Having conversations around finding out what your goals are and having a planning session around that are essential in every organisation. Judith Formston, Deputy Chief Executive of Corporate Services at the Department of Health and Wellbeing SA, shares the importance of determining common goals with your team and then working out how each team member fits into that puzzle in this FAQ. Judith also provides an example from her Department of acceptance of others and how doing that can make a profound difference in confidence.
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Celebrating days of significance is really important. Offering the opportunity for people to join communities of practice can enable people to connect with others who have things in common and feel that they can be themselves in these groups and express themselves freely. Judith Formston, Deputy Chief Executive of Corporate Services at the Department of Health and Wellbeing SA, provides an example in this FAQ of how a Carer's morning tea in her department had a huge turnout and how she could see people talking about their experiences with each other.
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Being your authentic self is something that you need to bring to the workplace. Listen in as Judith Formston, Deputy Chief Executive of Corporate Services at the Department of Health and Wellbeing SA, talks about her experiences as a leader and how important it is for others to see you as a relatable human being and that when you do go through tough times, they will sit on the floor with their team and chip in to come up with solutions together. Judith also talks about how, as leaders, you must be willing to take on feedback, pivot, be open and transparent about why you have made decisions, and communicate well.
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We've come a long way in society about understanding mental health. Indeed, initiatives such as "Are you OK" day have helped people feel more comfortable asking that question to others and feeling better equipped to respond or follow up further when someone they've asked isn't OK. Judith Formston, Deputy Chief Executive of Corporate Services at the Department of Health and Wellbeing SA, talks about how leaning into peers can be important in learning how they might respond in a situation, as well as appointing officers in mental first aid and undertaking mental first aid training can be a big difference in the workplace.
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Listen in as Judith Formston, Deputy Chief Executive of Corporate Services at the Department of Health and Wellbeing SA, explains Covid's impact on flexible working in her team and how she had to encourage particular cohorts of workers to take breaks from working around the clock. Judith provides examples of how they maintained connections with others through initiatives, including 10 am catch-ups and 5 pm Friday night wines when everyone was invited to get together, disconnect from work, and connect to talk about anything but work.
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As a leader, it’s really important to be able to read your staff and find out what is going on in their lives to understand how that may be affecting how they show up to work. It can be as simple as asking them how they are going in the tearoom. Listen in as Judith Formston, Deputy Chief Executive of Corporate Services at the Department of Health and Wellbeing SA, explains how her department is always looking at ways that they can make the experience for their employees as good as it can be and how they are trailing meditation sessions for improving mental health with their teams.
Listen to her full episode here