Nina Reed, HR Business Partner at Julian House
“I was so impressed with the approach Jo and Felicity took with our well-being survey! We want to work and collaborate with our employees and Jo & Felicity really took this onboard and spent time designing the survey together with our employees, getting input from them. We had a great response to the survey and now have a document which will be incorporated to our People Strategy. Thank you so much, I look forward to working with you both!”
Situation
Julian House is a regional charity supporting vulnerable and at-risk individuals across the Southwest of England, providing a range of housing services and training programmes to adults and children in need. The Senior Leadership Team and HR Lead wanted to develop an inclusive and responsive People Strategy to respond to the challenges staff were facing at all levels of the organisation.
Task
The primary task was to evaluate staff wellbeing needs with a view to creating a bespoke strategy and programme of interventions to improve wellbeing across the organisation. With a diverse staff group working in multiple locations across the Southwest of England, each facing their own challenges, a comprehensive analysis was needed to ensure a robust, inclusive evaluation of staff wellbeing needs.
Action
A series of pre-survey consultations provided staff and senior leaders the opportunity to describe their desired outcomes for the wellbeing survey and strategy. This established initial engagement, essential for building trust and gaining insight into staff needs and priorities. The design of the survey drew on themes identified in the consultations. Survey content was tailored to the specific experiences and hopes of staff within the organisation and explored themes associated with workplace stress and wellbeing support.
Result
A majority of staff completed the online survey, highlighting the relative importance of wellbeing for staff and demonstrating a collective investment in improving working conditions and support. The findings identified key sources of stress, as well as staff wellbeing and support needs. Further post-survey consultation supported the HR team to incorporate the findings into their People Strategy and to design a programme of interventions aimed at improving the working lives and wellbeing of staff at Julian House.