A day in the life of our Workplace Wellbeing Team

Welcome back to our ‘A Day in the Life’ series, where we chat to HILS team members to see what they get up to in a typical day and the impact their efforts have on clients across our services.

This month we are going to do something a bit different with our ‘day in the life’ article, and we are going to look at a department as a whole rather than one particular member.

10th October marks world mental health day, with the theme this year being prioritising mental health in the workplace. We wanted to use this months spot to highlight the work our Workplace Wellbeing Team do to help care for our teams.

Meet the team…..

Getting started

Working as part of the Workplace Wellbeing team is highly fulfilling, we know we are providing essential support for all our colleagues and volunteers. The role is so varied that there are no two days that are the same, but the day usually starts by checking to see if any new referrals have been sent through to us and reviewing the details of each new referral.  We can receive our referrals from a number of sources, including a self referral from a staff member, or even a referral from another member of staff who has concerns and feels a colleague might need a bit of support.

First impressions count

The Wellbeing team meet regularly to ensure we are providing the highest quality and timely support to all, and to assign new referrals to suitably trained team members. We recognise the importance of making the right impression at the first contact with a referral. This initial interaction sets the tone for the entire conversation, therefore, we always ensure that the most suitable person, who is well-equipped with the necessary skills and understanding, initiates this contact. We feel that this builds trust and rapport from the very beginning, ensuring that the staff member feels valued and understood.

Our help and support

Referrals that are sent through to the team, can be extremely varied as we support others in all circumstances. For example, we can be providing mental health support to an individual one-day, signposting housing services to someone else the next,  then providing workplace support to improve working relationships the day after.   

We understand that our colleagues can go through different situations and challenges throughout their lives, and we can ensure they feel supported during these difficult times, especially at work.  

There are a wide range of supportive measures we can provide to our staff, its never a one size fits all approach. Sometimes we signpost to external relevant services, and a colleague doesn’t require or want more than one or two conversations with the Workplace Wellbeing Team, other times we schedule regular catch ups with a colleague to discuss longer term support needs. We are led and guided by the colleague and their support needs. We never pressure or judge anyone on the decisions they make, and we always have our colleagues best interests at the forefront of all decisions and advice given.

We feel very privileged to be able to support others and we hope this support enables our colleagues to feel respected and cared for at work. 

We are so fortunate to have this supportive, caring team as part of our workplace benefits. Are you interested in joining the HILS family? Check out our current vacancies, where you can see our vacancies across Hertfordshire, Hampshire and West Sussex. We’d love to hear from you.