The new age of travel management has become more supportive and responsive to the needs of travellers than ever - but it can also be more demanding on travel, meetings and event agency employees than ever too. With stress, anxiety and depression being the biggest cause of sickness absence in our society [source: MHFA], it’s important for the business travel, meetings and events industry, particularly as it is so fast paced, to consider the strains and stresses that come with the buzz and excitement.
As someone with experience of our industry's fast-paced environment, and a qualified Mental Health First Aider, Donna Fitzgerald, Chief Operating Officer for Agiito, shares her top tips for supporting people’s mental health and to avoid burnout...
Donna Fitzgerald, Agiito COO.
We all know that organisations perform better when people are healthy, motivated and focused. Therefore, it’s vital that we support our people who are experiencing mental health problems to cope and recover, just as we would those experiencing physical health problems. The support people receive from their employers is key in determining how well and how quickly they get back to a good place. Supporting people when they experience a mental health problem is not only about retaining people within your business – it also sends a clear message about your organisation’s values. People choose to work in organisations which live their values and treat their people well. Trust and integrity are key drivers of people engagement and those who deliver here will benefit in terms of loyalty and commitment. Showing you care certainly goes a long way in creating a mentally healthy environment.
Here are my top six basic steps employers can take to ensure employees are rested and don’t burn out:
1. Make wellbeing part of your culture.
Make wellbeing a priority within your culture, provide resources and best practices to ensure your people can access information and assistance when needed. We have created a team of mental health first aiders and invested in training for our people manager community. Our people have a trusted network of information, support and people they can talk to which creates an environment where the stigma which can be attached to mental health is removed.
Our people are encouraged to talk about how they are feeling and their own wellbeing through regular check-ins which provide the right balance between work, development and social.
2. Create a flexible working environment.
MHFA say: “The key to creating a mentally healthy environment is about truly understanding the people within it – their attitudes, behaviours and learning needs,” and I couldn’t agree more. It really comes down to knowing your people and the roles they perform.
For example, our Business Development Managers are most likely to be found saying ‘the early bird catches the worm’, whereas our Creative team get their best ideas when they have time and space to think – people flourish at different times of the day, some people like to work in quiet spots, and some prefer to have background noise. Being rigid with working patterns day-to-day isn’t going the get the best out of the team because everyone works differently. Acknowledging that, whilst making sure there’s an element of uniformity to drive fairness amongst a team, delivers an inclusive culture that recognises individuals for who they are while providing organisational benefits too.
Lieu time is invaluable, don’t underestimate this – a rested employee will always be much more productive! Ensuring the team know the structure around time off in lieu upfront is important and be consistent with everyone.
3. Build wellbeing into travel policies.
Wellbeing in travel is an important consideration. Where possible, travel and accommodation policies should be tailored to help employees keep to their routine. For example, if a hotel with a gym is an extra £10 for the night than the most cost-effective option, make sure your people have the option to book something that suits what they typically try do day-to-day, keeping that routine and allowing them a bit of head space at the end of what could’ve been a long and busy day shouldn’t be underestimated.
Introduce wellbeing initiatives/programmes to encourage people to focus on themselves as a priority – encourage healthy eating, exercise and regular breaks
4. Set expectations.
Set role expectations and ensure workloads and time pressures are reasonable. Encourage people to work together and support each other. Teamwork and shared accountability help with ensuring people don’t get anxious or stressed. Ensure your managers are trained to spot signs early of burnout, regular check-ins make this easier. Make sure your people are happy in their role and therefore feel valued and enjoy what they are doing – easy to say but knowing your people is key and this includes recognition and reward – make people feel valued for their contribution
5. Talk, talk, talk.
Communication is imperative. That said, this will only really come into its own if the culture is right in the first place. If someone feels that they can be open with their colleagues and people managers and know they’ll be supported in the right way, then that is the ideal place to be.
Ultimately, it’s beneficial to ensure this cultural shift happens if it hasn’t already. If people feel anxious and stressed but don’t feel like they can talk, then work still needs to be done to build the right levels of trust.
6. Build in time for social interaction and fun!
At the heart of our industry is the value of people connections. We see first-hand how team builds, employee engagement events, Christmas parties and even something as simple as a team social can improve communication, enable people to get to know each other and reinforce a network of support at work. Build in time for fun!