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14 Feb 2019

REBA Awards Winner: Best Newcomer - Public and Third Sector - The Challenge Network

Our Best Newcomer - Public and Third Sector category winner at REBA's Employee Wellbeing Awards 2019 was The Challenge Network (TCN) - and here's why it won: 

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Size: 4,500 staff (UK)

Sector: Charity (youth sector)

Initiative: Mental Health and Wellbeing

What TCN did

TCN is one of the largest providers of the government’s 15-17 year-targeted National Citizen Service, employing more than 700 full-time staff, flexing up to up to 3,500 seasonal staff. But despite limited resources, trustees Oliver Lee (CEO) and Karen Forde (HRD) have a vision: to be the best employer in the mental health and wellbeing space.

This is especially challenging, given that 43% of the TCN workforce self-identify as having a diagnosed mental health condition or poor mental health – a fact exacerbated by the young average age of its workforce: 27 (fulltime) and 23 (seasonal) – people who may only have just been diagnosed, and have not yet had the support they need to build coping strategies. Despite all the potential obstacles though, this award demonstrates just how remarkable a well-thought through mental health and wellbeing strategy can be.

Significant work was done to bolster its own benefits package, including extending its EAP’s 24/7 counseling service to staff on their probations and its seasonal staff, introducing a volunteering day, giving staff two days’ more leave and adding new dentistry and eye benefits. But in addition to this, a significant part of its strategy has come from training and deploying 16 mental health champions into different business areas. As well as them promoting TCN’s own ‘ways to wellbeing’ principles, these appointments have been supported by the charity introducing mandatory mental health toolkits, training to all managers (81% have completed it so far). Managers also have to be pivotal in encouraging staff to take part in a proper mental health audit.

So far these have been completed by 52% of staff. Improvements already initiated as a result of the new strategy include a wellbeing induction for all new staff, with additional training on building resilience and time management, as well as running more localised sessions on stress awareness, mental health, and how to do wellbeing check-ins. Specific new resources have also been created around potentially tricky topics – including self-harm and thoughts of suicide. Judges noted how TCN had successfully produced training for to its HR team on these areas. Given the thoroughness of its strategy it’s hardly surprising staff now rate leadership 8 out of 10 on wellbeing, and through regular surveying TCN is able to say staff are five times more likely to say they have a mental health diagnosis compared to other employers.

Why it won

There were plenty of reasons judges awarded TCN this top award. One simply described it as “creating a strategy that delivers on its ambition”. Where they allocated particular praise was around the charity’s commitment to continuous learning and improvement. For instance, its mental health audit will inform an national action plan, which  is being worked on now.

Further plans for 2019 include it committing to create monthly reviews of organisational  mental  health, with quarterly assessments of how specific improvements are going.

A Best Practice Working Group is also in development, as is a Horizon Scoping project, to understand future staff wellbeing needs. There are also plans to address harmful stress, introduce a new sickness absence management toolkit, and a mentoring scheme for staff experiencing poor wellbeing and sickness.

If that’s not enough, it also has plans to reduce time spent in meetings and improve physical health. As one judge succinctly put it: “TCN has put the investment in, and is demonstrating the seriousness of their endeavour. Above everything else, its entry demonstrated really good and clear governance.”

 

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