Caring for the Carers: How a Teal Workplace Transformed My Approach to Wellbeing

Prior to Alpha Inclusion& Communication, based at Hethel Engineering, I was in a fast-moving, consumer goods environment, inputting large value orders and dealing with dynamic and evolving situations that often required immediate solutions. I experienced burn-out and mental fatigue so made the decision to make significant lifestyle changes, one of which was to work part-time for Alpha.

Alpha has wellbeing at its heart, they offer a compassionate and professional workplace, one that allows people to turn-up as natural and authentic human beings. They lean towards a ‘teal’ way of working which is self-managing, meaning people can be who they are.

I had to decompress from a structured and intense corporate life, allowing myself time to adjust to an adult-to-adult workplace. It was challenging to transition into a company that let me self-manage. Later I introduced ‘culture-shock conversations’ to our onboarding process, as moving from hierarchal work environments, such as schools and corporates to somewhere ‘teal’ can be refreshing and unnerving in equal measure.

My role as a Wellbeing Coordinator includes supporting our team of Outreach Practitioners. Their work involves helping young people and their families bridge the gap between education, neurodiversity and inclusion. In addition to structured debriefs and in-house cases-clinics, Practitioners are given the option to engage with wellbeing conversations and activities. Everyone experiences life issues at times, and this is where wellbeing and Adult Safeguarding come in.

Our Wellbeing Policy was collaboratively created by our Executive Director, Team Lead and me. The policy includes Alpha’s values of compassion, innovation, professionalism and neurodiversity. We wanted to establish an approach that supports confidential adult-to-adult conversations and encourages strategies for living a resilient work life. This includes signposting co-workers to trusted organisations who offer appropriate support.

In our office space I introduced plants, fresh fruit, a settee into the main office area and established a quiet space which doubles as a meeting room. As well as this, I created a wellbeing wall which provides information on physical, mental and financial wellbeing, along with a variety of helpline numbers. Having access to information such as this gives people the opportunity to seek help and keep things private if they wish.

Wellbeing conversations are a great addition to debriefs and cases clinics, with the whole team having access to these at their discretion. A professional boundary is set at the beginning of each conversation to highlight confidentiality, scope of the conversation and safeguarding. We often walk and talk in the countryside around Hethel, as being outside the office environment supports openness and helps things remain people-centred.

Occasionally, everyone suffers both physically and mentally and at Alpha we’re very fortunate that we have a team who know strategies for coping and self-regulating emotionally. Even with such great emotional intelligence, sometimes we need a little support or a gentle reminder to apply wellbeing strategies.

It’s important for someone in my role to demonstrate the values they’re promoting as this builds confidence and trust with the people they support. It’s also crucial to look after one’s self; consistently supporting others through challenging times is predominantly achieved through selfcare.

Caring for one another is a very human thing to do, I think business owners who overlook their peoples’ wellbeing could possibly benefit from a wellbeing conversation.