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At Â鶹´«Ã½ we put our people first and during the pandemic our responsibility to support the mental health and wellbeing of our employees has never been more important. To safeguard a culture that empowers everyone to be the best they can be every day, we launched the WorkLife@Â鶹´«Ã½UK Charter.

A good work-life balance is hard to find, even more so during challenging times. Our employee engagement surveys helped us to understand how our people were managing work and life commitments at a time when the lines were blurred with home working and home schooling becoming the norm for many overnight.

We¡¯re proud of how our Â鶹´«Ã½ community responded to the challenges of lockdown¡ªproviding outstanding client service and supporting their colleagues ¡ªall while juggling home commitments in a time of uncertainty.

None of this could be achieved without a common thread creating energy, focus and helping our teams recharge.

We launched the WorkLife@Â鶹´«Ã½UK charter to help us maintain a flexible, authentic, compassionate, and inclusive culture that will support our people throughout the challenges of a global pandemic and beyond.

What does work-life balance mean to us?

Work-life balance is much more than managing working hours effectively, it is also about behaviour and understanding that needs to be encouraged in leadership, individuals and across working practices. The WorkLife@Â鶹´«Ã½UK Charter sets out the eight work-life values everyone is encouraged to observe; trust, flexibility, support, kindness, communication, wellbeing, meet smart, and fun.

We¡¯ve always had a strong programme in place to provide support for our workforce, but we¡¯ve had to adapt and evolve this in response to the pandemic. Just as we have created initiatives to help our people, our UK employees have created networks and activities to support each other. We¡¯ve found inspiration and camaraderie in equal measure to anxiety and uncertainty, and we wanted to recognise, endorse, and cement this into our culture for future employees.

The eight values outlined in the WorkLife@Â鶹´«Ã½UK Charter are designed to encourage employees to build trust-based relationships; be flexible with each other, especially with those who are homeschooling or providing care for others; support each other and check on the wellbeing of colleagues; be kind and aware of each other¡¯s circumstances, communicate appropriately and considerately, ¡®meet smart¡¯ and only hold meetings when necessary, look after their own wellbeing, and to find stay positive, find enjoyment in their work and have fun.

Communities are fundamental

The Charter is the latest in a series of initiatives created by the UK Wellbeing team to support employees throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Mental Health Awareness training programmes were launched for line managers, alongside refresher training for the UK network of Mental Health First Aiders and Wellbeing Champions, and resilience sessions for the wider workforce. A dedicated wellbeing microsite was also launched, full of information for employees and parents with support activities designed by employees themselves. Regular check-ins have been encouraged, with weekly support packs created for managers so they have the latest guidance on COVID-19, wellbeing, mental health, and addressing domestic abuse to share with their teams. Socially, employees have arranged a regular UK-wide quiz, Yammer challenges and yoga and meditation sessions to help each other through this challenging time.??

How is the charter making a difference?

• Enabling flexibility. As we move forward our ¡®Future ways of working¡¯ programme at Â鶹´«Ã½, we want to ensure that we are still putting our people at the heart of decision making, understanding individual circumstances, and working to get the best outcome for our people, our business, and our clients. HR Advisor, Rebecca Gibbons adjusted her full-time working hours to a split day, so that she could incorporate school picks ups and family time into her daily schedule and be back online in the evening when her global colleagues start their day. ¡°This arrangement has worked really well¡± she enthuses ¡°I¡¯m still working the same hours, but I can give 100% to my family and to my work by utilizing my time more efficiently.¡±