The We-are-HR March Newsletter

Dear Readers,

How was your Month of March?

At We-are-HR, we have been actively focussing on our HR Networking Event in conjunction with BWHR. We have had such a positive response from our community, that we are encouraged to regularly host a Networking event, to invite like-minded people who will enjoy and contribute to its success.

Our Marketing Team is busy co-ordinating and promoting the event on various platforms, so if you haven’t managed to get a ticket please do so now as spaces are limited. Kindly click here and get your FREE ticket.

If you are not convinced about the benefits of networking, please read our latest blog: Networking – Why it’s the secret of success!

Continuing with the theme of Networking I recently attended a Harvard Business School event on the Burnout Pandemic; a topic that is of avid interest.

As a mother of four children, I recall feeling totally overwhelmed in 2020 during the pandemic working full-time and having my position drastically change to being totally remote which led to the adjustment of working from home alongside managing the family.

I recognised that I had a pattern of setting myself high expectations and high targets which led to frustration and stress when trying to achieve them.

I acknowledged that this type of personality is more prone to burnout; where the constant need to drive oneself is something that is continuous, therefore recognising these signs and learning preventative strategies to build resilience was key to avoiding burnout.

At this event I was fortunate to have met the lovely Jennifer Moss and to have received a signed copy of her most recent book, The Burnout Epidemic, which was named 10th Best New Management Book for 2022 by Thinkers 50 and shortlisted for the 2021 Outstanding Works of Literature Award.

Jennifer’s book argues that organisations need to do more as the needs of employees have changed since the pandemic and that employees don’t necessarily want more, they want different. Employees have moved from a transactional to a social contract with work, and their needs have shifted.

She has recognised that as Leaders we need to ask ourselves, do we want a jam the toothpaste back in the tube strategy, or do we want to make work, finally work? Jennifer argues that Leaders need to model self-care behaviours.

My Key takeaways from this event were:

• Toxic Productivity does not grow a happy organisation
• There is a lack of empathy amongst managers leading to burnt out employees
• There are 6 signs of burnout: unsustainable workloads, lack of control, lack of rewards and recognition, lack of community lack of fairness mismatched values/skills.
• There are three types of quiet quitters: The survivors, The Opt-Outs, and The Bad Actors.
• Organisations should adopt a framework for mental health and well-being in the workplace consisting of incorporating 5 key areas: Protection from Harm, Connection and Community, Work-Life Harmony, opportunities for Growth, and Mattering at Work.
• Employees should be encouraged to take Productive Rest, which consists of: Physical Rest, Mental Rest, Sensory Rest, Creative Rest, Emotional Rest, Social Rest and Spiritual Rest.
• Healthy relationships are important at work
• A workplace study found that 63% of employees selected work-life balance as a top priority when picking a new job
• HEROGEM is the Model of: Happy, Healthy, High-Performing Employees, which consists of: Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, Optimism, Gratitude, Empathy, and Mindfulness.

I was extremely enlightened after this event and found the information and research provided by Jennifer insightful and would highly recommend our readers to review the presentation on the Burnout Pandemic – as People Professionals. This information provides you with additional information and guidance on the framework for mental health and well-being, perfect for utilisation within the workplace.

Continuing on with my March Networking, I was introduced to the wonderful Rachel Austin and we immediately connected sharing our similar experiences. Rachel currently assists companies in tackling employee burnout by providing data-driven insight into burnout risk levels and what’s contributing to this through an assessment and reporting platform that she developed called AURA. If this is something that might be of interest to your organisation please make contact with Rachel Austin directly by emailing [email protected].

Rachel is also running a special retreat in Portugal this summer which is focused on helping people recognise signs of burnout, recover, and equip them with resilience skills to handle stress better.

I believe that this is an excellent offering for the We-are-HR community to recognise, revitalise and reawaken! Please find the full details here.

If you would like to access your risk of burn out please take the free assessment here!

At We-are-HR our point of difference is that we understand the needs of diverse People Professionals through our vested interest in ensuring that our community is educated in well-being practices that they can share within the workplace, please join our We-are-HR community on Linkedin for access to well-being tips, guidance, and course discussions.

On the solutions side of the business, we have been receiving some positive reviews from our existing clients:

Natasia, her approach, knowledge and network has had a hugely positive impact on our organisation at a time of major change - highly recommend working with her!

Stuart Coleman, Director, Strategic Development, ODI

We-are-HR was pivotal in assisting with the creation of employment contracts and advising on the policies that needed to be created during the initial start-up phase of Skin Solace. I appreciate the honesty, commitment, and work ethic.

Natalee Onyeche, Founder and CEO, Skin Solace

If you are an SME who would like a personal approach to managing HR Solutions, alongside benefiting from our HR Audit please get in contact!

Our next Blended Learning Start Dates are:

Level 3: 6th of June

Level 5: 18th of May

Level 7: 6th of June

Don’t forget that we have launched Self-Paced learning and you are now able to start on our programmes ‘anytime’!

We hope our readers had a very relaxing Easter Break.

Thank you for subscribing to our monthly newsletters!

Best Wishes,

We-are HR Team