Self-Care Practices by Organisational Leaders
Hear from India's leading corporate leaders on how they are building resilience
Hope you enjoyed the session on "Strategies by Startups on Mental Health and Wellbeing”
For those of you who couldn't make it, please find the highlights and link to the recording below.
This week, Manah Wellness in association with Arogya World, invites you to join us in the conversation as we explore the practices that Organisational Leaders have been adopting to take care of their own mental health and wellbeing. We are excited to have two of India's leading business leaders sharing their routines, best practices and beyond covid plans for building emotional resilience.
Moderated by Mr. Amber Alam, Director – EAP & Wellness Services, Asia Pacific - Optum
The speakers are:
Dr. Ashish Jain, Head of Health & Wellbeing – GSK Asia
Mr. Jayasanckar R, Head of Environment, Health & Safety, Britannia Industries Limited
Please do join us on Friday, Aug 14th at 2pm IST - Register here
Highlights from previous episode - Strategies by Startups on Mental Health and Wellbeing
We covered a whole range of topics, the key highlights of which are below. You will find the link to the recording below.
Mental wellbeing —more than just a “scientific topic”
• It goes beyond just being an additional benefit
• It entails holistic wellbeing — physical as well as emotional
• Significant impact of emotional wellbeing on productivity
Barriers and consequences of mental wellbeing in startups
• Time to put in the work is now — built up pressure of performing
• Responding on time all the time— fear of not responding at all
• Trying to find the work life balance — feeling like a machine, sleep disturbances
• Expectations of high level performance —missing out on mental recovery
• Leaders’ need for control and lack of trust —micromanaging
“One thing that startups often miss is the recovery post the peak”
We can think of mental wellbeing of our employees like sports players. Players are expected to perform at their best but that is when they are on the playground. Off the playground they are maintaining and recovering. This applies to work life as well, we must expect our employees to give their best while they are working and also give them time for recovery.
- Kenneth Wheeler, TrueFit
To start with, startups must have conversations about mental wellbeing
• The brand promise — what kind of mindset do we hold?
• Psychological safety —coping while reworking the same project over and over again and having that sense of security if something goes wrong
• Emotional intelligence — being aware of emotions of self and others
• Budget restraints —spending funds on mental wellbeing of employees, if in the initial stages then coming up with alternatives to provide mental wellbeing services
What can leaders do? — empathy and compassion
• Focus on why they started on this journey in the first place
• Discuss your own inhibitions and fears with other leaders
• Have conversations about resolving the fears
• Create a framework for mental wellness — keep simple guidelines and not policies
• Measure and evaluate the mental wellbeing of employees
• Speak to 5 different people on a day to day basis — rapport building
• Remind each other the “Founder’s Philosophy”
Implementing wellbeing — it's the little things
• Bring in health coaches
• Initiate health camps
• Offer one to one counseling services
• Encourage a dependent care system within the organisation
• Flexibility of time offs and work hours
• Extended weekends and holidays to increase productivity
• Work from home facilitation
• Virtual acts that are appropriate and appealing to the employees to empower them
The future — work life balance to “work life blend”
• Long term planning may not be fruitful due to the circumstances
• Provide a solid financial platform for peace of mind because finance affects emotional wellbeing
• Come up with a detailed protocol for employees according to risk assessment
• Build a support system of resources, options and services
How do leaders focus on their own self care?
• Certain targets and revenues will have a delayed outcome — accept it
• How much meaning and purpose does your work bring to you — Reflect upon it
• If you have realised that you don’t love what you do, this will be harder on you — come up with a dual plan
• You have enough serious thoughts throughout the day, step out of it — Rest, recreation and celebration
• Give some permission for the process to reach progress —no Instant gratification
• This is the best time to invest on how we react to situations and our mindset —Emotional intelligence
• Have and “inside out approach” — what you feel inside and how you lead yourself is how you will lead others
Meeting Recording:
https://zoom.us/rec/share/x8lSJKDZ5DtOE7fi1xqAcIgBGK7nT6a8gHVP8voPykgv95_QpD03aPYbPx7YV0JJ?startTime=1596789270000
This post is part of my Catalyzing Wellbeing and Impact Newsletter, focused on health, well-being and societal impact.
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