Wellbeing is HR’s topic of the week

This week in HR news, wellbeing is a key focus. Four-day weeks, mental health, ‘desk bombing’ and religion all popped up. Here’s the rundown.

Unilever trials four-day week

As reported by Channel 9’s Hundreds of Aussie workers in four-day working week trial, Unilever (Vaseline, Rexona and Streets ice cream) has announced a four-day work week trial for 500 Australian workers.

Unilever will be cutting some employees’ work week by 20 per cent, while maintaining the same pay. The 12-month trial will begin on 14 November, and provided Unilever maintains productivity, this may become their new norm.

Channel 9 stated that Unilever tested this concept in New Zealand, with positive results; absenteeism went down 34 per cent and stress dropped 33 per cent.

Perinatal Mental Health Week

6-12 November is Perinatal Mental Health Week in Australia. Perinatal is the period between when you become pregnant and up to a year after you’ve given birth.

Started by Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia (PANDA) in 2005, this awareness week was created to help the community acknowledge perinatal mental health.

This year’s theme is ‘building a community of care’. PANDA’s website describes this as: “Through real stories from parents in the PANDA community, we'll talk about the importance of building your network of care no matter where you sit on the spectrum of perinatal mental health. Because every parent deserves support.”

PANDA community champion, Jess said in a statement on their website: “The bravest thing that you can do to help yourself and your family is to ask for help.”

Desk bombing

‘Desk bombing’ is a term that has been popping up in HR news this week. Desk bombing is a play on ‘photo bombing’ and is essentially when a colleague comes up to your desk to talk.

Opinions seem to be in support of the trend. Management Today said: “Those who fear desk-bombing should be confronted with a simple question: Why come into the office at all?”

HR News said: “Those who’d rather be left alone in the office treat desk-bombing as if it was some kind of HR issue or breach of contract.”

However, HR Leader believes there are good arguments on both sides. While there is nothing wrong with saying hello, it may not be in a person’s best interest to have a half-an-hour-long chat while swamped with work. Getting a feel for the individual’s attitude towards the conversation should be a priority so as not to annoy them. If they seem happy to have a chat, then have a chat. If they don’t, then don’t.

Faith and work

As reported in the Financial Times: Faith at work: the entrepreneurs who connect the spiritual and professional, there has been a rise in the ‘profit for purpose’ movement. They cited an example of an ice cream parlour operator who is supporting the fight against human trafficking after hearing a calling from God.

A popular example of religion combining with work practices is American fast food chain Chick-fil-A. Their corporate purpose is described as: “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”

Founder of the chain, Samuel Truett Cathy brought faith into the organisation by giving back to the community through donations, grants and scholarships. Mr Cathy believed that a “great company is a caring company”. In line with his Christian beliefs, the organisation is also closed every Sunday, giving staff the opportunity to take a day off to worship.

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