THERAPIST AND INDUSTRY INSIDER JANE LATHAM IS HELPING US TO ALL FEEL HUMAN AT WORK
During Mental Health Awareness week, Splendid invites all communications professionals to join a free emotional wellbeing webinar run by its Head of Wellbeing, Jane Latham, from 5-6pm on Wednesday 18th May.
It’s now just over six months since we launched our Feel Human at Work emotional wellbeing programme at Splendid, and I’m delighted that we’ve had overwhelmingly positive feedback from the team.
For Mental Health Awareness week, we’d like to share our experiences more widely by offering a free webinar Feel Human at Work: an Introduction. This is a 60-minute Zoom session run by me on Wednesday 18th May from 5-6pm. Registration is via the ticket link here.
The programme at Splendid covers four areas – Feel Calm, Feel Connected, Feel Mindful and Feel Inspired. Everyone is invited to sign up to a date that suits them best. People like the flexibility, mix of ages and seniority in each session, and the open discussions that result. It shows that, when it comes to emotional wellbeing, everyone is in the same boat. There is also widespread appreciation that we directly address the challenges of a busy working environment and modern life, providing real and tangible solutions.
Other positives in the feedback were the experiential aspects, including techniques such as breathing, relaxation, mindfulness and visualisation, and the use of real-life examples and case studies specific to our industry helped to bring the ideas to life.
Whilst we acknowledge that, at Splendid, we still have our share of stresses and strains, we think that this programme has been hugely beneficial. Given we pride ourselves in our People-First approach at Splendid, it has brought the subject of emotional wellbeing out into the open, leading to a better understanding of the needs of others and, in turn, more kindness. As well as equipping the team with a range of simple tools to support their emotional wellbeing, it has also enabled everyone to get to know me better, so as individuals they can feel more comfortable approaching me to discuss any emotional challenges they might be facing. As a registered therapist, I am sensitive to and respect the trust being placed in me in any one-to-one sessions.
The programme is underpinned by the Human Givens approach to emotional health, in which we recognise that, as humans, we all have emotional needs which can be categorised in the workplace as needs for security, control, status, headspace, inclusion, connection, development and purpose. They can be thought of as forming a ladder going from lowest to highest, like Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs. When the lower needs are not being met, we will feel stressed, compromising our ability to perform to the best of our ability, making it harder for our higher needs to be met.
Drawing on this approach throughout the programme, we explore a range of simple strategies to help us to recognise and respond to stressors, to build our emotional resilience and intelligence, and to feel more confident and inspired. We place particular emphasis on strengthening our compassion, a powerful resource to be used both on ourselves and others.
Aimed at professionals of all seniority, it will introduce an emotional needs-based approach to managing emotional health and supporting the wellbeing of colleagues more effectively. It will also discuss the effects of stress on both body and mind, exploring simple strategies for responding to stress in the workplace.
The insights shared and practical exercises covered during the session will hopefully leave you feeling better able to manage your own emotional health, and to support the wellbeing of your colleagues more effectively.
“Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.” Dalai Lama
I look forward to seeing you at 5pm on Wednesday 18th May!
Bookings for Feel Human at Work: an Introduction can be made via the link here.
A member of Splendid’s leadership team for over ten years, Jane currently divides her time between her Head of Wellbeing role at Splendid and seeing private clients as a Human Givens therapist.