In some respects, work has been really good lately. Bit of a promotion in January, some extra wonga, my team seem happy and this week I had some great news about Wellbeing in the workplace which I’ve been championing.
One of my recent posts was Just a Reminder #ItsOkNotToBeOk. A bit off piste for me like this one but it was born out of a few things that had happened prompting me to tell everyone that its ok if you’re struggling, why you might be and what you can do. It was important to say it. It also highlighted my role as a Wellbeing Champion at work.
So recently, I’ve put that role to good use. My New Years resolution and Wellbeing Week pledge to myself was to check on my colleagues more. Just to see if they are ok and remind them they can talk if they want to. Its been a successful ploy. Its prompted a couple of colleagues to have the guts, believe me its hard, to ask for some help and I’m dead proud of them for doing that and I think the role is definitely more visible as a result.
Wellbeing Week is a week of talks, activities and actions by the Wellbeing Champs at work to highlight and raise awareness on statistically the most miserable week of the year. Post-xmas, week before pay day.
Additionally, I’ve worked with my colleague Molly to build a Wellbeing section into the induction process for all new starters in our department. It started as just a brief chat explaining what I do and what the company can offer as support but this has evolved into a structured presentation and informal chat which has some real impact. It looks good, feedback has been good, so thanks Molly for all your help on this.
Some slides from my brief but very posh presentation 😉
But the big win this week has been off the back of some advocacy I did at a staff engagement meeting we had with senior managers before Christmas. Nominated representatives in our department were invited to meet and ‘advise’ what issues and frustrations colleagues had with how we work and what we do. I went there solely to champion Mental Health. I had the opportunity to explain that I felt it was admirable the company had trained some Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA) but it was a box-ticking exercise and not taken seriously enough. I made it clear the issue was much bigger than people realise and that all teams should have a Wellbeing Champ or MHFA and not just me. It was also incumbent on Team Leaders and Managers to have the skills to deal with these issues and to make sure they check on their direct reports’ wellbeing in one-to-one’s.
The good news is they listened. All Team Leaders are going to be MHFA trained and that gets a massive thumbs up from me for listening and understanding the problem and addressing it.
Me being selfish though, I’d love them to train me as a MHFA trainer so I can train my colleagues but hey, I’ll take that.
How times are changing.
How is my wellbeing? Well I feel good at the moment. Physically in really good shape. Fitness is booming, weight coming off, cycling loads. Emotionally I’m stable and in a good place. Some sleep issues this week but nothing new. I’m feeling connected too. Talking to my parents more, I’ve seen my sister, I’m talking and checking on colleagues and seeing friends and having fun with my lad. Its all good
So how are you doing?
