How Coca-Cola Arena connected staff wellbeing with an inclusive guest experience
2025 WINNER · Events sector
An events venue has to deliver under pressure, with irregular hours and demanding schedules. Coca-Cola Arena’s winning entry asked how care for its team could sit alongside the experience it creates for guests.
What they did
Weekly Talk it Out Thursdays offered informal drop-in support. Four certified Mental Health First Aiders provided peer support, while a recreation space gave colleagues somewhere to decompress. Leadership training focused on communication and healthy management.
The arena also described autism and hidden-disability awareness training, sensory spaces, interpreter zones and bass-enhanced areas for Deaf guests. Accessibility was treated as part of event operations, with responsibilities shared across departments.
Quarterly anonymous surveys and monthly reports on working hours, absence and leave helped the team monitor the working environment.
What the entry shows
The submission reported employee satisfaction above 80% and turnover below 5%. It also said more than 80% of staff had completed accessibility training. These are the organisation’s reported figures, rather than independently established effects of any single initiative.
The strongest feature of the entry is the connection between staff support, leadership practice and specific changes to the guest experience.
What others can learn
Wellbeing and inclusion can be operational responsibilities. A venue can ask both whether employees have somewhere to turn during a difficult shift and whether guests with different needs can participate comfortably.
Giving departments ownership helps translate those questions into repeatable practices, rather than leaving them as occasional campaigns.
Based on the organisation’s original 2025 mentl awards submission. Figures and observations are those reported in the entry.
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