Implement staff care with our support

Staff should be recognised as an important asset to any organisation and are fundamental to productivity and the success of all projects.

For those working in relief, development and mission, staff are core to achieving your organisation’s mission and objectives, therefore it is essential that staff care is a priority to build a healthy, resilient and motivated workforce.

Our ‘Good Practice Guide’ document outlines recommended staff care practices for a variety of staff groups. By working with the organisation InterHealth will support HR & Managers to implement staff care within a team or across the wider organisation. InterHealth identifies three pillars to staff care:

• Prepare new staff for their role ahead

• Sustain staff health and wellbeing whilst employed

• Aftercare - provide staff with an opportunity to reflect & recieve support

What is staff care?

InterAction defines staff care as “self care and institutional responses to stress among humanitarian workers in particularly difficult and stressful environments.” USAID expands this definition to include “broad issues ranging from personal emergency preparedness and response to staff wellness on a day-to-day basis, including physical and psychological wellbeing in the workplace”

A recent longitudinal study on the psychological impact of humanitarian work found that as a result of high stress environments, aid workers were significantly at risk for burnout, depression and anxiety. One of the key findings is that the risk for depression and anxiety increases after the worker returns home and therefore highlights the importance of staff care in all three of the pillars.

InterHealth’s Approach

Staff care requires an institutional culture, with management playing a key role, to create an environment where staff can seek assistance when needed. We promote on-going staff care throughout the employee life cycle. It is important that staff care is not a one-off or short term intervention. A pro-active and robust approach is needed to fully benefit from a comprehensive staff care package. We suggest an initial meeting be arranged so we can fully understand your organisation's mission, values and strategy as well as to contextually understand the work your organisation does, and the staff groups involved.

Step One

An initial review of current practices to identify where there may be gaps and the processes and systems in place that may prevent rolling out staff care effectively. We can help you to:

• Review your recruitment process (including appointment of managers)
• Review your current health and wellbeing support in place, and a review of your performance management system
• Carry out exit interviews and support for transition from one role to another within the organisation

Step Two

We will work with your organisation to implement staff care at three key stages:

• Prepare: Introduce medical screening and psychological screening at the right stage in the recruitment process.
• Sustain: Prepare managers appropriately for their role, supporting them to manage staff health and wellbeing and to recognise signs of when an employee may need additional support, and where to find this support. We also offer training to organisations so that you can build skills in psychological first aid and increase resilience within the organisation.
• Aftercare: Prepare questions for exit interviews to maximise impact for both the individual and the organisation at the end of an assignment, in order to identify when professional support may be necessary.

We will also provide you with the tools so that the staff support available to your staff can be disseminated across your organisation and promoted as a staff benefit, including HQ, country and regional offices.

An annual survey, developed and reviewed by InterHealth can also help you identify potential risk factors, challenges and difficulties within your organisation. An anonymous report can then be provided to your organisation alongside recommendations.

Further information

If you would like us to work alongside your organisation please email our Client Relations team at [email protected] and we would be delighted to talk this through with you.