How do sessions focused on mental health, promote conversation?
“Encouraging people to talk about non-work matters and personal experiences allows them to connect on a different level. HR usually start these sessions, but we ask our Mental Health First Aiders to join and contribute as they can. All it takes is for one person to share an experience and you can feel the growing empathy and connection, even on a Teams call!
Once you learn what people are going through, or have been through, in their personal lives you can start to understand them better and relate to them more sensitively. You may better appreciate how they work, their priorities in life, their behaviours, and what support they need to operate at their best. It really helps foster a sense of tolerance and acceptance between colleagues, and while these sessions are completely optional, we are always delighted with how many people from different regions join and thank us afterwards. Having Nick, our HR Director, always attend these sessions is another clear signal to our people how important these conversations are. It could be easy to forget, especially working from home with different personal circumstances, the importance of genuine connection with colleagues.”
What can we expect from Learning @ Nomad Week (L@NW) 2021?
“The beauty of L@NW is we can shape it however we like closer to the time, so we’ll use feedback, business updates, and initiatives in place at that point to set the agenda. We’ll keep it themed around our Values plus wellbeing, and I think the success this year has given us a case for investing more in external sessions as well as working across the business to schedule downtime into sprints and project plans so we can increase live attendance even higher. We have also had a great suggestion already to host sessions either from or about our customers, so watch this space!
Mind you, I didn’t think last year, that for L@NW 2020 we’d be working from home (or living at work, depending on your perspective!), experiencing national lockdowns, home-schooling our kids, and starting every conversation with ‘you’re on mute’, so I’m staying open-minded about what 2021 will bring.”