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Posts for April, 2010

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  1. 0

    Will Ultimate U be a winner?

    Added on 23rd April 2010 by Fiona Yorke in Recognition

    We’ve entered The National Training Awards 2010!

    Well, it’s now official – we have just sent off our entry for the National Training Awards. These awards are the UK’s most prestigious. We are really proud of our entry which outlines how we introduced an innovative Mental Wellbeing programme into one of our client’s organisations. Of course there is now a process of short listing and if we get through that, then the judges come out and visit us for a further ‘grilling’!

    So we’ll keep you updated on progress…we are quietly confident but still have got everything crossed!!

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    Feel the Fun…

    Added on 16th April 2010 by Fiona Yorke in Stress

    In Personnel Today this week there is an article about how employers are tackling the stress epidemic in the workplace. One of the interesting bits is that in the Bothered Britain Report commissioned by Simplyhealth, the health benefits provider, found that 33% of the respondents reduced workplace stress by ‘creating a fun atmosphere’.

    I am intrigued to know what exactly that means…

    Do people really know how to have fun at work? With all the caution around whether certain banter is acceptable plus the increasing levels of workload after the recession has hit, seeing staff numbers decrease, getting into ‘fun’ could prove quite a challenge. But I am absolutely convinced that it is the right thing to get into.

    I’ve seen small changes to the working environment making a huge difference to how people feel about their surroundings and whether they have permission to relax and have a bit of fun. For example, one of my clients has recently moved into new offices – all the walls are white and give a very clinical feel. The Operations Manager wanted the atmosphere to feel more friendly and personal. So, he invited his team to bring in some photos of themselves when they were younger and these were projected onto various walls. This created a talking point, interest and lots of giggles that reduced tension and allowed dialogue from different departments to increase.

    Okay I am not suggesting that we all start doing this but really thinking about what we mean by a ‘fun atmosphere’ and identifying what the boundaries to this will be are essential. So let’s get it on the next team meeting agenda, “Item 1 – How we can create a more fun atmosphere at work” and roll with it!

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    The importance of supporting staff with Depression…

    Added on 6th April 2010 by Fiona Yorke in Mental Wellbeing

    Could better Mental Health Awareness and Strategy prevented Police dogs death?

    Our view…

    You may have heard that earlier this year PC Mark Johnson of Nottinghamshire Police received a six month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £2500 costs for the deaths of two police dogs Jay-Jay and Jet who were left in his van without ventilation in 29.3 degree heat last year.

    The sentence for Johnson was not as lengthy as it could have been after it emerged he had been suffering from depression and obsessive compulsive disorder.  It was identified that his employers could have done more to support Johnson with his poor mental health.

    This case raises important considerations for employers.  Mental ill health can be easily ‘brushed off’ by managers until something devastating happens as with the Johnson case.  Being reactive to mental ill health can often be a mistake; we believe employers need to set a policy, communicate it and raise awareness to staff of how to apply it.  Managers especially need to have a grasp of how to have meaningful dialogue with staff about mental ill health. 

    But were others factors at play here?  We think so.  Large uniformed institutions such as the Police can be victim to a perpetuation of a ‘macho’ type culture where not showing a vulnerable side is the norm.  The consequences?  People bottle up issues, refuse to acknowledge that they may have a problem and managers get away with not tackling issues and the organisation removes the opportunity for support and positive intervention techniques by managers.

    Now we are not saying that all Police forces do this and we are sure there will be some excellent examples out there of support strategies for staff with mental health issues but we think more employers need to be waking up to the fact that their staff are human and that the old ‘leave your problems at the door’ philosophy of management is exactly what it is – old.

    What is your organisation doing to get teams resilient against mental ill health?

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    Fiona Yorke featured in Personnel Today

    Added on 1st April 2010 by Fiona Yorke in Mental Wellbeing

    Your feature “Terms and Conditions” (Personnel Today, 12 January) highlighted the difficulties in dealing with mental ill health disclosure in general terms. Unfortunately, there is a lack of clarity between different mental health disorders.

    For example, interchanging depression and bipolar disorder is misleading. The feature indicated that bipolar disorder is treated by antidepressants which, in the majority of cases, would be inaccurate. People with depression are usually treated with antidepressants; people with bipolar disorder are initially, more often than not, treated with mood stabilising medication.

    It is also not useful to talk about mental illness as a disability. It can be disabling but it doesn’t have the permanence of other disabilities and to discuss it as such does not provide the solution focus it needs.

    I’d like to see more emphasis placed on the large numbers of people who recover completely from illnesses of the mind – mental illness is not necessarily a life sentence.

    There is a clear role for HR to set the agenda for businesses to create a culture of openness and understanding for staff with mental health problems and to consider the future to encourage potential staff to be fearless in their disclosure, knowing that organisations will have the necessary skills and support mechanisms in place.

    Let’s keep the dialogue going about mental wellbeing in the workplace, but let’s ensure that we apply as much factual rigour to this as we would other HR issues.

    Link to Personnel Today article “Terms and Conditions” that Fiona refers to:

    http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2010/01/04/53566/mental-health-in-the-workplace.html

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    Go Green…

    Added on 1st April 2010 by Fiona Yorke in Office Stuff

    Ultimate U has found a very useful website for recycling your printer toner cartridges for charity.

    Click on this link to find out and more and register your company:

    www.greensource.co.uk

    Ultimate U are supporting ORCA – a marine conservation trust but there are others to choose from, including Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal which supports sick children at Bristol Hospital.

    So do your bit for the environment and also raise some cash for charity!