Workshops

Looking after you – what individuals, teams and organisations can do

This entry was posted in Viewpoint and tagged Covid-19 Drama Based Training Empathy Experiential Training Let's Talk Mental Health Online Workshops Remote Working Resilience and Wellbeing Workshops on by

Hello! Right, before we start, make yourself a nice brew (and maybe grab a choccy biccy whilst you’re at it).

This is your chance to have some ‘me-time’. Ten minutes, to sit, relax, watch a short film and read about one of the most important topics – looking after you.

Not sure you can do this at work? You’re wrong. It’s in a company’s best interests to look after its employees. Why? Because a happy, healthy employee is a productive employee.

So, go. Pop the kettle on. Make that cuppa!
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. . . Right, are you back? Brew in hand? Excellent.

Let’s begin.

So, what did you think? Did you recognise any behaviours? Whilst this montage is a comedic look at the challenges of remote working, it does touch on serious issues. So with that in mind, I want to ask:

How are you? No, seriously. How are you? I want to know.

If you’re a bit all over the place, that’s okay. You are not alone. 2020 is a year we’ll all remember. I don’t even need to say the words . . .  [Covid-19.] [Pandemic.]

We are living through an unparalleled time, which is testing everyone in uniquely different ways. Even within my own circle of friends and family, it’s evident that people are having dissimilar experiences: Professionally, some people have returned to the workplace, key workers never left, and others remain working remotely. Some people can see friends and family (from a distance), whereas others can’t because of local restrictions.

Spring proved to be a beacon of light for many earlier in the year. ‘Those with access to balconies, gardens . . . have been benefiting from them during weeks of lockdown, while others have been trapped inside.’ – BBC News: What outdoor space tells us about inequality. Winter, with its biting chill, short days and long, dark nights is certainly going to be an interesting time.

Then looming above everything is health. Maybe we or our loved ones have chronic health conditions. Maybe we’re a carer. Maybe we’ve lost someone. Or maybe we’re struggling mentally with all of this. And who would blame us?!

It’s been a stressful time(!) and we’re unfortunately not through it yet. Millions of people have experienced ‘local lockdowns’, some for months on end and with the new three tiered system of governmental restrictions and with cases rising, millions more will face increased restrictions. We clearly have a long and difficult winter ahead of us.

With all of these vastly different experiences and challenges comes a significant impact on our mental health, resilience and well-being.

In the first six weeks after 23rd March 2020 (UK national lockdown), 57% of people reported symptoms of anxiety and 64% symptoms of depression (study of 3000+ adults), Kings College London and University of Nottingham found. Kavita Vedhara, Professor of Health Psychology said: “This is far in excess of levels usually seen in the UK.” – The Guardian: Stress, anxiety and depression levels soar under UK Covid-19 restrictions.

I’m not ashamed to say my feelings and behaviours have been up, down and all around of late. I’m having to check in with myself and make an effort to top up my resilience regularly. Sometimes I’m okay and other times I’m not. I’m adjusting to this new normal. All whilst the landscape continues to change around me.

What can play a considerable part in how you feel, is how well your organisation, your colleagues and you look after your resilience and well-being. And you absolutely have the right to ask for support in this area. An organisation’s staff are its greatest resource and companies should be investing in and making their staff a priority.

If you’re an employer, when was your last staff satisfaction survey? Have you evaluated staff wellbeing recently? Are you allocating more time and giving staff more frequent 1:1s to see how you can support them? Do you have an employee assistance programme where staff can choose to access counselling? Are staff receiving enough praise? Do staff have realistic goals?

Perhaps you’re reading this thinking, “Yes we have policies and support mechanisms, such as mental health first aiders within our company,” but have you checked your processes are actually working lately? Are they fit-for-purpose? Fit for this unprecedented challenge?!

. . . Or has it been pedal to the metal? All hands on deck (minus those furloughed – which has been a difficult transition for many). Staff performing tasks outside their role descriptions? Regular reviews forgotten?

Don’t worry if you’ve been in survival mode! We’ve all been there and we’re all doing what we can for our businesses, livelihoods and families.

Living in stress is not sustainable long-term though. It takes a toll on mental health, resilience and well-being. At some point an organisation must prevail with a plan and a framework which provides people with structure and support.

Now is the time to reflect on how organisations, teams and individuals can best look out for one another. At Enact Solutions we run workshops on Resilience and Wellbeing in the Workplace, both virtually and face-to-face. It’s a topic I’m super passionate about and is vital training for all staff, especially during these trying times.

Within society, there’s a common misconception that people either have resilience and good mental health or they don’t. This is categorically wrong! In our drama-based experiential workshop delegates:

  • discover what fills and depletes their ‘resilience jars’ (it’s different for everyone).
  • use live anonymous polling to explore their feelings – something they’re often nervous to discuss with employers.
  • are provided with a safe space where they can talk openly about work-life challenges.
  • learn clear definitions to increase mental health and resilience understanding.
  • witness first-hand the dangers of unhelpful ‘coping’ strategies.
  • practise supporting others with effective empathy.
  • examine what positive, tangible changes organisations can make.

Resilience is about being able to recover from setbacks, even in times of stress. To apply new approaches to problem-solving and adapt to change. If there’s one time we particularly need to have and understand resilience, it’s now!

Organisational Psychologist, John Amaechi sums up the difficulties of working through a pandemic perfectly: “Nobody is working from home. What we are is, by law, locked in our houses for most of the time to avoid dying from a virus or spreading a virus to somebody else who is going to be more susceptible, and therefore die . . . And in that backdrop . . . we have been attempting to perform at work.” (1min19 – 2min16)

Amaechi’s description really highlights the stark reality of what we’re living and trying to work through. As Imperial College London (ICL) explains: “Feeling positive in the workplace has an important part to play, contributing to many of the essential elements of our wellbeing.” With that in mind, how can we not invest in it?

I adore ICL’s writing on the topic of ‘flourishing’ and want to leave that with you now: ‘Flourishing means a lot more than the absence of stress, or mental ill-health. It is about having energy, passion, self-esteem, improved physical health, supportive relationships and being successful in our endeavours.’

So let’s learn how to look after ourselves, our colleagues and our employees. It’s time to flourish.

Jemma Houghton

Jemma Houghton is one of our Associates at Enact Solutions. She’s been blogging for us on a number of topics recently and is really passionate about raising awareness and having conversations on mental health, resilience and well-being.

Inclusive Leadership training for the NHS: Q&A with Creative Director, Rosie Perkin

This entry was posted in Slice of Life and tagged Drama Based Training Equality Diversity Inclusion Inclusive leadership NHS Workforce Race Equality Workshops on by

Since late last year, Enact Solutions has been working with South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust putting together an Inclusive Leadership training programme with a difference to help them achieve 3 key aspirations for BME employees.

The pilot stage took place last week, and the first of 20 sessions for all staff with leadership and managerial responsibilities will shortly get underway. Also, in March, there’s a complimentary (no charge) event to tell interested NHS Trusts about the work.

To throw some light on what goes on behind the scenes with a job like this, we asked Rosie Perkin, Creative Director, a few quick questions.

So, Rosie, all the pilot sessions for South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust’s Inclusive Leadership programme have now been completed. How’s it gone?

Really well. The feedback from both the senior leadership team and the diversity team was all highly positive. ‘This was exceptional’ was just one of the comments we received. When you are working with mixed teams of people it’s always a challenge getting the scripts spot on, so everyone can identify with the characters, the behaviours and the situations.  This is really important as it enables individuals to easily translate their learning back to their own working environment.  There were no script changes needed which is always a relief to the actors at this stage.

Very little else was changed, a few minor tweaks here and there just to make sure it will achieve exactly what they need it to.

Everything is falling into place nicely then?

Absolutely.

So, what’s it meant to achieve? What does success look like for the Trust, and for you as the creative force behind it all?

Okay, so this piece of work supports the start of a four-year programme of change for the Trust. Whilst the sessions as a whole look at Inclusive Leadership and what more we can be doing as leaders to ensure we are promoting a healthy, happy inclusive working environment, there’s a clear focus on changing the face of diversity within the workforce; particularly the higher you move up within the organisation.

At the moment, approximately 53-57% of the local population, the people this Trust serves, are white.  Just under 40% of the workforce are from Black, Asian Minority Groups. As you move higher up the organisation this representation drops to as low as 8% – that’s at Board level.  So, how can we be sure we are driving and implementing decisions that best reflect the community we serve?  This was one of the findings in Roger Kline’s work, Beyond the Snowy White Peaks of the NHS, in which he identified 7 areas related to race inequality that were potentially impacting on patient care.  Our client has made a commitment that before 2021 they will have proportional representation at all levels across the trust.  I’m proud that we are supporting the start of that journey, engaging with leaders to consider their inclusivity and the part that they will play in achieving the Trusts aspirations.

We’re calling it a ‘training programme with a difference’; what exactly sets it apart in your eyes? What kind of experience can participants expect?

The three hours that they are with us will absolutely fly. From the moment they are in the room it will feel different.  There are lots of activities to get them up on their feet, engaging them to think about how they see things and how they might view things differently.  Although they are never asked to role-play, so they are safe, it is hugely participatory and experiential. Working with actors is one of the most engaging ways to really get to understand what it might be like for someone different to you working in a similar environment. I truly believe we open their eyes to seeing the world differently. We blend this with paired and small group work so everyone feels they can contribute in a way that makes them feel comfortable.

And the client, presumably they’ve been closely involved in the creative process long before the pilot?

Yes, and that’s exactly how I like it. I encourage them to be as hands on as possible.  The more involved a client, the more we understand exactly their needs and what they want to achieve. Either myself or one of the creative developers work closely with all clients from the outset to make the project the very best it can be.

What’s your favourite part of putting together a programme like this?

[Laughing] It’s easy to let the ego come in to play and say ‘See that there? I made that!’ But it’s much bigger than that, why we do what we do. Because we want to make a difference. That’s my measure of success and what gives me personal satisfaction; knowing the long-term changes that a client will see are, in part, because of our intervention.

It all sounds very bespoke; would it work elsewhere? Lots of organisations, not just NHS Trusts face similar challenges.

Of course, Inclusive leadership is the future! And whilst there is lots of research around NHS organisations and why this is important, actually what we are talking about is every single member of any organisation feeling engaged, respected, listened to and with a fair opportunity to develop – show me an organisation that has nailed this and I’ll apply to go and work for them [laughs].

What’s next then? Is your work here done?

Well, there’s lots to do, projects to create around difficult conversations, unconscious bias, bullying and harassment, but, that doesn’t mean to say I’m leaving this one behind!  I will be observing the programme once it’s underway.  I love to see how it develops once it’s been run with delegates a couple of times.  I make sure I get out to see the sessions to make sure they are still on point, doing what we need them to do and keeping them fresh. I don’t think we can ever sit back and think that something is good enough, I’m constantly looking at ways we can tweak things to make them even better.

Great stuff. Thanks for lifting the lid on some of what goes on behind the scenes. We obviously hope it all goes well.

Thank you! I’m confident it will.

Enact Solutions and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust are running a complimentary (no charge) event about our Inclusive Leadership Programme in London on Friday 2 March 2018. Places are limited, but when they run out we will be running a waiting list in case any become available due to cancellations.

Find out more and book your place here.

Also, do feel free to contact our Creative Director, Rosie Perkin, directly if you’d like to discuss any aspect.