Nicky to shine a light on workplace stress and help companies to thrive

Award winning life coach Nicky Bartley has launched a new business and plans to swap globetrotting for a career supporting businesses closer to her North Staffordshire home.

Nicky has set up Thrive and Shine and is on a mission to tackle stress in the workplace. She has been coaching in the business arena for six years and was crowned Female Life Coach of the Year) in the 2018 SME News Midlands Enterprise Awards.

Thrive and Shine has unveiled a partnership with Keele University, through the KRISP programme and Keele’s Smart Innovation Hub, to deliver an audit of stress in the workplace. The project will see Nicky leading research, supported by students assigned by the university, to undertake rigorous research and evaluation of how stress impacts the business sector, the workforce and overall output.

Nicky, of Newcastle-under-Lyme said: “It’s estimated that over 15 million days are lost every year due to employees suffering from work-related stress. This may be because of worries about performance, colleagues, how you relate to managers, finances, or technology in the workplace, to name just a few reasons. My work with Keele University will shine a light on mental health in the workplace and how it affects all aspects of our businesses, our communities, our relationships and our economy. I’m working with two students, one studying psychology and one IT, to identify primary issues that cause chronic stress, assessing the breadth of issues and what is needed to support people. It is pleasing that people are now becoming more aware of wellbeing in the workplace, but there’s still a long way to go as according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)’s Labour Force Survey, 49% of all working days lost in 2016-2017 were reported as being due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety.”

Nicky founded Nicky Bartley Ltd in 2014 and worked as a coach with companies as far afield as Australia. Previous roles included work with families in the Youth Offending Service.

“While I coach a great deal in the business world, I’m a life coach, not a business coach,” explained Nicky. “There are coaches that companies use as a sounding board for commercial decisions and that can prove to be of great benefit, but every business is made up of people and by working with the staff in a business, it’s possible to make a major difference to how people work together in the workplace, their productivity and, ultimately, to profitability. A company may often have a wellbeing strategy, but strategies can be filed away in a draw and good intentions may be lost. I’m looking to work with companies to create a wellbeing culture, so that a company’s workforce has the right mindset to actually work.”

Thrive and Shine is a new brand for 2020 and came about after Nicky decided to rein back her international work which was in conflict with her own wellbeing. “Family and relationships are extremely important to me and that meant it was important to focus my business close to the people I care about, here in North Staffordshire,” said Nicky. “It also has a bonus as I believe my coaching and research work with Keele University, can improve business in my home area. A healthy, mindful culture. leads to a more productive workforce and adds to the health of the local economy.”