For decades each generation has been labelled; ‘’Baby Boomers,’ Gen X,’ Millennials;’ now it seems we will have a new one to grasp; ‘BC’ or ‘Before Covid.’
No doubt the books and films covering this crazy time will be on us soon enough. However, one thing that is top of the list is the new dimension of employee wellbeing. In a world where contact with our employees is potentially minimised to Zoom chat, what and how we look after our employees has never been more important.
I spoke with a senior manager at a leading event agency who is currently furloughed. She mentioned how closely she was watching how the employer was handling the situation. Will their behaviour effect the future relationship they have? You bet! Will that relationship be enhanced by taking care of your employees? Absolutely; it’s a situation exacerbated by the extra time many people For sure now have, where reflection on every facet of ones’ life is now de rigeur.
In the past few years, the role of an event manager has been identified as in the top 5 most stressful positions. Now, instead of the stress of managing events we have the stress. Of not having any!
Which brings us to the concept of well-being. It’s a phrase that has numerous connotations. How do I feel? Am I living a healthy life? Have I mastered work-life-balance? A lot of these issues are focused around mental health, and the events industry has seen the launch of numerous initiatives, many of which are providing exemplary support to our colleagues at the moment.
Awareness of the issues has been around for many years, albeit under differing titles and banners. Companies have talked about “flexible benefits packages” for their employees, for example offering a choice of working hours to fit in with childcare needs, or providing reward and recognition systems that allow employees to earn point to buy goods.
More recently ‘wellbeing’ has extended directly into the workplace with the introduction of offering such as Perk Box providing fresh fruit to encourage a healthy eating regime. Some companies allow or even encourage staff to bring their dogs to work.
Whilst these are great initiatives and go some way to providing a more balanced working environment it is the employer who is in control. So what happens if you reverse the process and allow each individual employee to determine what their needs and wants are to enable them to decide on their own “work-life-balance?” If the ‘guessing’ and ‘one size fits all’ approach is replaced with ‘here, over to you,’ how might the relationship change between employer and employee?’
The world is changing, which is why Realise have now created a dedicated team to bring new and innovative ideas to market for the benefit of the event industry. One of those is a radical new partnership to benefit employees and freelancers in the event industry. Find out more here.
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