Lessons for Leaders

The best ways to find time to talk to people. It coincides with the Time to Talk day. It doesn't matter how you have conversations, with people, a quick text, a social distanced walk, they all have the power to make a huge difference to how people feel and their mental health.

This week on the podcast I'm sharing how you can encourage

• Everyday Conversation
• Work Conversations
• Social Conversation

I also include my top tips to get people talking and sharing real conversations that are helpful to their mental health and wellbeing (and yours too).

Listen for me sharing about a conversation with my hubby about corporate health and safety training. how it's forgetting to include Mental Health and Wellbeing as part of Health and Safety.

I share a real life story of where conversations, checking in and looking after an employee could have prevented an accident.

We look at the options you have and ideas for you to implement conversations in those three key areas.

Find out what is happening that makes me so proud.

Don't forget to stay tuned to the end where I share my top tips to get the best out of conversations and time to talk so that they really get the results you need. And they help you feel good in the process!

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

If you haven't yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] .

Or head over to contact page and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people's diary.

The True Cost of a Wellbeing Plan

Is wellbeing essential yet in your organisation or still a nice to do?

On this episode I'm talking about reasons why putting wellbeing at the heart of your business has a massive impact on business success and bottom line.

The episode is packed full of the info and key things I'm sharing are:

• How you can build a business case to persuade leaders
• The stats and info that will support your case (so grab a pen)
• The key information to enable you to measure outcomes, create stats and track the ROI.
• Which are the most vulnerable demographics that you can watch out for
• Compelling reasons that help you assess the true cost of a wellbeing plan.

In this episode I'm taking a look at costs associated in organisation with the wellbeing plan or costs associated with not having one! In essence – it's the price you might pay if you choose not to invest.

Whether you're building a business case or trying to persuade board members, business leaders and your c suite, then grab a pen. This episode is for you.

I have these conversations all the time with HR and Wellbeing leads so listen in where I give a real life example of the way to change thinking and direction to present information in a way that hits the spot with your leaders.

I share the options of different reasons why you might want to encourage your leaders to invest in a wellbeing plan.

These range from:

Improving company brand and enhancing PR

Impacting direct and indirect business costs such as healthcare, EAPs, absences and attrition.

Deloitte 2020 say 62% of managers feel obliged to put work needs ahead of staff wellbeing

The cost to UK Businesses every year according to Deloitte report in 2020 is:

£8.6 billon in Staff Turnover Costs

£6.8billion in Absence costs

£29.3 billon on presenteeism costs

25% of employees fear the consequences of opening up and talking about their Mental health and wellbeing issues….. I've seen this with clients and share an example on the podcast.

I also share other ways that ignoring wellbeing can be costly to your business and can guard against any employment and tribunal claims too.

Get in touch if you have any questions or if you'd like some help and support with your wellbeing plan, with a brainstorm session, some tips and advice to enhance your plans or information about my coaching and wellbeing training.

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

If you haven't yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] . Or head over to my website and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people's diary.

7 Steps to a Winning Wellbeing Plan

This week I'm talking about the 7 steps that you can take to create winning wellbeing plans in your organisation and sharing exactly what would be good things so that there are not just knee jerk reactions and plugging gaps.

A quick run down of the 7 Steps to Winning Wellbeing areas we look at in the episode will be:

1. Issues
2. Needs
3. Benefits
4. Barriers
5. Creating the Plan
6. Implementation
7. Review

I'm talking to HR and Wellbeing leads who are looking at the wellbeing plans for their organisations and with the pandemic it has become more important to look at and support people in organisations.

I've created these 7 steps to winning wellbeing during the time I've spent working with organisations.

1. Issues

You need to know what's going on, what you need to fix and what issues you have that you already know about. Is it high absence, people not talking or something else.

Think about why you are creating this wellbeing plan so that you are delivering things that are helpful for people.

Do you have senior leadership buy-in - because this is important.

2. Identify

You really need to ask your people. Whilst I can say what's going on with trends and issues with organisations, but if you want to hit the spot you need to ask your people. It also builds trust, they feel listened to and that they are valued.

This can be done with questionnaires (I have one) or you can run your own, buy in packages or have me create and deliver for you.

Run focus groups (or I can run them for you!) and you can be listening to employees and ask where they are struggling (this is one of the first questions I ask on my webinars.

What team do you have around you - is there MHFA, EAP, OH or wellbeing champions? What are the policies in your organisation already - are there others that you want and need?

Who is responsibility in your organisation, do you have budget and what return on investment is needed?

3. Benefits

Think about the benefits that this wellbeing plan will bring to the organisation.

It might be benefits to the employer in reducing absences or attrition. It might be benefits to the employee with a boost of morale, helping them to be happier, healthier (all of these have an employer impact).

It might be about improving performance or all sorts of other reasons and then when you have these 3 plans, then the benefits will be part of the communication plan that will encourage people to be involved.

4. Barriers

Looks at the barriers to success. If you haven't got leadershp buy-in then it's likely to be a barrier for you.

How are people feeling?

Will you make these trainings mandatory or voluntary?

Will you be raising the question about the stigma of mental health? How will you be careful that people don't feel ashamed of their difficulties?

Make sure you're not doing too much too soon and throwing all things at people or mixing too many different topics and subjects. If you do this it will create confusion and people won't know what 'thing' to do first.

So it's important that you look at where the barriers are to ensure that your winning wellbeing plan is successful.

5. Creating Your Winning Wellbeing Plan

When you create your actual programme, look at how it's going to work and what it will look like. Whether that is about having a monthly focus, doing things yourself, brining in people with expertise, using webinars, lunch and learn sessions, half day workshops, group coaching, 1;1 coaching is all part of the options you have.

Monthly themes that I work with are:

• Stress and anxiety
• Resilience
• Mens health
• Menopause (listen how this isn't just a women's issue)
• Mental health (both support people, and helping themselves)
• Working well fro home
• Creating connections
• Self care
• Fitness
• Sleep issues
• Burn-out
• Overwhelm

One organisation came and said they needed time management but when i dug around on the issues, there were stressed and overwhelmed people so they needed stress management to be able to focus and work more efficiently and effectively. So this is why it's important to really understand the issues.

6. Implementation

The easy bit (I like to think) is running the actual wellbeing programme. What are you doing, how is it going to run?

Are you brining someone in (like me)? I have a wealth of connections with people in menopause, finance, fitness etc so that I can help find people to support your organisation.

You also need to think about how you are communicating the programme to make it a success and make it attractive that people want to get involved in. You might have wellbeing champions who can talk about it or you share information in newsletters, team meetings and on your intranet. Posters used to work well, but at the moment with no-one in the offices, we need to think differently about this.

Some organisations run competitions and get enthusiasm going that well.

Once you get to this point, your wellbeing plan can run smoothly and it's worth putting the effort into the planning and steps 1 to 5.

7. Review

At least quarterly, if not monthly, I recommend looking at the wellbeing plan. How effective is it for your employees. Has there been an improvement from your earlier figures and needs?

Have you got a return on investment (this can be of your time, the employee time and the investment of any external people too).

That gives you a whistle-stop tour of 7 ways to create a winning wellbeing plan.

If you have any questions about this or would like some support then get in touch with me and I'd be happy to fix a call and have a chat about this in more detail.

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

If you haven't yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] . Or head over to my website and you can find the contact page and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people's diary.

Why we need to stop throwing money at wellbeing

Welcome Hannah Beko to the Lessons for Leaders podcast.

Listen into how Hannah got into wellbeing by accident.

The reasons why we need to stop throwing money at wellbeing

What you should do instead and why

We discuss the stigma, with chat and examples of our experiences

Hannah, a practicing lawyer, had been self employed for years and was doing well, but then realised she was ticking every box suffering from symptoms of stress.

She started to have panic attacks and realised this was ridiculous. She left big law to enjoy life more and not enjoying this and not feeling like she was coping. This meant she got interested in stress and wellbeing.

Hannah needed to find how to make the business work for her and the family.

She realised there are so many other lawyers that are in that position and read the statistics and understand how bad stress and wellbeing is so bad in the law.

In a previous chat Hannah and I were talking about the similar issues and struggles we see in the area of law and Hannah said she wanted to talk about

"Why we need to stop throwing money at wellbeing" which is what prompted the episode.

Listen to why Hannah gets passionate about this subject.

What other countries think about how the UK is dealing with mental health & wellbeing

Some quotes from the episode:

"Whatever people are doing right now for wellbeing … is not working"

"We need to equip people so that they know what they can do themselves"

We talk about sticking plaster and tick box approaches and why company approaches have got to be more than this.

"I might be talking to people about time management but really, they're completely overwhelmed and they are struggling to keep going each day"

"so many people are in overwhelm right now and on the edge of burn out that I've stopped the workshops and switched to focus groups and group coaching to meet what people need"

There's a stigma about mental health and wellbeing and it's a big concern that it hasn't changed enough yet.

It's all about the conversations. Ask people – what help do you want – what are you struggling with right now -what support do you want?

You can get in touch with Hannah at her website or on Linked In

https://authenticallyspeaking.co.uk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannahbeko/

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

If you haven't yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] . Or head over to my website and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people's diary.

Mental health and wellbeing doesn't have a holiday at Christmastime. More so this year - it's important to take care of your wellbeing.

Top 10 Tips for Fantastic Festive Wellbeing

I'm sharing 10 quick and easy tips to help you stay well and enjoy the festivities.

Listen in for life experiences, personal stories as well as proven tips.

I want to help you go into Christmas break in a way you can enjoy it, but come out the other side feeling rested and ready for 2021.

If you're a manager or HR in the workplace, it's also important that you have conversations and signpost people to support services that are available for your staff. Encourage your people to do at least one of these tips for wellbeing, even if it's not all of them.

Encouraging people to take proper time off is important that you lead the way and send positive messages that give people permission to look after themselves and take care of their mental health and wellbeing.

What Are My Top 10 Tips for Fantastic Festive Wellbeing? Routine

Try sticking to a kind of routine even if you're not at work. Now I don't mean still getting up at 5am and working to midnight – or whatever it is that you do, but keep to some form of usual sleep and waking hours is helpful to keep your body clock on track. Routines are first thing to go out of the window during holiday times.

Having a routine means there's less to think about in each day.

Hear more about how routines help with productivity, certainty and coping with change in the podcast.

Boundaries

Mental health professionals and self-help gurus put a lot of emphasis on boundaries because they're the foundation of healthy relationships and a strong sense of self-worth.

Boundaries are my favourite subject and I explain how to say no easily, how boundaries create respect and why they are helpful at Christmastime.

Avoid Comparisons

Listen in for the great story about the comparisons in our street and how they backfired! It was funny. It also helps to explain why comparisons are not helpful and why you should give yourself a break and take the pressure off yourself.

Connections

I've talked previously in episode 34 about enhancing connections. This year more than every it's so important. Make time to connect and be in touch with other people and listen in to why it's important for your wellbeing.

Time For YOU

This is your holiday too. Make sure there are things that you want to do, films you want to see, places you want to go (OK I know that's limited).

I explain in more detail on the podcast how you can set aside time to get a day or an activity that you like doing.

Also make sure that you have time for you to rest and repair and get ready for whatever is coming next in 2021.

Keep Active

It's so easy to slump on the sofa and eat too much and watch films but try and make sure you do something every day – it' boosts your serotonin – the feel good chemicals and helps to release the stress chemicals that have built up over the year we've had.

Food and Drink

Try not to over indulge throughout the whole holiday. Get some good healthy food and lots of water to keep you hydrated and flush out the toxins of stress, alcohol and processed foods so that you look after your body and feel better in the long run.

Breathe!

I talk about this all the time on my workshops, training, coaching and on many other podcast episodes.

Taking a breath creates the space to calm down your brain, it calms your internal system from the guilt and pressure and whatever else is going on and allows you space to think clearly.

I know this all sounds simple – but you actually have to do it!

Sleep

Getting enough sleep is a no-brainer - but yet many of don't do it. Or the stress and anxiety keep us awake - so reducing those things, with the tools I've mentioned all sit hand in hand.

Listen in for more tips and reasons why getting enough sleep is powerful for your wellbeing, mental health and reducing stress.

Ask for Help

If you're struggling with doing everything over Christmas, then please, please do ask for help. I know people won't always do things the way you want them done, but they will get done.

Listen in for the thing that my husband does which is helpful ... but also makes me need to leave the room!

Asking for help is a sign of strength. Ask for help too if you need personal support for your mood, mental health or anything else.

I'm here for you and so are many other people and places. Don't struggle alone.

Christmas wellbeing really IS achievable and enjoyable! Stick to my top 10 fantastic festive wellbeing tips and you are sure to go into the New Year feeling good!

I wish you a wonderful Christmas!

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

If you haven't yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] . Or head over to my website and you can find the contact page and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people's diary.

How do you prevent the pre Christmas slump?

• People are often de-motivated or distracted with xmas
• December is the shortest working month there's the pressure to get things done before the 'big break'
• If your people are already feeling isolated and disconnected how will that impact them when they've got the business shut down or time off over Christmas and new year.
• With the lack of connection, xmas parties and the stressful times - how do we keep engagement and motivation high?

This week on the podcast I dive into how we can

How to Keep Employees Motivated before Christmas

Although some of your staff may be winding down, others will be working frantically to make sure everything gets done before the break, dealing with a remarkable amount of pressure – no doubt not helped by their more relaxed colleagues.

It might sometimes seem as though pressure is actually making people more productive as holidays approach. Isn't this a good thing – you might ask? Well, maybe not. They may be productive, but they may not necessarily be happy.

And if they're not happy – what will they do? Lose motivation. Become unhappy, even look to leave – yes even with unemployment high that won't stop them applying for other jobs.

I spoke to one company who had 3 resignations just last week.

An essential first step to ensuring your people remain motivated is understanding the pressures they're facing – there's more to holiday mode than you might think, particularly in December.

Staff aren't just distracted by the fun of the festive season or rushing to get work done – there is a variety of anxieties and worries that can take hold at work all year round, but become increasingly pressing as the year comes to an end.

Employees are More Stressed in the run up to Christmas

Research finds that the Christmas period is often the most stressful for employees, and one survey in 2016 by Sodexo found that 23% of UK employees feel more stressed in the run up to Christmas.

Think about why that stress and pressure is there …

December is shortest working month so there is a pressure to get things done before the big break – there's this enormous "finish" for Christmas and finish for the year, not to mention end of the quarter / end of year.

Then personally for them, there's financial worries and pressure to be 'the best' Christmas and get all the gifts and things.

All this can mean they're losing sleep, coming to work tired and perhaps distracted, this leads to presenteeism or absence.

All this has been around for employees every year in December, but after the year we've had this could be exacerbated by the worries and stress and pressure of distanced Christmas and who can go where in what Tier.

Consider The Impact of Winter Wellbeing on Motivation

On top of that, we can consider winter wellbeing and their physical health or ill health – with coughs, colds, flu – it's talked about all the time during this pandemic – the affects of winter on health.

Illness caused by winter weather is a cause of workplace stress for 16% of UK employees according to the Office for National Statistics most recent report into sickness absence at work; coughs, colds and flu account for 26.2% of the 130 million-plus working days lost to illness each year – and these illnesses are particularly common in the winter.

Christmas Can Demotivate Employees

Research has found that almost half of the UK's workers will go into work despite feeling unwell. An ill worker is definitely not a motivated worker and there's a huge risk of illness spreading to others, knocking even more employees out of action for a few days.

A YouGov survey found that 21% of people (that's one in five) dislike Christmas, while research elsewhere found that 54% of employees dread the office party. Imagine what people will feel like with a pressure to join in the so-called fun activities.

How do we Keep Employees Motivated before Christmas? Celebrating Success

We're a nation brought up on being polite, don't boast, be nice the other person, so when it comes to celebrating success it can feel a little boastful and big headed – but it's important to ensure that achievements are recognised otherwise people become disengaged and unmotivated.

You can celebrate success and create a positive working environment by:

• Continually praising and congratulating individuals during virtual team meetings
• Internally publicising good work, for example, on the intranet
• Sending a card or gift in the post – even if it's a thank you note for a great piece of work, or finishing a project or delivering .. whatever.

• Remember that fun is meant to be spontaneous, so yes you can plan some events and situations, but you can make people enjoy it. Remember the stats about the xmas party. If you are going to celebrate anything other than success, ask them what they'd like. I know you won't get a fully consensus – gosh I remember trying organise xmas parties and events and it was never easy – but do ask people.

Even if people seem shy or bashful or even embarrassed, they will still get a hit of the reward chemicals that make them feel good about their achievements.

Offer Opportunities for Professional Development

There's nothing worse than trying to do a job without the right skills or equipment. Sometimes those skills might be personal skills or knowledge skills and if that's the case then your employees will likely feel overwhelmed, stressed or undervalued. That will definitely lead to motivation issues.

Employers can fight against both these problems by ensuring that staff benefit from training and know-how

If you've already done great onboarding and induction plans (because that's definitely the place to start) then you can:

• Arrange remote training sessions to be given by senior staff or external providers – ask me about my training.
• Ask team members to give a short session on a subject of relevance, for example, an industry update or a recent issue which they resolved
• Provide mentors to junior staff

It is important that employers engender a team spirit and encourage their employees to build positive relationships with each other.

Although it is no longer possible for employers to host away-days or in-person events, employers can ensure their employees are happy

Enable Autonomy

It is important that employers give some autonomy to the employees. Letting them have a sense of control over what they do and when they do it empowers them and motivates them to do the job. It shows that you trust them to deliver. Obviously if there's been some micro-managing then that will need working on but they're going to be more motivated and respond far better if you let do the job they need to do without breathing down their necks.

There's nothing more than anyone wants right now than a sense of feeling in control. This virus has taken the element of control away from all us, so giving a choice, control and a certain level of autonomy is a definite sure fire way to increase motivation.

Recognise Mental Wellbeing

Employers should recognise that the shift to home working has been, and continues to be, a stressful experience for many. Lack of room at home, children interrupting Zoom calls, dogs barking over conference calls, whatever the reason, life at the moment can be hard.

Employers need to make sure that they:

• Ask staff what is going well, what is not and what they are struggling with. That gives you a clear starting point for helping them in the right place to improve mental wellbeing and motivation.
• Remind staff of any external resources which are available to them – many places are offering 'drop in' styles coaching sessions that are available ad-hoc and often with me / external providers – so talk to me if you want help with that.
• Be flexible, to the extent that business needs allow, and understanding of individuals' personal circumstances

Wellbeing Check In and Surveys

I keep saying this.

Do a survey, formally or informally. To check in on them – although get the timing right. A well set out survey with good questions can provide you with a wealth of information.

Ask on team calls / meetings how they are. How they really are and if people are quiet, flippant, I'm fine, then call separately to check up on them.

Not everything will go perfectly. Some people will be critical. Solicit and welcome feedback. A critical component to engagement is employees feeling that they are heard. Soliciting feedback demonstrates your willingness to listen. Also, let employees know how you acted on their suggestions.

To finish up:

Remember that the dictionary defines motivation as a reason to act in a particular way. It is a desire to accomplish something. One of the most important functions of management is to create willingness amongst the employees to perform in the best of their abilities.

It's the little things that count. Let your staff know they are valued through simple gestures such as saying thank you or through small gestures such as buying some Christmas treats for the office. Consider granting flexible working if people want time off for school events and other things.

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

If you haven't yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] . Or head over to my website and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people's diary.

This week I'm sharing why it's important that we stay connected in the workplace and how to make that happen in pandemic times.

Think about it, if people feel disconnected then they get stressed and fed up, they feel undervalued, struggle to cope or feel isolated. If that happens how will that impact how they feel about their job or their manager?

On this podcast episode I share 6 ways I managed to keep my old corporate team connected and working well even with the toughest of bosses and stressful working conditions and that was before I knew about the psychology of connection!

6 Ways To Enhance Connections in the Workplace

We spend a lot of our time at work, so the relationships we have whilst at work can have a positive or negative impact on our stress levels, performance and happiness levels.

You only need to think about Maslow's hierarchy of needs - Where belonging, safety and friendships comes straight after the basic human needs and it's an important factor in motivation too. We need to be connected and have that feeling of belonging. That's not just in personal lives but in work lives too.

Connection is also included in Mind's 5 Ways to Wellbeing. Being social creates we need interaction with others. When we promote strong connections in the workplace then it can have a positive impact on happiness and performance.

How Happiness is Important in Reducing Stress in the Workplace

Listen in where I share how happiness is important in reducing stress and how it makes that happen too and why it's important to ensure that the connections you do arrange are attractive to people.

I'm always talking about how stress and pressure increases presenteeism, absences, and as we head into January we need to remember that this is prime time for people leaving their jobs. All that New Year, New Start thing, people don't want to put up with being miserable in their jobs, or feeling alone or unsupported. If they feel like that, they will look elsewhere – even in times like now where there's a lot of unemployed and risks of redundancy, people will still look for another job. So don't sit back and be complacent about this.

I talk on the podcast some more about complacency – employees who have friends and social connections within work tend to be more loyal and more engaged at work. That's what we want isn't it? Social connection provides a sense of unity in the office, that creates a place of trust, loyalty and respect.

I once worked for a director, when I managed his support office. He was known for getting results, but was also incredibly difficult to work for - demanding, particular and sexist.

However, the team I had, we pulled together

How My Team Enhanced Connections in my Workplace

Some of the things we did back then – I now realise just how important they were and because since then, I've trained in the neuroscience, psychology, attachment areas, I can see exactly why it worked. Let me share what we did and how that can be adapted into what you can do too – even during the pandemic.

Supportive Connections Reduced Feelings of Isolation

There was support by collectively talking and sharing our difficulties with him.

Many of us were in the same office, but not all of us, and we had opportunities when he wasn't in to – well honestly – moan, complain and share. However it's proven that not just talking about out issues is supportive and helpful, it's also good to know we're not alone in the situations. Create time for discussion and look at what's difficult – what's not going well. This is also an opportunity to share what does work. One of the guys had an amazing at changing the subject and appearing to answer his demanding questions, without answering it.

Social Time Enhanced our Connections in the Workplace

We regularly went to the pub on a Friday – there was one below our office and so it was called the lower meeting room! Now I know we can't all go the pub anymore, and even without lockdown, remote working teams need different ways to connect – not everyone drinks – so I've worked with organisations who are sending little parcels of tea bag, coffee sachet and biscuit and asking employees to join for Tea at Three on Tuesday or something like that. Be mindful of those who need to collect children or who can't join at 6pm at the end of the work day because of other commitments in the home.

Keeping Fit Enhanced the Connections

Some of the team would go to the gym together after work, or go cycling. They didn't particularly cycle fast apparently, it was another opportunity for chat, offload, put the world to rights. It was a connection time. Now I know it's so much harder now with people in remote working situations and distancing, but you can encourage sharing of wellbeing / fitness challenges and activities. Share best picture from their walk – a remote walking club perhaps – a distance running club – ask them obviously – this is always my message – that I will bore you to death with, but these are ideas for starters.

How Laughter Enhances Connections in the Workplace

Laughter is incredibly stress reducing and creates connections. This man we worked for was extremely particular and when he was visiting anywhere he had things planned to the finest degree. What the chauffeur would do, where they would park, who he would speak to. I once took an itinerary and basically ripped it to pieces with my sarcasm. I had them driving him up the steps into the foyer and things like that – obviously you had to be there at the time but it was funny – possibly a bit naughty but funny. We found ways to laugh even through the toughest of days. So what can you do – to create fun and laughter that promotes connection – a quiz / joke club / share the worst story about particular topics, their most epic fail.

Increase Positivity so that You Enhance the Workplace

All the staff came to when they were struggling or when he'd been particularly awful to them. Whilst listening and supporting and soothing the situation, I often would walk down that corridor, take a deep breath, pull my shoulders back before walking into the office with a big smile on my face. Doesn't mean I necessarily felt that way but I was leading positivity from the front. I didn't realise at the time that these things can be contagious and setting a tone for positivity can – almost create an air of positivity. We have what's known as mirror neurons in our brain that do what they say – they mirror the mood or situation we're in – so if you're leading and you smile, jolly along, use a sing song type voice you can take people with you on the positivity platform. Doing this encourages positive conversations and interactions, rather than negative ones. We really can change the mood like this.

Sharing Breaks Enhances Connections in the Workplace

We used to bring in cakes and biscuits and sandwiches – you've probably done the same – when you used to be in an office. Now obviously these will need to be at home / distanced etc. But you can still arrange to sit down and share together. Maybe a weekly team breakfast can work and add some fun into that too.

Being Kind Enhances Connections in the Workplace.

Watch the John Lewis Christmas advert – it's demonstrating the need for a little kindness and I talk more about this on the previous episode about How Kindness increases performance. Find ways to spread kindness. A thank you note, a well done email, a bit of 'this was great this week' on some of your calls / meetings / newsletters or weekly round up notifications.

The most important thing about Connections

The most important thing thought about connections – give this your undivided attention. If you're having lunch. Have lunch. That's all.

If you're having tea on Tuesday – do just that. No multi-tasking please.

When you give the connection time your undivided attention, you'll enhance their feel good chemicals and your own.

To finish, building connections in the workplace doesn't mean we have to be best friends with everyone, but it is about creating an environment where people feel included, connected, supported so that there is trust, belonging and mutual respect. Connections further enhance wellbeing by creating feelings of being valued and that improves self esteem and self worth. That's got to be good for the individual but also for your organisational wellbeing plan

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

If you haven't yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

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If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] . Or head over to my website and you can find the contact page and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people's diary.

Why You Need a Winter Wellbeing Plan

Many people are talking about feeling low, fed up and struggling. That's why I'm talking this week about why you need a winter wellbeing plan in your organisation, what you can do to get that started AND how you, as an individual, can boost your winter wellbeing and what are they key things to encourage others to do too.

Looking at a Winter Wellbeing Plan is important right now, because if we help you to be able to support yourself or to support the people in your organisation then you and your people will feel better. This has a positive impact on your own performance and well being and the performance of others.

I've been working with a number of organisations to successfully deliver virtual trainings on all sorts of Wellbeing at Work topics such as:

• Working Well at Home
• Healthy Work Life Boundaries
• Mental Health Awareness for Managers
• Mental Health Awareness for Individuals

Everything I deliver is very practical because (you'll know if you listen to my podcast) that I am all about making things easy and giving you top tips that you can take away with you.

Some feedback that I had recently said

I have been to a few webinars and this is the only one I have actual takeaways Emma knew her stuff had a good style and was real and I will take on board many items from her presentation she actually made me feel good and bright!

If you'd like more information then get in touch with me about providing this for your organisation.

Working through the pandemic is challenging for many different reasons - and those can differ from person to person - that's why it's important to take time to refresh our routines and look at the winter wellbeing plan.

What can employers do to make sure their winter wellbeing plan is effective and fits with the overall strategy? Conduct Employee Surveys and Research

I see so many social media posts where people are asking "what can I do to boost engagement / bring some fun / get people together" My answer every single time ... Ask Them.

Surveys are incredibly valuable to help orgs understand what staff want AND what staff are struggling with. However asking the right questions means you'll get specific answers and information rather than broad generalised answers.

It really is the only way to get information. It's also the best way – if you survey regularly to track improvements and monitor the impact of what you're providing.

Talk to me if you want info on surveys.

Promote Initiatives Well

Whatever it is that you decide to put in place ensure employees know what you're offering.

How are you going to tell people when so many are still working from home ? The usual poster on the noticeboard isn't enough. And people needs to be told more than once- how many times have you read something and had a great intention to do it / look at it – then forgot or got time overtaken by other things? It's the same with other people too. That's why you need to ensure you promote your initiatives really well.

Implement Year-Round Wellbeing Plans

People won't take the time to engage in a fad and a one off thing. Your winter wellbeing plan and initiatives are an integral part of any wellbeing offering, it is fundamental that wellbeing schemes are run throughout the year rather than just as standalone seasonal promotions - otherwise you won't get the results you're hoping for. I shouldn't need to tell you this – you know this right?

Wellbeing and winter wellbeing needs to be part of your business year round. Talk to me about creating an entire annual wellbeing plan.

How Can You Boost Your Own Winter Wellbeing?

There are things we can do for ourselves and each other which really can help.

Think about how are you feeling...

• Are you taking breaks?
• Are you sitting for long periods?
• Are you staying hydrated and eating well?
• Do you have a good work life balance?

Listen in to the podcast where I share what I've noticed in myself and what I'm doing about my winter wellbeing during lockdown.

Regulate Your Diet

I'm not a dietician but I think we all know we need to eat what's good for us – so protein keeps you full, balances blood sugar, keeps your head clear and focussed.

Reduce the caffeine and sugar - I said this on a webinar last week about Managing Stress and Anxiety to Improve Performance and someone said about cutting out coffee and how hard it was. So there's more about this on the podcast but in essence, cut down the intake.

Limit the News

The news is often a constant source of bad news and limiting the amount of news and social media you read can really help your positivity and mental wellbeing.

Stay Connected

I'll be talking about connections in the next episode, and they are hugely important – so find a way to meet someone, go for a walk, I keep saying it's ok to meet at the supermarket!!

Create Coping Strategies

Go back to previous podcasts where I talk more about this.

• Top 3 tips to handle stress
• Work Life balance
• Improve mental health.

Get Out and About

Think about the time of day you get out an about and be active – remember the morning and evenings have no daylight. This was traditionally the time of year we went to work in the dark and came home in the dark – now we don't even go out!

When working from home it is very easy to sit at your desk all day and not move, however making sure you are staying active is extremely important both for your wellbeing and for your health.

If you can get out in daylight – great and it will boost your Vitamin D which is good for mood so that's a bonus. If not – try and get out and about anyway doing something.

Sleep

Not getting enough sleep can affect your physical and your mental health. Establish a bedtime routine to help you relax before you go to bed.

Get Support

If you find you are struggling, reach out to those around you, whether that be family, friends or something else, please do reach out.

I hope that's been helpful and you can see valid reasons why you need to create a winter wellbeing plan, for yourself and your organisation. It's vital to improve employee health and motivation, which increases performance and also vital for you as an individual to support better mental health and boost your mood.

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

If you haven't yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] . Or head over to my website and you can find the contact page and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people's diary.

How Does Kindness Increase Performance?

Kindness is not about being weak and fluffy!

This week I'm sharing how kindness increases morale and raises self esteem and so it has a positive impact on mood and performance.

I also share how the contagious effect of kindness works so that you get increase performance as well as a happier workforce.

If you're a leader, manager or don't even have a team, then keep listening as there are also a few words specifically for you too – so even if you don't have a team – it's well worth a listen!

When we have so much going on in our lives and we are all dealing with (or even struggling) with the effects of the pandemic it can be easy to forget to be kind and instead be focussing on what's urgent or not's going well.

I talk in more detail some of the themes I've been seeing and hearing with the organisations I've been working with.

They've been asking me to delivery virtual workshops on

• Work-life Life Boundaries
• Managing Mental Health
• Resilience to Get Through Tough Times

and many more.

When a Manager Shows Kindness it Increases Performance

When other witness acts of kindness, or experience it for themselves it increases the feel good chemicals and positivity.

When we create a work environment where thank you's and well done are common place then it models and encourages others to do the same.

Listen in for specific ways and easy ideas on how you can boost the mood and raise positivity levels in the workplace and within teams.

I give a great example of where my daughter was given thanks and was left confused, rather than uplifted. So that's one to avoid!!

Kindness Increases Your Own Performance too!

We're often good at beating ourselves up and talking negatively to ourselves. So I want to ensure that you are kind to yourself.

Think about the words that you say and the things that you do and then listen in to the top tips of how you can boost your own feel-good chemicals and performance.

Find out the one crucial thing I insist you take OFF your to-do list.

If you are struggling, then do reach out to me, a friend or someone else.

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

If you haven't yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

If you want to be increasing your performance or that of your teams so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] . Or head over to my website and you can find the contact page and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary.

As we enter into Lockdown 2 in England and if you're else where then you're probably already experiencing more severe restrictions. After going through a first stage lockdown in the summer, you or your employees are now feeling more stressed and anxious than ever before with worries about what will happen, will they cope, will it only be a month.

We've also seen a rise in publicity around the detrimental effects of the pandemic on mental health and wellbeing. This makes it both informative and sometimes slightly alarming!

On the podcast this week I'm talking about how you can create habits that eliminate stress. I talk about how to:

• Increase positivity so that focus isn't all on the negative things in work and life
• Easy ways to support brain breaks
• Common issues I'm hearing from organisations that are detrimental to mental wellbeing AND what you can do instead

All this gives you and your team quick ways to get a sense of achievement which eliminates the stress and boost positivity and performance.

Listen into this third podcast in the mini-series about stress. As we come to the end of November's stress awareness week I'm sharing details about changing habits, supporting you and your teams to think differently, be more positive and reduce the worrying.

I'm also sharing some of the common pitfalls that a lot of individuals are experiencing when working from home, but also sharing the feedback I received on two corporate webinars.

Hear about how powerful and supportive it was when people on my webinar began to share their experiences which was helpful to others who attended too.

You can also hear about the simple tools and techniques to increase your self esteem, your feel good chemicals so that you get a sense of achievement, which in turn, increases your motivation.

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

If you haven't yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] . Or head over to my website and you can find the contact page and either send me a email from there or book an appointment straight into my diary – saving all that to-ing and fro-ing that you get when we try to get space in people's diary.