Developing the resilience and wellbeing of staff

Q1 What percentage of work-related illness is caused by stress? C now gone up to 44%

Q2 How many working days a year are lost to stress? A 9 million B 13 million C 15 million c

Q3 In which industry is stress most prevalent? A Public service B Retail C Finance a

Q4 On average, how much does it cost to recruit and induct a new care worker? B £2k C £3.5k c

What is resilience and why does it matter? Resilience is the ability to cope under pressure - it protects against stress Stress is a major issue in adult social care - it undermines the quality of care and support and it damages the mental and physical health of workers Employers have a legal obligation to address stress at work Developing the resilience of staff is one of the keys to retaining workers with the right values and behaviours The practical steps that foster resilience also help to build positive workplace cultures that support high-quality, person-centred care and support Why does resilience matter? Resilience matters for two main reasons. Resilience helps to: protect workers from stress and ensure the quality of services.

What does resilience look like? Behaviours associated with resilience: Understanding and valuing the meaning of what you do at work Doing what you can to get on with the people around you Taking a problem-solving approach to difficulty Keeping a sense of perspective (and humour) when things go wrong Being flexible and willing to adapt to change and to learn Greeting new situations, new people and new demands with a positive attitude Drawing on a range of strategies to help you cope with pressure Where does resilience come from? The way we behave is shaped by a range of factors, including personality and past experience as well as current circumstances and the people around us. All of these things influence a person’s resilience. Are some people naturally more resilient than others? Some people may have qualities that make them more resilient than others. Resilience is best defined in terms of behaviour and support. Behaviours can be learned and support put in place – which means that, in practice, there is a lot we can do to help workers become more resilient.

Identifying stress Do we know when we or our staff are too stressed? finding it hard to make decisions constantly worrying avoiding situations that are troubling you snapping at people biting your nails picking at your skin unable to concentrate eating too much or too little Also: smoking or drinking alcohol more than usual restless, like you can't sit still being tearful or crying.

Six primary sources of stress at work Demands, including workload, work patterns and the work environment Control, i.e. having too little say about the way you do your work Support, i.e. inadequate support from the organisation, line managers, colleagues Relationships, including conflict and malignant behaviours (e.g. bullying, harassment) Role, i.e. when you lack clarity about your role, and/or you have conflicting roles Change, i.e. when organisational change is poorly managed and/or communicated

How to develop the resilience & wellbeing of staff Culture is key! Open door policy Modelling Reflective supervision and team meetings Honesty and shared understanding of good practice Learning and Development Motivation Coaching and mentoring Rewards and retention tools Wellbeing resources in your workplace

Effective supervisions Do we have enough time in supervision? What questions are you asking? Do you have the space to ask the right questions? Are you able to illicit the right information sensitively? Are you supported in your own supervision/training? Do you record supervision and follow up? How do you give feedback? Care Management Group - piloting new supervision and team meeting documents that included open questions relating to staff wellbeing Here are some questions that you could ask staff in their supervision to encourage them to be more open about how they’re feeling. They can help you to identify what you’re doing well and what you need to improve. What do you love about what you do? What stops you having a good day? How do you protect yourself when you feel under pressure? (For example, whether they make time for a break, how that can work in practice.) How would you like to be supported if something does not go as planned? How do you feel that you can work as a team to ensure that there is a culture of resilience and mental health wellbeing? Ask people what they’re doing in their own organisations

Talk for five minutes about something you enjoy – not work! Are we Listening? Talk for five minutes about something you enjoy – not work!

Active Listening Pay attention – no distractions Open body language Feedback and reinforcement Don’t Interrupt – resist the urge to compare Be honest and respectful in your response

Practical support Resilience comes in many guises… Relaxation techniques Mindfulness Self-care Assertiveness Time management Effective team-working Communication skills Problem-solving and critical thinking skills Reflective practice Care Management Group: promote wellbeing messages through the intranet and posters launch a newsletter that highlights initiatives and promotes wellbeing (see appendix 1) produce a wellbeing toolkit deliver resilience workshops for teams ensure supervisions give people the opportunity to discuss how they can be supported with their wellbeing look for ways to openly talk about mental health and wellbeing across the organisation launch a blog from the senior management team about how they remain well ensure there are effective occupational health and employee assistance schemes in place that staff can use. deliver mindfulness sessions at team meetings deliver monthly mental health awareness workshops for managers and staff set up a resources hub that staff and managers can access.

Tips for staff – Care Management Group Coping with pressure – focus on the here and now; don’t fall into the trap of always thinking about the past or future Developing ‘realistic optimism’ (positive approach) Focusing on solutions Taking responsibility for yourself – be accountable; stop blaming; acknowledge mistakes; accentuate the positive Being open and flexible – letting go of control; being honest; listening more than you talk

Ideas & activities to use in teams – Care Management Group Posture and exercise - ask your team to go out for a walk, look upwards, identify what is around them and report back to the rest of the team Interrupts - discuss what interrupt strategies staff have to help them cope when they feel stressed Breathe - run a breathing exercise in your meeting Challenges i.e. try to walk up the stairs rather than take the lift; pedometer challenge A quick way to change how you feel is to change your posture

EXERCISE: Emotional state: changing internal representations Think of a time in the past when something happened that you weren’t happy about. Notice how you feel when you think about this experience. Now, clear the internal picture screen. Now remember a time in the past when you’ve felt happy or super confident. Now notice how you’re holding your body. Notice how you feel as you remember what happened. Now notice how you are holding your body Someone’s state will be affected by the pictures that they make in their head (their internal representations) and their posture. These will affect someone’s resilience. The Care Management Group developed this activity to help people to change the pictures in their head, and change their ‘state’. An exercise you could try out with your staff team It’s important to learn how you make positive and negative pictures in your mind and how this affects your body and state. Changing either the picture or your body can affect how you feel about a situation and, in turn, your resilience, when dealing with a situation.

Why the sector must prioritise the wellbeing of its managers Why the sector must prioritise the wellbeing of its managers Registered managers are dedicated professionals who work hard, dig deep and typically put the needs of the people they manage and those they support, above their own. This can often be at a personal cost to their own wellbeing. This article explores why it’s never been more important to look after our registered managers. Ask people to reflect on if they’re getting what they need in terms of supervision / wellbeing / Reference ‘Building your own health, resilience & wellbeing’ resource – lots of useful tips in here https://www.theguardian.com/advertiser-content/social-care-matters/why-the-social-care-sector-must-prioritise-the-wellbeing-of-its-managers

Five ways to wellbeing Connect Be active Take notice Keep learning Give ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing - Connect, Be active, Take notice, Keep learning and Give - based on evidence by the New Economics Foundation

Skills for Care resources Greater resilience better care: www.skillsforcare.org.uk/resilience Learn more about stress at work Common Core Principles to support good mental health and wellbeing: www.skillsforcare.org.uk/mentalhealth Effective supervision: http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/supervision Culture Toolkit: www.skillsforcare.org.uk/culture Registered Manager Networks ‘Wellbeing for registered managers’: a survival guide

THRIVING NOT JUST SURVIVING!