CPiO Staff share their top tips on how they improve their mental wellbeing
This year, World Mental Health Day will take place on 10 October, However, it is something that we should all think about and invest in everyday, just like our physical health.
Statistics show that in 2020/21 work-related stress, depression or anxiety accounted for 50% of all work-related ill health. Whilst we have a healthy workforce, CPiO isn’t immune to our employees experiencing periods of stress. I reached out to a handful of employees in our team to ask them about their healthy habits and here’s what they shared:
8 top tips from CPiO staff for improving their mental wellbeing:
1. De-stress on your commute by listening to your favourite songs. Katie Mansell, Marketing Campaigns Manager says: ‘Music plays a big part in managing my mental health. When I’ve had a full-on day in the office, on the drive home I’ll put something on Spotify that I can sing my heart out to and sing the stress of the day away.’
2. Don’t pack too many meetings into your workday, suggests Rob Bradley, CPiO Operations Manager, Determine your Meeting-to-Proactivity Ratio, then be deliberate in enforcing it. If you aren’t sure where to start, try 1:0.5; or a half-hour of proactivity for every hour spent in a meeting. Revise your standard meeting lengths. If you’re intentional, whatever you cover in 60 minutes could be covered in 50, and whatever you cover in 30 minutes could be covered in 25’.
3. Be social. Fahima Yasmin, Project Manager shares her top tip, ‘Speak to your colleagues when you are struggling (not just at work but in personal situations too when comfortable in doing so) Sometimes it can be in the form of “offloading”, sessions in the office over a coffee, but also take the time to reach out to colleagues when working from home or via Teams’.
4. Be kind, and empathetic in all circumstances where you can, comments CPiO Business Development Manager Helen Ellis. ‘Everyone is dealing with something, kind words or just not over-reacting at the time can help massively on both sides. I try to take a breath before I react or respond to an email.’
5. Be active in and out of work. Rebecca Bradley, CPiO’s Commercial Director says: ‘I use group exercise to help me cope with the most stressful of days. There is no way I can get through a hard BodyPump class and continue to think about work. All my efforts go into that class, and I come out feeling on a high. It normally means I have a great night of sleep too.’
6. Employ distraction techniques. CPiO Support Manager, Siobhan Finegan finds singing helps. ‘If I feel overwhelmed in the moment, I do something off the wall like humming aloud; I might even break into a song when I am on my own. It just creates a break in my thought process and helps to regulate my breathing for a few minutes.’
7. Wake up with a more natural routine. ‘I use a sunrise alarm to wake up every morning. It is especially useful in the darker months. Waking using a normal alarm is too abrupt and can trigger anxiety. The gentle, calm routine of gradual light improves my day’, comments Sage X3 Presales Consultant, Beverly Bottomley.
8. Offer a supportive environment with a strong emphasis on teamwork. ‘At CPiO we like to celebrate big life events, birthdays, anniversaries and personal life/work achievements. It is important to recognise big milestones as a team. ‘ Danielle Piotet, HR manager suggest.
How CPiO actively promotes well-being in the workplace:
• We encourage our employees to talk to the HR team, their line manager or colleagues, about any issues surrounding their mental health.
• We actively promote well-being at work through personalised information and advice.
• To aid work/life balance we offer a wide range of flexible and hybrid working options.
• We have trained mental health first aiders to help anyone and to signpost professional support services.
• We encourage employees to take a proper and full lunch break daily and go for a walk. To take full holiday entitlement, rest and recuperation after busy periods and generally working healthy hours and avoid working weekends (especially from home).
• We are committed to “normalising” mental health issues and having transparent conversations. Our managers have received mental health awareness training and have access to a mental health first aid kit.
• In addition to private medical insurance, we provide a Medicash plan benefit incorporating an Employee Assistance Programme, which comes with various tools and 24/7 telephone helplines. This covers advice on a wide variety of issues such as stress, bereavement or financial worried. There is also an app for less immediate help, offering a variety of guided meditations to support mental health and well-being.
If you would like to find out more about the CPiO culture, values and ethics you can visit the About Us page.
