STRESS AWARENESS MONTH
Claire Brewerton , Virtual Business Centre www . virtualbusinesscentre . com
The Virtual Business Centre provides a professional remote telephone answering and reception service to companies . Claire has a staff of 25 who have often worked remotely during the past year .
“ The biggest learning for me over the past year has been the mental health impacts of not being with my team physically – and for them too . This , coupled with working while your family situation at home may have changed , has presented additional challenges .
“ Here are just three things we have done and learned as a team to help us all get through this together and still serve our clients in a professional , efficient and secure manner .”
Bonny Prim , Health and Wellness Coach www . healthcoachingwithbonny . co . uk
Prior to lockdown , Bonny had been supporting employees at Intel with yoga classes and has also recently supported teams at Catalent with nutrition advice .
“ I believe people stay with a company if they are looked after and appreciated . I do suggest you ask your employees what they want . If you deliver something they don ’ t find useful , it won ’ t have the impact you are hoping for . Also make the effort to understand what wellbeing challenges you have in your company and what areas need addressing . This can be done with a workplace assessment with employees .”
• Everyone feels better and brighter if they are dressed for work , even if working from home
• Look out for those who have gone from ‘ we are fine and will get through this ’ to ‘ we are doing the best we can ’, and take time to find out how they are
• Use technology like Teams to keep in touch even if it ’ s just to say hello or send a silly cat picture . It ’ s okay to be silly sometimes !
Throughout Stress Awareness Month , The Business Exchange website will be featuring tips from local practitioners for Swindon or Wiltshire employers seeking to support the mental wellbeing of their staff . Useful information can also be found here : www . stress . org . uk
Katie Bullock , HR Manager , Ntegra www . ntegra . com
Katie is based in Swindon with Ntegra ’ s global team of around 60 employees . She says the senior team take the emotional health of staff very seriously .
“ We have various initiatives which work together to support employee wellbeing . We have facilitated emotional resilience and stress management workshops , we have weekly yoga sessions and we have employee feedback groups where individuals are invited to share any concerns or stressors without judgment .
“ We also have regular social events such as coffee mornings , games and ‘ Wellbeing Wednesdays ’ where we take it in turns to share tips .
“ It is important to build the psychological safety and trust for individuals to be open about how they are feeling , and to respond with empathy and support .”
THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2021 17