Dartmoor hotel wins national award for workforce care

A Dartmoor hotel has been awarded a national honour for its exceptional commitment to employee wellbeing. 

The Eden Hotel Collection, which operates Bovey Castle, received the Excellence Reward Recognition Award at the Annual Awards for Excellence in HR, organised by HR in Hospitality.

This recognition comes just nine months after Bovey Castle revamped its employee recognition strategy, introducing the Happy Hub programme. 

This initiative focuses on activities designed to promote the production of four key hormones associated with positive mental health: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins.

The Happy Hub includes e-cards for employees to acknowledge each other’s achievements, promoting oxytocin, the ‘hug hormone’, to foster team bonding and collaboration. Additionally, a digital recognition wall allows colleagues to share their acknowledgements across the company.

To further enhance employee satisfaction, Bovey Castle introduced monetary rewards for outstanding customer service and long service milestones, aimed at boosting serotonin and endorphins, which play vital roles in mood balance and emotional regulation.

An employee of the month initiative has also been established, offering winners choices like Sunday lunch, afternoon tea, a day off, or a spa treatment at one of Eden’s hotels.

Since the programme's launch, 65 per cent of the hotel’s team has been recognised in some way, with approximately 300 peer-to-peer recognitions recorded. 

Judges praised the engaging and personal nature of the initiative.

Dean Gunston, General Manager at Bovey Castle, said: “Working at our hotel is like being part of a big family as we’ve created a culture where people support one another, regardless of the task – and it’s great to see this being recognised on a national scale.”

Lisa Redding, Group People Director at the Eden Hotel Collection, added: “The best hotels are built on happy, engaged and motivated workforces that deliver memorable customer service, and the Happy Hub is an innovative example of how we are looking after our people effectively so that they can look after our guests.

“The Happy Hub was inspired by feedback from our hotel teams, and the figures show that the programme is having a positive impact already both in terms of the engagement and our retainment levels, and underlines our People Team’s dedication to creating a warm and welcoming place to forge a career.”