January 15, 2018 Health & Wellbeing

Three reasons you need more plants in your office

Office buildings, where many Australians spend most of their waking hours, can cause real health issues. Cubicles in offices usually consist of partitions made of particle board and vinyl carpet, synthetic flooring, a particle board desk and plastic or synthetic office chair, mostly lit by artificial lighting.

One excellent way to combat both sick days and stress is by filling your office with plants. Ideally, you want plants that will “scrub” the air of pathogens, improve the office’s mix of bacteria, and survive in low light with little care.

July 5, 2017 Health & Wellbeing, Managing People Well

How to tell the difference between a staff member who’s underperforming, and one who’s suffering with their mental health

A key part of any manager’s job is to know how to approach staff who are struggling to do their job to the required standards or expectations.

But with increasing recognition of mental illness in the workplace, before you begin a performance management process with a staff member, it’s important to ask: could this be a mental health problem, rather than a pure performance problem?

And how do you tell the difference?

June 26, 2017 Health & Wellbeing, Human Resources

6 workplace wellbeing ideas that won’t cost your NFP a cent

There are thousands of reasons to invest time and energy in fostering greater wellbeing in your workplace. And whatever role you play in your NFP, there are many things you can do to encourage greater wellbeing amongst staff and volunteers. Here are six, totally cost-free ideas to get you started.

May 17, 2017 Health & Wellbeing, Managing People Well, Professional Development

Can you ‘teach’ staff to be more emotionally resilient?

You may know someone like this at work: optimistic and resilient, they appear to bounce through challenges drawing on an internal strength that helps them work through problems they encounter at work. Always hopeful and positive about the future, they treat stressful events as a “one-off” situation, appearing to have a built-in buffer that protects them against both ordinary and extraordinary events. Perhaps this is even you.

This sort of emotional resilience is often considered innate. But can it be taught?

May 10, 2017 Health & Wellbeing, Managing People Well

Death and the workplace: a compassionate way forward for your organisation

Like going to work, death, dying and bereavement are things that at some point we all have to face. So it’s high time we started having the conversation about how the workplace responds to death and dying. This guest post by Jessie Williams, Executive Director of The Groundswell Project, might help to start the conversation in your organisation.

April 5, 2017 Health & Wellbeing, Organisational Strategy

Could flexible work be damaging the lives of your staff?

Flexible work is on the rise everywhere – particularly in Australia’s not-for-profit sector. But could working flexible hours have a dark side for employees?

In this guest post, Dr Heejung Chung outlines new research which finds that when it comes to work/life balance, having the freedom to work flexibly might not always be a positive force in the lives of employees.

February 15, 2017 Health & Wellbeing

A paw-some way to help get through those ruff days: why your organisation should foster a workplace pet

From reducing stress to increasing staff engagement, the benefits of having pets in the workplace are widely acknowledged.

Now one charity is helping organisations to access the benefits of an office pet, while simultaneously giving unwanted pets a second chance at life.

February 6, 2017 Health & Wellbeing, Human Resources

The last taboo: is your organisation’s approach to mental health in the workplace failing your staff?

What if we told you that even if you have a mental health policy at your organisation, it’s likely to be woefully outdated and could be costing you dearly in reduced staff well-being, engagement and performance?

January 23, 2017 Health & Wellbeing, Organisational Strategy