Wellbeing actions

Talk with friends, family and co-workers

Talking was reported to be the most helpful way to overcome and navigate stress and anxiety. It’s useful to talk things through with friends, family, and co-workers, without burdening them with every detail and of course, any sensitive information.

‍‍Debriefing is particularly helpful, as this happens with people who understand the situation and can therefore relate. This creates the space to share and process what each other hears during case work meetings and get feedback and support straight away.

“Conversations are very different. One could be about universal credit and another about how a client has been abused.”

Manager @ Small charity

‍It is important for staff to build trusted relationships with colleagues to be able to do this well. This enables supportive, helpful two-way conversations, especially when meeting in real life.

Seek therapy and counselling

Many people turn to therapy and counselling when overwhelmed, stressed, or at burnout. This is usually paid for by the employer, including 24/7 employee assistance hotlines. It can help to talk through challenges with a professional who is unbiased and get professional support to create a personalised strategy for you.

Having said that, some people have better experiences with therapy than others. Those who are from a racialised background or who have lived experience sometimes find therapy inaccessible and unsupportive for their needs. Therefore, some may prefer therapy from professionals from a similar background to them.

“When my client is in crisis, it has a knock on effect and brings back past trauma. There needs to be understanding [from the employer] that this affects people with lived experience.”

CEO @ National charity

Take time to fully rest and recharge

A proper “rest and recharge” is necessary for staff to be able to reset themselves. This includes regular, and long breaks from work to completely switch off as well as taking time back when you’ve done more hours than necessary.

Managers and senior leadership have a part to play in this by encouraging staff to have time off, as well as implementing generous holiday policies. 

In some cases, especially among managers, this means moving jobs for a fresh start, and taking time off between jobs where possible.

“I make sure I have 2 week holidays twice a year”

CEO @ National Charity

The need to “escape” after work came up in our interviews. It’s okay to relax, watch some light TV, or do activities and take some time for yourself. Some people avoid watching the news in the evening, so as not to be reminded of work or stressful situations.

Reduce workload and caseload

Different organisations have been trying different ways to manage workloads of staff, including pausing new clients or having a ‘wellbeing week’. For some, this is done where necessary, for others it is scheduled yearly. This has helped them to feel more on top of their workload and slow down a bit, finding time to build relationships and support networks and have fun together. 

Some organisations are adapting their services, with a focus on empowering clients to be able to do certain things themselves. We heard this has helped to reduce caseloads or time spent with each client.

Get support from managers & supervision

Having a supportive manager to talk to came up a lot in the conversations we had. When staff have supportive managers, who actively listen and respond with wellbeing support, such as flexible working or encouraging rest and recharge and professional support where necessary, staff feel reassured and supported.

“There can be a lot of isolation. If the only person you’ve got is your manager, and they don’t have time, then you have to wait a long time”

Manager @ National Charity

Offering supervision to case workers is good practice. Where supervision was provided staff felt supported and were able to talk through, process and be offered guidance in their work.

Create and communicate boundaries

Boundaries look different to everyone and every organisation. Some organisations have physical boundaries including locking the office at 5:30pm or having limits on database access between certain times.

Other organisations  leave individuals to create their own boundaries. This includes things like being clear on personal capacity, ability to switch off after work and being able to say ‘no’.

Some people also told us that they’d learnt to accept the system, their place within it, and have accepted that they can’t be responsible for everyone.

Some people find boundaries easier to implement than others. Those with more experience and supportive line management tend to be better at setting boundaries, and more comfortable communicating those boundaries.

People with limited experience of working in the UK might need extra support to understand the UK work culture and put in place boundaries. This is something for employers to pay attention to, especially when recruiting people with lived experience who are new to the UK workplace.

It can be challenging for people to adapt to a new workplace culture. It's important that employers reflect on their own culture and working practices to make sure they are inclusive.

“People from other working cultures need time to understand the working culture in the UK. This includes boundaries, technical skills, presentation of yourself, different support mechanisms and employee rights”

Manager @ National Charity

Support co-workers to learn and grow

Some staff told us that individual coaching, organisational coaching and training chosen by their team and not ‘done to’ them has really helped. However it is important that this is delivered in a trauma informed way, by professionals who understand the context they are working in.

Align life and values with work

It is so important for people’s lives and values to work alongside their job.

We heard some people are selective about what jobs they apply for because of this and flexible working hours is something that is on offer at most organisations we spoke to. This is so that people can fit their job to work with personal responsibilities and hobbies. This might include childcare, a volunteering position or a gym class they are committed to.

Alignment of purpose and shared values between someone's job and personal life is also crucial, especially in this sector. Linked to this, it’s important to share and celebrate positive stories.

“It’s hard for staff to feel rewarded, we don’t see the positive side”

Regional coordinator @ National Charity

Offer social and personalised initiatives

Some teams and organisations have benefitted from more personalised wellbeing strategies including a wellbeing fund where every staff member gets some money they have to spend on their wellbeing. Some teams have started doing wellbeing weeks where they pause clients for a week and do team building activities focused on building relationships. On an individual level, some staff rely on fun out of work activities including exercising and socialising to help them escape, decompress and relax.

“We were lucky enough to get a grant for wellbeing. Each member of staff got £200 to spend on something to help their wellbeing. They had to write a statement about what they wanted to spend it on and why. People used it to buy a drum kit, fairy lights, all sorts of things.”

Director @ National Charity

Develop and share policies and procedures

Although we did not come across any wellbeing policies during the project, some organisations have been building their own procedures to support staff wellbeing.

This includes organisational, collective and self care through different programmes including those delivered by Act Build Change and Black Wellbeing Collective.

Organisations recognised the need to put in place wellbeing policies, but either hadn't dedicated the time to it or didn't know where to start.

Use the BeWell toolkit

Use the BeWell workshop slides from our toolkit to guide team discussions about wellbeing. Gain input that will help develop a Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy.