatics Innovation Operations Award from Recreation Aotearoa for its staff wellness programme last week.
The judges said the pools' programme brought all wellbeing elements together and provided a number of different support options to cater for a wider range of staff.
The programme has staff wellbeing at its centre, something Greg has noticed, particularly in the last couple of years.
Greg began his career at HSTPS as a lifeguard and travelled from Culverden to Hanmer Springs each day for work.
But just six months after he started the job, his vision deteriorated and following a vision test, Dellow was devastated to learn he was classed as legally blind.
He now has no vision in his right eye, and only five percent in his left eye.
But his employer rallied behind him, finding him a suitable job in the information centre for the next 17 years until Greg moved to IT, where he now heads up the department.
He is supported by HSTPS four-legged staff member Benson, a black labrador.
Benson is a ‘‘loveable clown’’ who is very good at his job, but has an overlyenthusiastic tail that is often the culprit of unintentional power outages to computers.
Having a vision impairment was scary in the beginning, Greg says.
‘‘It weighed on me heavily but I’ve grown in confidence over the years which is in largely due to the support I’ve received at work. I’m eternally grateful for their support.’’
The HSTPS team was recently given resilience coaching as part of the programme which Greg found to be ‘‘by far the best’’ course he had done.
‘‘It’s about keeping your batteries full,’’ he says.
HSTPS general manager Graeme Abbot is exceptionally proud to receive the award.
‘‘We had a clear purpose that underpinned our wellness programme, and that was to create enriching experiences that connected people to each other and to their place. Creating a sense of belonging, engagement, wellbeing, continual learning and fun are at the heart of what we do.
‘‘We love our team – we support them and we have a culture of everyone pitching in together to get the job done,’’ Graeme says.
HSTPS has also been announced as a finalist for the Tourism Talent Employer of Choice Award 2024 in the New Zealand Tourism Awards.
The winners will be announced on November 6.
