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Save me from my boss's wellbeing ideas

61 replies

1stV45 · 03/11/2020 15:32

We are all in work and will continue to be throughout lockdown2, quite emotionally stressful work with distressed families.

Boss has recognised that staff will be feeling anxious and also probably hard done to and wants to do some wellbeing things. Her heart is absolutely in the right place.

However, her ideas so far fill me with dread:

  • a wellbeing raffle whereby each staff member contributes a wellbeing gift. A bit like secret Santa but all wellbeing related gifts and not at Christmas. I have a number of objections, cost, hassle for staff, lots of stuff no one wants or needs.
  • shared meals. Each staff member contributes a dish to share for a "special" lunch. Concerns here, hassle, cost, we're not supposed to be sharing food?

Boss is lovely and very enthusiastic about doing nice things, buying good presents etc but I think large numbers of staff (including me) will find this is one more stress/chore to add to their list. I think she also forgets she earns about 3x what many of our staff do!

Public sector so there's no money for us to pay for any treats.

So, I have lots of reasons I don't like it but I don't have any better suggestions. Can you help?

OP posts:
FlightOfTheCat · 03/11/2020 21:03

How many people would be involved? If there’s quite a lot of you then perhaps use your numbers to get discounts on a useful service. E.g. car wash/valet in the staff car park or a Christmas present wrapping service. These are things I would personally like to ease the stress and mental load at this time of year but I struggle to justify the full price.

Perhaps a food van parked outside at lunch time with a negotiated discount or subsidised by the company. I’d want wood fired pizzas and churros!

FlightOfTheCat · 03/11/2020 21:03

How many people would be involved? If there’s quite a lot of you then perhaps use your numbers to get discounts on a useful service. E.g. car wash/valet in the staff car park or a Christmas present wrapping service. These are things I would personally like to ease the stress and mental load at this time of year but I struggle to justify the full price.

Perhaps a food van parked outside at lunch time with a negotiated discount or subsidised by the company. I’d want wood fired pizzas and churros!

FlightOfTheCat · 03/11/2020 21:03

How many people would be involved? If there’s quite a lot of you then perhaps use your numbers to get discounts on a useful service. E.g. car wash/valet in the staff car park or a Christmas present wrapping service. These are things I would personally like to ease the stress and mental load at this time of year but I struggle to justify the full price.

Perhaps a food van parked outside at lunch time with a negotiated discount or subsidised by the company. I’d want wood fired pizzas and churros!

Interested in this thread?

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SoloMummy · 03/11/2020 21:14

Wellbeing walks, that are taken in the working hours not lunch times.

polarbearoverthere · 03/11/2020 21:17

Going for a walk together as a team?

SoloMummy · 03/11/2020 21:18

Wellbeing walks, that are taken in the working hours not lunch times.

SoloMummy · 03/11/2020 21:19

Wellbeing walks, that are taken in the working hours not lunch times.

ScarletZebra · 03/11/2020 21:28

Prior to Covid the Wellbeing group at our work had a Knitting group one lunchtime a week, and brought in jigsaws that they left on the tables and when you were passing you could just add a piece. There was a walking group as well.

They've tried the Quiz (on Zoom on your own device in your lunch hour - no thank you).

Our Secret Santa is maximum £5. We have a virtual team building day coming up. At least it's in work time but I really hate enforced jollity.

m0therofdragons · 03/11/2020 21:44

I’m nhs and we have a big “well being” initiative with a fb page and emails about being zen and fb posts of senior staff members lovely gardens and one picture of a mound of wrapped Christmas presents. I just want to yell fuck off and ask them to get some awareness that not all staff live in massive houses and many staff won’t be able to afford that many gifts plus showing me how super organised you are when I’m barely getting through each day and can’t even think about Christmas is stressful and demoralising. Honestly our well-being group is the worst for my well-being. Especially the fucking memes. I feel like setting up the anti well being group of moany sods Grin

Deathraystare · 04/11/2020 07:21

I work in the NHS and we are so busy at the moment and inundated with crap that if one more person talks to me about mindfulness I will literally scream my head off.
I'm not "living for the moment" I'm living for retirement
.

I am a fellow NHS worker. I feel for you! IWe don't have the same problem. There is zero communication so we don't get Mindfulness chats - or maybe we do - we just don't know who does them and where! After all, I only work in reception, it is not like I need to have any information as to what is happening in the place, is it??!

Cismyfatarse · 04/11/2020 07:25

We have a kindness thing which works well. Very low cost. Spread over months. £5 maximum and anonymous. Lots of lovely messages go with it as well. It just sort of arrives one day. You draw three names and three months and then do as you please.

Still a hassle though and, while fun, is a chore.

What about vouchers to support local businesses? Could you say no actual things but local vouchers which will allow people to engage with the community.

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