Q&A with Beth Hutchins, Just Content’s Wellbeing Ambassador

With many companies choosing to embrace remote working since the pandemic, it’s more important than ever to prioritise staff wellbeing and good mental health at work. That’s why we’ve appointed a Wellbeing Ambassador at Just Content, Beth Hutchins , who helps with our wellbeing initiatives within the business, to keep our remote workforce happy and cared for at work.?

We spoke to Beth about the importance of good wellbeing at work, and some ideas for how employers and managers can support their teams for a healthier work-life balance, especially when working from home. Read on to find out more from Beth!

What inspired you to become a Wellbeing Ambassador at Just Content?

I wouldn’t say I was ‘inspired’ – I just think wellbeing is important at work. When I started at Just Content it was post-covid and they had been doing a lot to support employee wellbeing during that time. The balanced and flexible approach to remote working is part of what attracted me to the company and I was offered the opportunity to become the Wellbeing Ambassador after I’d been involved in implementing a few ideas in this area.?

What’s the most rewarding part of your role as a Wellbeing Ambassador?

It gives me a reason to stay connected with colleagues across the company, and I get to (hopefully) make a positive difference to people’s work lives.

Can you share some examples of how Just Content has successfully integrated wellbeing into their organisational culture?

We now run a weekly ‘Breakfast Bites’ session to bring people together to share personal stories and work-related learning. We have a regular book group that meets, and a wellbeing channel on our Teams chats to tackle some of the feelings of isolation that remote working can create. We are working towards the Essex Working Well Accreditation which includes training Mental Health First Aiders and access to lots of different webinars on a range of mental and physical wellbeing topics and are trying to include more cross-company activities like growing sunflowers and doing walking challenges.

What role should managers play in fostering mental and emotional wellbeing on their teams?

All companies have a legal responsibility to protect the health and wellbeing of their employees and managers need to be aware of their part in this. Managers will often be the main contact for their teams and can set the tone around mental and emotional wellbeing for the staff they manage. It’s important for managers to be aware of issues that could be impacting their team and to create an open and honest dialogue with team members so that they feel they can raise issues. This could be work-related (such as workload), or external (illness, caring responsibilities) and managers need to know how to respond to and escalate issues appropriately. This may mean seeking additional training for themselves if needed. Managers need to remember too that part of their role is leadership and they need to set an example – if the manager is always working late, always stressed and not looking after their own wellbeing then that won’t help their team!

How can employees create boundaries between work and personal life, especially when working from home?

This is such a tricky one! I asked everyone what they do to help with this and here are some thoughts:

• Getting dressed properly every day (no PJs!)
• Having a designated work space and making sure it’s out of sight as far as possible when not working. Could be a desk that closes up, moving things off the kitchen table or the luxury of a home office.
• Having an 'end of day' ritual (e.g. close laptop, turn off mouse, tidy away mugs, close notebook, put pens away) to clearly mark the end of work time
• Keeping phone in another room unless needed for work and only checking it during breaks
• Get out of the house during the day – a lunchtime walk or similar to make sure you don’t just eat lunch at your desk

Sometimes, though, one of the great things about working from home is that those boundaries can become more blurred when they need to. When pets (or even small children!) crash Zoom meetings, it can be a nice reminder that we’re not all robots!

What are the signs that someone’s work-life balance might be off, and how can managers address it?

This may vary depending on the person and role but I would suggest that managers need to be aware of anything that is out of character for a team member. Some people may seem quieter or less communicative than normal, others may appear more short tempered. It may be that you notice people are working more or fewer hours than normal. Often surfacing the issue by asking open questions will initiate a conversation and allow you to work with them to identify what support they need. Your company may have specific guidelines to refer to on how to approach this sort of conversation.

How do you see remote work affecting workplace wellbeing in the long term?

Remote work is a double-edged sword. It can be a wonderful way to avoid stressful, expensive commutes that eat into our downtime, allow us to spend more time with family, it can help those of us with caring responsibilities to balance these more effectively and can be a much more flexible approach to work than a traditional office-based role. However, it can also be very isolating, allow work to intrude into home life, encourage poor physical habits including sitting for a long time, poorly set-up workstations, and make it difficult to build good working relationships. I hope that over time, more businesses will recognise the need to support remote workers and ensure that they get the most out of working this way.

Can you recommend any platforms, apps, or resources that promote mindfulness or mental health at work?

There is a wealth of resources out there – what suits an individual can vary hugely. Mind has some great support and ideas. I know people who use different guided meditation resources such as Headspace and I find simple breathwork exercises to be really helpful. I’ve heard good things about the Happify app (there is a free and paid-for version) but mostly I would recommend getting outside! There is so much great research to show how much being outside, getting out in nature (even if that’s just your local park) and regular walking can improve mental and physical health and it’s free!

What personal practices do you follow to maintain your own wellbeing in your role at Just Content?

I try to ensure I move in some way every day (walking, swimming, home workouts, weights, gardening, but not all at once…), drink plenty of water (and not too much caffeine – although not always successful at that one), talk to my manager if my workload becomes too much, and build in screen and desk breaks. Using our internal communication channels to stay connected with the team is also a great way to remind myself I’m lucky to work with a supportive bunch of people.

If there was one piece of advice you could give to every organisation regarding employee wellbeing, what would it be?

To me it feels like a no-brainer – why wouldn’t it make sense to do what you can as a business to support the wellbeing of your staff? But if you need a reason, research shows that employees who feel valued, trusted and important to their organisation are more likely to be engaged, productive and efficient.?