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Employee wellbeing - what would really help?

214 replies

paralysedbyinertia · 16/05/2021 14:11

I'm starting a new job soon, and one of my first priorities will be to address the issue of staff wellbeing, which I understand has suffered over the last year for a range of different reasons.

Obviously, once I get started, I will be consulting staff about what they think would make the biggest difference to their experience of work, but I'm keen to get a headstart on thinking about this if at all possible.

So, I'm really interested to know what workplace initiatives have made a significant difference to your wellbeing at work, and/or what you would like your employer to put in place in order to make your work life easier and more enjoyable.

I will have the power to make significant changes to working practices, but not much financial resource to play with, if that makes any difference to your answers!

Thank you in advance for your suggestions!

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StellaLeonte · 16/05/2021 18:50

Coming from someone who’s worked all weekend and every night last night because of a restructuring, ensure staff have the number one tool to do their job - enough time. I’m expected to do two people’s work and I’m sick of it. I’d love to have actual time to attend the 533689 initiatives my company has but the time needed just stresses me out further.

Oenanthe · 16/05/2021 18:52

Has anyone come across any really effective organisational strategies for tackling and preventing workplace bullying?

Yeah - keep people busy and focussed on their work. It works in the classroom (it's the number one behaviour management strategy which every teacher should know), and it works in the workplace.

Bored, underemployed people make mischief. Either by causing trouble or by feeling sorry for themselves.

Hairyfairy01 · 16/05/2021 18:57

Not forgetting about staff at 'lower' levels, your admin, cleaners etc. Check in with them, thank them for their work, ask if anything can be done to help them.

One workplace had a 'thank you' board where staff could write on post it notes thanking the team or an individual for certain aspects of work.

Familyspam · 16/05/2021 19:23

We are a small company - so we have a limited budget for initiatives. We pay our staff well - they share in our profits and they are included and consulted in decisions, we seeks ideas from all. MD should model feedback and take it publicly - if no one feels confident enough to deliver MD feedback they help by revealing their challenges/weakness/mistakes and how they hope to deal with these - it really helps other people take feedback which must be delivered kindly on issues that can be fixed.
We seek to find out the work that our individual team members really enjoy - the projects they felt most successful in - we try to ensure we assign more of that kind of work to them to ensure they get max satisfaction from work, we get the best of them and we retain them for longer.
We seek their views on what they feel they value with regards to wellness initiatives, benefits etc - we encourage them to participate - we aim to employ people who are humble leaders, we don't care how talented they are, what level they are at - if they get shitty with people they will be pulled up on it and we will not relent on this - it is a priority that people feel valued and respected and the MD lives and breathes this. If anything slight is sensed at a team meeting for example - they will be asked directly if there is a problem.

Blowingagale · 16/05/2021 19:27

If work is case checked then checkers send back positive/neutral as well as negative responses. I know about 10% of my cases are reviewed- only feedback is about improvements or needing to contact clients. I Don’t often get that so have to infer the rest is ok.

Every case should be acknowledged - positive feedback if really good would be great but I know takes time and add to workload of managers, “checked” or “checked good/ok” would be a boost.

Wallywobbles · 16/05/2021 19:28

DH always says that it is the managers job to go into bat for his team. I suspect it's rare but he is right.

Familyspam · 16/05/2021 19:32

paid day off on their birthday (or the first working day after a weekend birthday) Would you not just prefer to be able to take your day off when you wanted rather than the company telling you it had to be your birthday or the first working day after. Our employees prefer to make the choice for themselves.

Familyspam · 16/05/2021 19:36

@Oenanthe

Has anyone come across any really effective organisational strategies for tackling and preventing workplace bullying?

Yeah - keep people busy and focussed on their work. It works in the classroom (it's the number one behaviour management strategy which every teacher should know), and it works in the workplace.

Bored, underemployed people make mischief. Either by causing trouble or by feeling sorry for themselves.

There's bullying in the classroom during teaching time? I thought bullying occurred in break/lunch-times before and after school. At work it will be the interaction between staff - I don't think keeping people busy is going to help - in fact it often makes it worse - as bullies get stressed and lash out more.
RamblingFar · 16/05/2021 19:36

Regular, good communication about any changes in policy, staffing, office changes etc.
All employees being told of the above at the same time (where possible).
All employees being told of the above without unnecessary extra waffling meetings.

My previous work/life balance would have been so much better if I wasn't spending hours in meetings that were called for all staff each week full of waffle, while the actual important information was released in a trickle or rumours that were not equally shared with all staff members.

Familyspam · 16/05/2021 19:39

@umberellaonesie

Check out Brene Brown's dare to lead book and program.
That's in our amazon wish list - a woman we know who is quite inspirational has recommended it - she is going to try and implement its ideas in her school.
SuziQuatrosFatNan · 16/05/2021 19:44

@Iheartmysmart imo it would be short sighted for any firm to fail to address this. We're currently in the situation where all staff members on the lowest pay grades are putting in for pay reviews and evaluations. They are really not happy and I can't blame them. The company prides itself on paying a "living wage" but the official living wage - which is more than the minimum wage - is still a lot less than £20k and any staff on this wage who have children claim universal credit. I have heard people express frustration with and outright hostility towards the treats and well being initiatives authorised by managers who haven't been anywhere near the workplace for over a year.

Nhsisfucked · 16/05/2021 19:54

When someone tells you their “bucket is full” don’t ignore her and continue to talk about targets to meet the financial incentives!!! Again well-being initiatives that no one has time to do in the work day and definitely not one that is done in your very little spare time. Not to expect a reduced hours member of staff to continue with the same case load but just in less hours when they drop from full time!
Send emails how you care about your staffs mental health when you actually don’t!
Don’t manage when it suits you or HR, if you want to manage manage all the time!

Iheartmysmart · 16/05/2021 19:56

@SuziQuatrosFatNan Interestingly the backlash has already started and there are real issues with recruiting front line roles. We used to have a dozen applications for each vacancy, many of whom had applied as a result of a friend or family member working for the company but there have been several times just this month where jobs have closed with not a single applicant. People are leaving in droves and we have some places staffed purely with agency. What goes around comes around and I have little sympathy.

paralysedbyinertia · 16/05/2021 19:58

Thank you, lots of really helpful suggestions here. I love the idea of the thank you board, I'm definitely going to steal that!! Smile

Treating all staff with respect and dignity, regardless of their "level" in the organisation, is something that I learned at an early age from my dad. He always really valued the role of the cleaners, the admin staff, the caretakers etc, and emphasised that their roles were as essential as anyone else's. That attitude has really stuck with me.

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tootiredtospeak · 16/05/2021 20:00

We have one wellbeing day each a year and two volunteer days on top of our normal holiday allocation which is already very fair. Christmas Eve and New Years eve is only ever a half day. Free counselling service for all employees to access. You can buy extra holiday or sell. This is my favourite buy 1 week extra every year. Flexible working mix of staff with term time contracts full WFH contracts and rest have mix of office and home or we did pre covid. Discounted parking and Gym membership.

paralysedbyinertia · 16/05/2021 20:04

@Familyspam

We are a small company - so we have a limited budget for initiatives. We pay our staff well - they share in our profits and they are included and consulted in decisions, we seeks ideas from all. MD should model feedback and take it publicly - if no one feels confident enough to deliver MD feedback they help by revealing their challenges/weakness/mistakes and how they hope to deal with these - it really helps other people take feedback which must be delivered kindly on issues that can be fixed. We seek to find out the work that our individual team members really enjoy - the projects they felt most successful in - we try to ensure we assign more of that kind of work to them to ensure they get max satisfaction from work, we get the best of them and we retain them for longer. We seek their views on what they feel they value with regards to wellness initiatives, benefits etc - we encourage them to participate - we aim to employ people who are humble leaders, we don't care how talented they are, what level they are at - if they get shitty with people they will be pulled up on it and we will not relent on this - it is a priority that people feel valued and respected and the MD lives and breathes this. If anything slight is sensed at a team meeting for example - they will be asked directly if there is a problem.
I really like the emphasis on humble leadership and modelling how to receive feedback in a constructive manner. And absolutely not treating anyone shittily!
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paralysedbyinertia · 16/05/2021 20:06

@RamblingFar

Regular, good communication about any changes in policy, staffing, office changes etc. All employees being told of the above at the same time (where possible). All employees being told of the above without unnecessary extra waffling meetings.

My previous work/life balance would have been so much better if I wasn't spending hours in meetings that were called for all staff each week full of waffle, while the actual important information was released in a trickle or rumours that were not equally shared with all staff members.

Noted. I agree that waffling meetings are awful. If you're going to spend time on a meeting, it should be useful.
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TheTurn0fTheScrew · 16/05/2021 20:09
  • pro-active early support for people. Don't wait for them to crumble under increased work load/stressors, but notice and take action before they go off sick. it's never a surprise to me when someone goes off with stress, and I hate that the managers pretend not to see it too.
  • regular, sincere, individual thank-yous when staff do a good job. I work at a different site once a fortnight, and am often thanked by the manager there, which makes me feel more positive about the contribution I make.

semi-ban reply to all emails. I do not need to be copied in on three different emails by three different managers thanking someone for covering a rota slot. I reckon my inbox would be reduced by half if people really thought about who really needs to be added to/kept in an email thread.

a properly equipped break area. doesn't need to be fancy, but clean, ideally with a window, and a good supply of tea, coffee, squash, milk and sugar, as well as cups and spoons. I have a smelly, airless kitchen. No mugs/spoons provided, never mind coffee and milk. if you forget to return your stuff to your desk it disappears. someone always steals my milk. the nearest shop to get some is a 20min round trip. honestly, it would improve my day immeasurably if I knew I could always have a tea break away from my desk in a clean and comfortable space.

paralysedbyinertia · 16/05/2021 20:10

I like the idea of wellbeing days, and the option of being able to buy additional annual leave. I will look into this.

I have bought the Brene Brown book, thanks for the suggestion.

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BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand · 16/05/2021 20:12

@Foofbrush

I'm trying to articulate this, and probably won't do so very well...

My organisation has frequent initiatives about well-being, mental health etc, but at the same time, there aren't enough staff to cover the annual leave that we are now starting to be able to take, when we haven't been able to during the pandemic. Also, my pay isn't great, my family live far away, I'm avoiding meeting friends to protect them, due to the environment I work in.

The endless messages about this helpline, that webcast, let's all get talking, says to me, "If your mental health is poor, you'd better hurry up and fix it, we've provided all these resources so you've got no excuse".

I know I'm damning the company for taking action, but I end up feeling guilty for not having the mental resources to work on my long-term mental health, I'm just getting through day to day right now. I wish they would just acknowledge that getting involved with any programme or initiative might simply be too much right now.

100% agree with this (and I suspect you work in the same sector as me). What I want is enough resource to do my job well, within my contracted hours. Not to feel forced to work significant unpaid overtime, and not to spend my days fire fighting. Give me that, and I will be happy and productive.

What I do not want is yet another mental health webinar or online resource - they're just yet another time drain. If I'm overworked and underesourced then I won't have time to access them. If my workload is manageable then I won't need them.

SuziQuatrosFatNan · 16/05/2021 20:15

@Iheartmysmart wow that sounds very similar! We have also had to recruit via an agency. The agency staff are actually very good but even they aren't staying. Hardly any staff we've recruited at lower grades this year have stayed in fact which is understandable: they haven't met anyone more than two pay grades above them the entire time they've been with us and they're on shit money. And if the senior staff did ever come back, the ones who have been in the office throughout wouldn't be able to park there any more because all the spaces are officially allocated to managers. They're just not using them right now.

BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand · 16/05/2021 20:18

@Oenanthe

Has anyone come across any really effective organisational strategies for tackling and preventing workplace bullying?

Yeah - keep people busy and focussed on their work. It works in the classroom (it's the number one behaviour management strategy which every teacher should know), and it works in the workplace.

Bored, underemployed people make mischief. Either by causing trouble or by feeling sorry for themselves.

I work in an organisation that is chronically underesourced, and bullying is rife.

The cause in my organisation is a blame culture, which goes right up to the CEO. Not underwork.

paralysedbyinertia · 16/05/2021 20:18

Thank you @TheTurn0fTheScrew, good suggestions.

I'm struck by how important it is for people to have a nice space for a break - this is something that I haven't given much thought to previously. I haven't yet seen the space, so this is something that I'll really look out for.

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NeverDropYourMoonCup · 16/05/2021 20:19

A coherent and open reporting/responsibilities structure - one of the most soul destroying things in the office is wondering which senior person you contact, knowing there's a good chance that they wouldn't want to make a single decision if their life depended upon it and if they tried, at least four other people on the same level would chip in with different points of view. Particularly important if there is more than one wing of responsibility, such as support, marketing and technical - somebody in support might need to ask technical for a decision, but then somebody else in marketing chips in, their colleague disagrees with them as a point of pride, the technical manager wades in and has a go at the support manager and the poor bugger left with the pissed off caller watches it go all a bit game of thrones over email and still can't sort the issue, so continues to get the angry emails and calls when all they wanted was something like a paper copy of the account over the last 12 months.

A policy of automatically approving paid leave for medical appointments/treatment for all. Means people's medical conditions don't get to the point of needing time off sick and anybody who is disabled, whether or not they have declared it (as it's a significant fear for many disabled people that they will be fired/managed out/miss all opportunities as soon as somebody finds out they have a condition) will be more productive and feel less bullied when they don't have to justify why exactly they need to have another 45 minutes off work at the end of the day or take half an hour out to have a telephone consultation in private.

Recognising that disabilities are not all wheelchairs and guidedogs. Every employee should have an automatic work station assessment, rather than the person having to bring up that their chair is hurting their back and then everybody else in the office seeing the assessment and bitching about them getting a new, fancy chair.

Look at barriers to mobility without somebody having to bitch about the front door being too heavy for them to open or trying to avoid walking upstairs because the lift's been out of action for 14 months.

Proper equipment for carrying things - just because one person can carry a box of A4 under each arm, somebody else might struggle with a single ream - do they really want to have to justify why they don't want to carry 15 boxes to any random or risk doing their back in?

Ensure walkways are clear. No sticky out desks, furniture or other items. Assume a person with mobility difficulties is already working there even if there isn't.

A comfortable break area with nice, controllable lighting and seating. When you're feeling bug eyed after hours at a screen, the last thing you need is an automatic light flickering on every time you want to sit down or have to perch on a commercial reception style sofa.

Encouragement to get up and move around. No demanding certain staff are glued to their desk at all times in case something happens.

If somebody is required to stand for long periods, provide seating automatically, because the odds are that they don't actually need to stand up for 5 hours.

Breaks are non negotiable. None of the 'well, nobody else takes their break'.

Free tea, coffee, milk and sugar. No taking a 'small contribution' from everybody. The lowest paid staff might not be able to afford it and why should somebody who doesn't drink it pay towards everybody else's drinks?

A decent water cooler in every area.

Access to training for all staff. Proper training and qualifications - it's guaranteed to piss people off if middle managers have the ability to say to junior staff 'You don't need this, I need you here, not training, your job has no progression, so there's no point, you can learn on the job instead of getting the qualification, we don't need you to broaden your skills, we need you to stay here doing the same thing forever,'

Look at the dress code. Remember that running shoes and walking boots are the footwear recommended by podiatrists and physiotherapists for everybody, compared to 'office shoes'. Does it really matter if somebody is wearing trainers?

In short, try to eliminate barriers to access before anybody has to bring them up. And be open to comments from anyone who spots something, acting on them without dismissing concerns or observations or saying 'it's not been a problem before/why do you feel special treatment is in order?'

paralysedbyinertia · 16/05/2021 20:21

I hear you @BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand. I will totally keep that in mind.

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