Problem:
Smile employs a Chief Executive and three other staff. Additional roles (such as book-keeping, IT support and social media management) are contracted on a sessional basis. Mediations are conducted in pairs by qualified mediators, acting in non-paid or pro bono capacities.
In response to CoVID-19 pandemic, Smile introduced a range of changes to the ways the service could be operated and delivered:
- working from home for all staff members and no attendance at the office
- the provision of mediations and a new ‘listening service’ using telephone and video-conferencing, rather than in-person meetings
- on-line training courses and training for mediatorsStaff, volunteers and indeed members of the public successfully adapted to the new working arrangements for delivering mediations and training. However, the Chief Executive became aware of the pressure on staff arising from the increase in the number of referrals, limitations associated with IT equipment and systems, personal and family impacts associated with requirements to work from home plus ‘home-schooling’. Given that these arrangements were likely to continue for the foreseeable future, the CEO considered it important to ensure that the needs of staff could be addressed. The Chief Executive approached CD Psychology to review staff wellbeing and to offer recommendations.As an organisation having an ethos in acknowledging the health and wellbeing of parties in the mediation process, the Chief Executive was conscious that the health and wellbeing of staff alongside maintaining business financial viability, was key to continuation of the business in the longer term.Whilst attention to workforce health and wellbeing is relevant at any time, many organisations have acknowledged that mental wellbeing and resilience were really brought sharply into focus during 2020 to 2022 because of significant personal, social and cultural impacts arising from the coronavirus pandemic.