Crying rooms, time out and employee well being
Marie Walsh
Experienced Employment Lawyer and Work Place Mediator. Director at Consilia Legal and Consilia Mediation. ELA Representative for the Yorkshire Region.
I was speaking to a contact of mine recently who was assisting in the implementation of a crying room in the workplace.
Its not something I had heard of before and certainly I’ve never worked anywhere with a crying room. That being said it really sparked my interest.
My first reaction was negative, what a waste of time and money, who would go into a room to cry at work and what’s the point?
On reflection though I realised that this year alone I have cried at work twice. Both times related to personal circumstances and deaths of friends and family. Both times at my desk, once in front of my colleagues.
I wasn’t embarrassed at all at the time just upset and after all this is a normal emotional reaction not just to death but to tiredness, frustration, anxiety and the list goes on. At the moment I think we can all relate to this. Some us cry, some of us exercise and some just need a time out.
With this in mind I can see that there probably is a benefit in having a space at work for employees to take a rest, be calm and when they feel like it, have a good cry. We spend a lot of time at work (in non-covid times) and we are all impacted by work and personal issues.
I do wonder though how this works in practice and whether these rooms are utilised by employees. Also, whether there is any stigma attached to their use? Of course, crying is not a protected characteristic but would a colleague who used these rooms a lot be perceived as weak or not up to the job. To the contrary would it been seen as a sign of strength to take time out and be open about our feelings?
I suppose much will depend on the company culture and how use of the rooms is communicated and encouraged. I’d be really interested to hear any experiences that you might have of the use of such rooms in your business or others that you might know of and/or any other thoughts you might have on this or any other supportive provisions in the workplace that you would recommend.
Very best wishes
Marie
Mechanical Designer, ?Imagineer?, Pack Lead (Awoos every scrum)
3 个月Very interesting, something to think about
Helping organisations & individuals to give nature a boost. Rewilding here in the UK, providing nature-based solutions for those who want to invest in carbon mitigation & biodiversity restoration
4 年In a previous role, I used to have a urgent walks every now and then - get out of the way and try and calm down before going back to work
Commercial Lead, FinTech Founder, Commercial Finance & SME Champion, NED, Mentor, Chartered Marketer, MSc Student.
4 年We have a wellbeing room...It's lovely and the team love using it. No tech. Just tea/coffee, candles and easy to read material on mindfulness...Oh and a moss wall and plants. I don't go in here to cry though...I'll openly cry in the office if I need to...there's been a few of those occasions in the last 12 months!
Money Habitudes? Certified Facilitator and Multi Award Winning Money Psychologist helping people understand their relationship with money - what drives their choices and behaviours.
4 年Marie Walsh a lovely article addressing another area where wrong thinkinh can keep us locked up until someone is willing to make the right move and not be concerned about what others think. Thank you for sharing your own personal experience and I can identify with it even though I don't work in a shared office. To me, crying is like a safety valve and it's healthy too. It's another way of keeping us safe, mentally and emotionally and it will definitely benefit the workplace encouraging greater engagement.