Special Edition: CIPD Wellbeing at Work Conference

#cipdWW

I’ve had the most fantastic 2 days at the CIPD Wellbeing at Work Conference, attending ay 1 in person and presenting, and watching Day 2 from home.

What a privilege to find myself amongst such a diverse and talented group of wellbeing professionals, all united in the common goal of creating workplaces that really enable people to thrive.

Every single person I've met at the conference was there because they care passionately about the people they employ and genuinely want to give them the best colleague wellbeing experience possible. It was really inspiring to hear how other employers are taking a holistic approach to wellbeing and to hear leaders talking about their own journeys, the challenges that they’ve encountered and the successes they’ve delivered.

Highlights for me include the opening address by CIPD 's CEO Peter Cheese, whose passion for wellbeing and data-led approach (yes, it really does pay back) was a really uplifting start to the conference.

We heard from Damien Bernard , Daniel Chan and Felicia Squire FCIPD who shared their thought leadership on hybrid working and maintaining the human touch in fully remote teams. It was fascinating to hear how offices are becoming collaboration centers, a space where people come together to work on tasks that are better completed in groups. I enjoyed learning about how teams at dentsu are being trusted and empowered to create their own Team Charters and work out their own ways of working that best suit them. How times are changing!

Another hot topic, psychological safety, was next on the agenda. This new buzzword on the block was brought to life really clearly by Mark Lomas, Chartered FCIPD of Lloyd's of London, who described it brilliantly as a ‘Speak Up’ culture. What a perfectly simple way to explain what is at the heart of true psychological safety: feeling safe to point out something that isn’t right, without fear of retribution. Lloyds are a great example of an organisation who have turned their once infamous drinking culture on its head – something that many other employers could learn from! Mark if you are reading this, I'd love to interview you for a book that I'm writing on this topic!

Sam Westwood, Chartered FCIPD was next up, sharing the approach that The White Company have taken, which incorporates wellbeing into every step of the collague journey. I particularly enjoyed the fact that employees can get a 50% discount on bed sheets to help them get a great nights sleep – such a lovely touch!

It was then time for the session on tackling taboo topics in the work place with Abigail Hirshman and taking on the first taboo. Death by suicide is such a difficult topic; Abigail’s professionalism and immense knowledge base really shone through. It’s really encouraging to see progressive employers who already have a robust wellbeing programme starting to take on some of these tricker topics.

Of course, it when then time for my big moment. Thankfully, I managed not to fall down the gigantic step between the seats and the podium, which was probably my biggest fear! I was flattered by the interest from delegates about bringing the topic of alcohol use into the workplace wellbeing agenda. As I said in my talk, when you consider the impact that alcohol can have on physical, mental, financial, relationship and even environmental wellbeing,??it really is the elephant in the wellbeing room.

If you'd like to find out more about how we can help you to address that elephant, do get in touch at [email protected] for a no-obligation chat.

A huge thank you to the lovely Julie Cridland for taking some snapshots of me in action!

Continuing at the sharp end of wellbeing, we then heard from Amanda Hammond of 富士通 and Sam Royston of Marie Curie UK . Being married to someone with a terminal illness, I was particularly interested to hear about the end of life bereavement support and different approaches that emplloyers take. I have to admit, I thought I was going to have to get the tissues out at one point, triggered by the saddest quote from a woman who had lost her daughter to cancer and was only allocated 5 paid days of leave. She tooka further 5 unpaid, and had to borrow money to pay the bills the following month. It make me stop and be grateful for the employers that I have worked for at Co-op and Asda who really had been amazing in times of need.

Finally, the wonderful Sam Cooper from Macmillan Cancer Support shared some really thought provoking insights into the idea of measuring managers on their approach to wellbeing. Recruiting and measuring KPI’s that show how well managers are looking after their people, as whole people, is a fairly radical approach, yet is fantastic in its simplicity. As we all know, what gets measured gets done!

Of course, it would be remiss of me to end Day 1 without mentioning the excellent chair for the session, Rachel Suff who kept us perfectly to time and added real value with her own insights into how CIPD have been progressing some of these topics with their own people.

A round of of Day 2's highlights for me include the engaging talk from Jabbar Sardar . It was really heart warming to hear how the BBC have been able to create enough psychological safety for people to share their personal data and, even better, to share their personal experiences. As I've said many time before, leaders who show some vulnerability create teams who will walk through walls for them. Powerful stuff, and very aligned to the work that I've been doing at Co-op where we have 70 people in our Sober Curious Society who regularly share stories to support each other in creating a healthier relationship with alcohol.

It was great to hear from the sponsors MindGym and their CEO Octavius Black CBE about their behavioural science lead approach to tackle the latest wellbeing needs. It's refreshing to see data and science being brought into this discipline to create meaningful change. The days of assuming that offering a fruit bowl and a yoga class will fix things are well and truly over!

We then had a panel discussion around the #4dayworkweek with some staggering statistics that really demonstrate that, frankly, we should all move to this now. Hearing the experiences of Anne-Marie Lister from Atom bank , Henry Stewart ?? from Happy Ltd (who incidentally has the best job in the world - Chief Happiness Officer), and Adrian Cruden from Friends of the Earth has certainly convinced me that it's the future of work. It's not just a small scale 'one off' study, there is real data around this now which demonstrates the need to really challenge our thinking on this. The organisations that adapt and adopt this new way of working will attract and retain the very best of the Gen Z talent pool that is now entering the workforce.

Tom Kegode then took to the stage to share tips from Lloyds Banking Group on maintaining wellbeing in remote teams. I particularly like the idea of using the office as a tool, and that it's OK to go into the office to 'generate social capital' (or, I like to call it, catch up on all the gossip)! It's amazing how much work you actually do while chatting. You may feel as though you've not been as productive, but you've probably avoiding sending about 100 emails to people by just being around and sharing that information in a different way.

Fatema Shah was the penultimate speaker, who shared with us the fantastic work that 汇丰 have been doing to offer workplace education about finances. As she so rightly points out, nobody teaches you this stuff at school! With the cost of living crisis hitting hard, there's never been a better time to add financial health checks to your overall wellbeing provision.

And finally, Dr Adam Turner FCIPD took us on a journey through the NHS's approach to caring for the people who care for the people who care for the people. The NHS is a large, unwieldy organisation that has been under the most enormous amount of pressure I think any organisation could possibly be under for the past 5 years or so. I was left wondering Adam, I do hope that someone is caring for you!

If you'd like support creating an Alcohol Safe Workplace, without killing the buzz, visit Choose Sunrise to access free resources and book in for a no obligation chat.

Let's end the stigma, because nobody should feel afraid to ask for help with alcohol use.