Thanks to everyone who filled in the FLARE survey.
We were pleased to have staff from all our directorates and locations fill out the survey.
Some of the things you told us
- Mental Health and wellbeing is currently the most important area for us to focus on with physical health and wellbeing a close second.
- Some of the past events you would like to see us run again are:
- Meditations sessions – Yay, as we have missed meditating with you
- Lunchbox sessions both in person and online. Hit us up – what topics would you like to learn about?
- Including Flare as an agenda item on team meeting minutes would be a good idea. (We agree)
- You want to connect more and learn more about each other and what other teams do. We loved the idea of a spotlight on a different team and the comms team is working on just that.
Some of the things that stop you from attending events
We acknowledge that there are a range of barriers which stop people from attending. Here are some of what you have told us and what we will try to do:
Conflicts with work commitments or too busy
This is a common issue. We are all busy. Sometimes it is about choice. Science shows us that taking breaks to attend things like this can actually make you more efficient.
To make it easier, we will look at running a range of things which run for shorter and longer amounts of time at various locations as well as challenges that you can do in your own time.
30 minute lunch breaks is a barrier
We are very aware of this, particularly for staff who have customer facing positions and we would be happy to hear from you about suggestions to make this easier for you.
If you aren’t in a customer focussed role, please chat to your team leader. Wellbeing activities are encouraged within work hours, and as long as there is coverage in your team and you can get your work done, most team leaders are supportive for you taking a slightly longer lunch to learn new things and connect with others. Feel free to reach out to us if you have any suggestions or would like to talk about your challenges.
Lack of promotion
Hmm – do you read the Source News? All the great things happening are featured in the news and it is a one stop shop for all things happening around Council. You may have also noticed the internal comms screens now at all our facilities. Along with these, we will try to reach out in as many ways as possible.
The top 3 responses of how you would like to hear about things were:
- The Source News
- Posters in tea rooms
- Outlook invite
Lack of accessibility to the Civic Centre
We agree, we need to do better at running things at other venues.
Don’t feel like you have permission or a manager/ team leader said no.
We encourage staff to chat to their team leaders and managers if they want to attend. We find most leaders are supportive but if you hit a roadblock let us know. We will also work with management to help us share the message that staff are encouraged to attend these events.
Then there was the person who said “I always go”. We love you.
So what next?
The FLARE committee has listened and are doing a range of things:
- Taking all of this on board to look at a calendar of events which will hopefully have something for everyone
- Running another walking challenge in September
- Supporting the Make Your Move initiative with a Come and Try Wheelchair Basketball lunchbox session is coming in August
- Meditation sessions will come back later this year as part of Mindfulness Month (and maybe even before)
- Mini Olympics will return before the end of the year
- We have reached out to some of you who expressed an interest in being involved and hopefully with more bodies we can organise more things.
- Call out for Lunchbox Session ideas. Is there a topic you would like to learn more about? Let us know by emailing Miranda.harwood@cgd.vic.gov.au or Shannon.nagyivan@cgd.vic.gov.au.
We look forward to supporting your wellbeing journeys and contributing to Flourishing, Lively, Active, Restored Employees.