Health and Wellbeing Group

We care about the people who work for the TU: offer mental and physical health and wellbeing support, and we recognise the importance of helping people to stay well, not just for themselves, but also for the success of the TU and the health and care transformation projects that we deliver.

As part of the MLCSU, we have access to a great health and wellbeing offer. We have also developed a complimentary offer within the TU team, which promotes a positive, proactive and personal approach to looking after our people’s physical and mental health.

Our Health and Wellbeing Group supports our continual improvement ethos, identifying key focus areas for the year ahead and working collaboratively to make positive changes, whether this is based on staff lived experiences, staff surveys and informal feedback or innovative ideas raised by the wider team.

Five Ways to Wellbeing

The Health and Wellbeing working group is open to anyone passionate about workplace wellbeing, and includes leads across other strategic areas, such as Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Physical Health and Mental Health. As a framework for our activities, we utilise the “Five Ways to Wellbeing” approach: Give, Connect, Keep Learning, Take Notice, Be Active.

GIVE:

Our high-trust approach with flexible working supports our work-life balance. We also have a weekly Self Check-in hour: time out of the working week which team members can use to support their personal wellbeing – perhaps to join a yoga class, go for a walk, or undertake a relaxing or mindful activity. TU staff are also given the opportunity to use 5 volunteering days over the course of the year so that we can give back in meaningful ways.

CONNECT:

We have a flexible and hybrid approach to home/office working, and we keep in regular contact through online chats, and encourage our team to get to know each other through our regular twice weekly virtual Team Check-in sessions, sharing business updates interspersed with plans for the weekend or the ups and downs of life outside of work.  We hold monthly Whole Team Meetings in the office, and bi-monthly Whole Team Days, both of which include opportunities for connection and collaboration as well as health and wellbeing updates and workshops.

KEEP LEARNING:

At the TU we have a strong focus on learning and organisational development, and helping our team to be the best they can be. We share lived experiences at our team meetings, and invite guest speakers to educate and inform, or to challenge stigma surrounding broad health and wellbeing issues. We encourage innovation and initiative – for example a group of staff recently started a popular menopause awareness Teams Channel to share information and insights and thought-provoking discussions.

TAKE NOTICE:

As our health and wellbeing can impact our work, all colleagues complete a personal Health and Wellbeing Plan as part of their annual appraisal process. This is discussed in monthly 1:1’s with Home Line Managers (or as and when required) in an informal way, fostering an open culture and integral, positive action to support staff. We have also developed an optional Personal Support Plan which helps individuals to share any difficulties that may impact them at work, along with supportive actions colleagues could take to help, or reasonable adjustments agreed.

Within the TU (and across the wider organisation) we have several trained Mental Health First Aiders; and a firm pledge to keep improving mental health at work through organisational initiatives such as the Mental Health at Work Commitment. We offer a range of support for healthy working environments, whether office-based or at home.

BE ACTIVE:

We encourage and support good physical health (whatever that means for individuals, and mindful of the impact of long-term conditions and disabilities). We promote initiatives in our weekly newsletters, for example sharing local routes for walking meetings, or healthy recipes; promoting apps or other forms of support for increasing fitness or combatting home-working inactivity; or volunteering opportunities to help people feel actively involved and part of a team.

Some team members organise or participate in fundraising events, undertaking challenges such as climbing Snowdonia or the Manchester 10k run; others enjoy participating in sports and social events, bake-offs or food-bank collections. Our Annual TU-Athlon is a 6-week event to encourage each person to identify a personal challenge (which can be anything from running 50 miles to reading 10 books) and to meet our own health and wellbeing goals, as well as fostering a healthy team spirit!