One of the outcomes of opening up the conversation around mental health is that there might be a lot more employees who want to come and talk to you! As a leader, HR professional or line manager, listening and supporting your employees is core. But how do you balance their needs with the rest of your responsibilities, provide the right support, and avoid feeling overwhelmed, drained or burnt-out yourself by the end of the day?

Taking care of your own mental health and ensuring you have strong support systems and networks around you is vital in enabling you to be there for others in the best way possible. 

We share some of our suggestions and those from our clients:

1.) Host dedicated drop-ins on a specific day and time of the week. They can be group sessions where employees benefit from the support and ideas of others, or one-to-one slots, but either way, ring-fencing time can help contain and focus your energy.   

2.) Upskill. If you’re often approached by...

As we step into the New Year, many organisations are thinking about what lies ahead and how to make their businesses even more successful in 2023. While we may often think of success purely in terms of profit margins, there are numerous other areas that dictate how successful the business really is, including innovation, recognition, reputation, customer satisfaction and staff morale. The most successful organisations recognise that employees are the driving force of a business and research shows that businesses with happier staff are more productive, more efficient and more effective. This naturally results in higher quality work being produced and ultimately more business being done.  

So what can leaders, team managers and those responsible for people, do to make a meaningful difference to employee wellbeing and happiness? Here are 5 simple steps, and it is as easy as ABC, (not forgetting D and E!)

Aligned thinking - When there are clear objectives, this creates a...

When I was young I learned to juggle. I could take 3 juggling balls and swiftly elevate them into the air in a whole host of various and complicated patterns. Then someone would throw a 4th ball into the mix and without thinking I could absorb the extra strain and just about manage to keep the routine going.  A 5th ball would be introduced but this time it was too much and then...disaster, I would drop them all -  I had reached the limit of my capacity!  The point is, I didn’t just drop the two that I was struggling with, even though I was easily able to manage three, trying to manage 5, meant they all came tumbling down.

So what’s this got to do with you?  If you entered an elevator you would always see a sign warning you of the capacity of the lift.  If you exceeded the capacity there would be undue strain on the cables and pulleys which could lead to poor performance and even put the inhabitants at risk of danger.  The...

We brought HR and wellbeing leads together from across different sectors to share their wellbeing related challenges, and exchange ideas on how to combat the ever-increasing levels of stress and anxiety as we start to return to the office.

Here are some of the big questions we asked:

• What are your COVID Keeps?
• Have Chief Executives become the new heads of wellbeing?
• Has working remotely removed some of the accessibility barriers?
• Are colleagues at risk of burnout?
• Are we seeing more postural issues, social anxiety and experiencing mental health challenges?

The HR and Wellbeing leads around the (Zoom) table spanned a variety of sectors, from financial services, communications and supporting pharma companies to satisfy drug regulations. Whilst their businesses are very different, when it comes to employee wellbeing, there's a lot in common. 

Employee engagement

The greatest challenges related to keeping colleagues connected and motivated whilst working remotely. Despite...