Kent Mental Health & Wellbeing Awards – Winner

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We are delighted to announce that Crossways have won the “Wellbeing Award” at the recent Kent Mental Health & Wellbeing Awards ceremony, for our commitment to and promotion of the wellbeing of our staff. Read on for the full commendation….

 

Crossways Community is a charity that provides residential care and support for adults with mental health issues. But as well as attending to the needs of its beneficiaries, it is also very serious about promoting the wellbeing of its staff – and that is something that became an even greater priority during the pandemic. The charity’s HR response to the pandemic included: guaranteed sick pay for any self-isolating member of staff; a lockdown bonus for all staff; a 20% increase in annual leave; paid-for sessions with a local counselling provider; allowing staff to bring their dogs to work; regular gifts such as cakes, coffee vouchers, flower seeds and fruit baskets; and a full-disclosure approach to sharing news and information about the pandemic. Staff were also encouraged to look after each other, with particular pains being taken to ensure employees who lived alone or had more challenging home lives were not neglected. The perhaps unsurprising consequences including: soaring staff commitment and morale; a dramatic fall in staff turnover and sick leave; and employees demonstrating extraordinary professionalism and flexibility as they delivered the very best care possible to residents during unprecedented circumstances.