Staff wellbeing ideas

[QueenArnica]

Hi all,

Have posted this in The Staffroom but thought I’d be cheeky and post for traffic here too.
Have a zoom meeting on Monday as am
part of a group at school (primary) tasked with staff wellbeing. Minuscule budget and need to make it meaningful. Does anyone have any best practice/tips/ideas of things that work in their school. Need to cover current times (lockdown) and when we’re all back in school.

Alternatively anyone work in a business that has inexpensive ideas to promote staff wellbeing that I could adapt for school?

Thanks so much in advance.

Could you do croissants and pastries on a Friday morning break time?

I bought nice shortbread and latte sachets for our staff room last night. Little things like that make people smile on a Friday.

We have said that all staff must be off site by 4.30pm (does not apply to senior staff!)

Staff really appreciate thanks from parents so when we receive thanks and compliments we ensure they are passed on. It’s too easy to only forward the emails from parents complaining or asking questions.

Headteacher did personalised thank you’s at Christmas for whole staff (must have taken hours!) She also did one-to-one meetings on the INSET this week so that staff had a chance to talk about their individual situations and anxieties, everyone felt listened to, we used the comments to alter protocols and practice where possible.

Headteacher did personalised thank you’s at Christmas for whole staff (must have taken hours!) She also did one-to-one meetings on the INSET this week so that staff had a chance to talk about their individual situations and anxieties, everyone felt listened to, we used the comments to alter protocols and practice where possible.
That sounds like a very good Head!

We got a nice letter from the governors after a very difficult time that included lots of weekend work (fire at small primary - several months teaching in a temporary facility). Our head is also very good at writing nice messages in Christmas cards etc. and also cancelling unnecessary meetings. This means far more than any other tokens I think, although not having to provide tea/coffee/milk for the staffroom would be appreciated too, esp if there were fancy biscuits. Hated all the fancy recognition schemes at my old school, they became time-consuming to go through them all in staff meeting every week and people got miffed if they were missed for something notable they'd done. Someone complained and was told it was necessary for well-being!

Fruit in the staffroom once a week (you will need to think how you do this in a covid secure way).

Most of our staff are wfh.

@pinksunday

We're just introducing Wellbeing Wednesdays. Each member of the team will take a turn to come up with a wellbeing activity and carry it out with the team.

This would actually stress me out more! Especially if it was my turn to run the activity...

Hate, hate, hate forced well being sessions.

You just know its going to be bloody armchair yoge 'taught' in house by someone who has no clue what they are doing, but as there are zero funds that will do. Box ticked.

Best thing for well being + time. Just give people the half hour to do as they see fir. If someone finds sitting and tuning out to Judge Judy relaxes them then treat them like grown ups and let.

And this is the problem. You will never please everyone. The big changes they think they need are usually beyond our control. You know your team.

In this pandemic I’ve been forced into situations I would swear were absolutely pointless and soul destroying. BUT I had to try it / redundant otherwise and when I gave it a go it was great it worked. You will alway have the cynical ones. Me I’ve offered to go to Christmas party when they offer overtime for it. But feeling appreciated and noticed even if only doing our daily job is a small free thing we can do that boosts even the most cynical (although we may not show it). People are hard work.

Cut out pointless tasks.
Follow union guidelines re workload.

But otherwise, nothing. Cakes in staffroom? Haven't got one. Breaktime in a massive school barely gets you toilet time anyway.

Meditation etc? Well, that involves finding time. Most of us are hanging by our fingertips as it is.

@SaturdayAfternoon

I’d hate all these material things.

I just want to work at work, then go home and not think about work. To be with my family. That’s the best ‘well-being gift' that I could ever get.

This. Well-being hours or hot chocolate breaks are just sticking a plaster over a broken arm. Pointless.

For what it is worth this is my opinion.

Developing well being programmes takes money and professional input. Some managers are empathetic and genuinely care about their staff. Some are nosey and gossipy. Some are very driven and don't care who they stand on to succeed. Some overshare. Some cannot keep a confidence to save their life.

If you are lucky the person in charge of staff well being will be the empathetic, kind, caring type. But they often will not. I am cynical, yes. that is because I have had to endure well being sessions run by people with no relevant training or natural talent in this field.

So I have sat through compulsory yoga (I have no issue with yoga, but it needs to be taught be someone who knows what they are doing - not someone who watched a video yesterday). I also had to endure 'star of the week' (cringe enough for school children) and see the same old crew 'win; it week in week out. Many of these people too busy being noticed to actually do their jobs properly, leaving others to pick up the slack.

To add insult to injury in the midst of this Blue Peter, make your staff well being out of sticky backed plastic and string approach, the actual services staff needed for well being were cut to the bone. Face to face counselling sessions with properly qualified (and importantly not on site and not part of the place where I was employed) were stopped. The only way to access a counsellor was by phone. Nope, not for me - counselling needs trust - I can't trust someone I can't see, and not knowing if it will be the same person I will have available for any follow up sessions.

If staff well being actually means something to a company it should be near the op of their list of priorities. Not at the bottom, and left to any Tom, Dick or Harry who fancies playing mental health expert for a while, or worse still left to a whole staff approach where every pitches in ideas based on their own hobbies. Just because Gary in the next department loves to juggle and train for iron man competitions it does not mean that I will.

Rant over.

My employer enhances staff wellbeing by creating a culture where staff feel supported, rather than managed and being flexible when people have problems.

That's not something that can be achieved in a day though.

We do secret buddy/friend. It's voluntary.
Paired with someone and you leave poem, inspirational quotes, perhaps small item anonymously. Everyone who wants to join in completes a form.

Everyone must leave building by 4.30 on a Friday.

Well-being board in staff room or other prominent place. This has quotes, information etc.

My workplace also has a miniscule budget. We are constantly being bombarded with wellbeing ideas. Take an hour out to do yoga, meditation, go for a walk, bake a cake etc. Zoom book groups, invented meaningless staff awards etc. If I took time out to do all these things I would just have more work to do later. I know someone a above means well but I ignore it all as I find it stressful to even read about this stuff. What has meant the most to me over the last few months are kind words, emails and letters from customers. Perhaps you could organise something where parents were asked to email in a few words of support and thanks to the school and teachers? You could print them all out and put together a basic kind of book for each member of staff. When I was a secondary teacher a few kind comments in an email from a parent would give me such a boost.

@LakieLady

My employer enhances staff wellbeing by creating a culture where staff feel supported, rather than managed and being flexible when people have problems.

That's not something that can be achieved in a day though.

Agree. We've had a new leader recently who is absolutely more demanding in terms of standards and yet workload had decreased, communication increased, staff feeling valued increased.

This has been done through restructure (bloody hard whilst during the pandemic), better organisation and treating staff as valued members of school and recognising they are the cogs that keep it turning.

It about leadership from the top - the absolute top.

We do ‘star of the month’ , although I don’t know if in a school you would have enough employees for that. But the nominations make staff smile and they’re genuinely touched. They do have to nominate for a good reason though and write why, not just because you’re friends with someone.

Also you could look at ‘mugging’ where you buy a mug and fill it with treats and leave it for someone different every week or month.

Oh ok I give up - the teacher star of the week (that you all hate) isn’t given out every week. It’s only if one of the children or parents drop a nomination and reason in to the headteacher.

I wouldn’t want any of that stuff but do want to be more than a nobody in school - eg would like people to say hello, would like the person in charge of my boss and I to wish me merry Xmas ( not just give my boss a present and card for her and not even a card for me) to ask me how my children did in their gcse exams as I’m handing my students results out........ just showing some interest in me as a person

We are HR 🤣

Perhaps not the answer you're looking for but in my experience genuine staff wellbeing is about workplace culture, not fruit bowls or cheap chocolate or gimmicky perks and DEFINITELY not organised fun or weekly yoga classes that staff are expected to take time out to attend or anything out of hours.

That means staff should feel supported to do their roles, not tied up in processes. If they have life stresses that might be affecting their work, they should feel comfortable about discussing those with their manager and given leeway. No cliques, favouritism or workplace bullying. Fairness when it comes to rotas. Flexibility when it comes to hours and anything that enables proper work-life balance. Just being treated like adults who know what they're doing, not worker ants who need to be micromanaged.

Providing all of this will benefit you when it comes to an all-hands-on-deck situation - if people feel respected and treated well by a company they'll be more likely to step up and go above and beyond in tougher times. If that's the case right now, acknowledgement and positive feedback goes a long way.

And honestly - take that small wellness budget you have, put it away, and give all of your staff a bonus at the end of the term/year with it. THAT will make them feel a hell of a lot better and more appreciated!

I'm not a teacher but my husband is a primary school teacher.

(In non covid times) how about a "no marking day" where staff plan in advance (known about in advance of the term so not extra work) to have a teaching day that does not result in marking 30 English/maths/science books etc). I don't mean leaving work unmarked and having double the marking the next day but different methods so students learn and reflect but don't need marking. E.g. quiz and answers after each question. Using IT or group tasks/group reflection. Creative activities. Staff encouraged to use the time saved on marking to go home early (although I realise there will be other tasks to do not only marking. Perhaps this could be sustainable once a term and a Friday might be nice.

Would the budget allow bread/butter/toaster to be available in the staff room? A quick snack would always be available then. Fruit one day a week e.g. one type of fruit would be nice but might not be affordable. Not a Friday as leftovers would go off.

Our place have done email/meeting free weeks where we all commit not to send any internal emails or have meetings that are not 100% essential. This really helps with workload. I’d be prescriptive though- my manager still insists on the weekly team meeting and individual catch ups in these weeks, not seeming to understand the benefit is having more autonomy over your working hours to you know, schedule your work.

As nice as it is to get praise and an occasional treat, what I relish most is time. Something all school staff are short of. So I don’t want to sit in a meeting - virtually or IRL - to talk about wellbeing! I want time to prep, mark, plan. It’s ironic that we often lose our PPA time and just have to ‘suck it up’ then get nice biscuits in a meeting once every blue moon or a card on our birthday.
It’s been a loooong week!!!

My DH works on health & safety & in his company well being lives under that umbrella

He’s adamant that the only way to improve people’s well being atm is exactly what other ppl have been saying & give ppl back their time, reduce unnecessary corporate behaviours including meetings for the sake of it & above all take the time to ask ppl how they are and actually listen & empathise wirh their response

In this first week back, he’s had one woman break down in tears when he asked how she was because no one had bothered asking her before & an extremely stressed guy unload for an hour about managing wfh/childcare/additional work

He’s not a counsellor - they do offer a telephone counselling service - but as he says, he’s just someone who can listen without prejudice & sometimes that’s what ppl need

@Biscuitsanddoombar's DH is absolutely correct and companies that realise this will thrive.

And yes, absolutely no meetings/zoom calls that could just be emails!