Almost exactly a year ago, during the International Week of Happiness at Work 2020, we ran an advert using a canary in the coal mine as a metaphor for what we do, reflecting a wellbeing sentinel.
This month, we came across an article from Jennifer Moss that uses the canary in the coal mine in an even better way.
- "...picture a canary in a coal mine. They are healthy birds, singing away as they make their way into the cave. But, when they come out full of soot and disease, no longer singing, can you imagine us asking why the canaries made themselves sick? No, because the answer would be obvious: the coal mine is making the birds sick."
- "We should never suggest that if they’d just practised more grit or joined another yoga class or taken a mindfulness course, their burnout would have been avoided. I have long been a proponent of empathy and optimism in leadership. I believe in practising gratitude skills for a happier, higher performing work and life experience. I endorse the idea of building resilience to better handle stress when it arises. But these skills are not the cure for burnout, nor are they the vaccine."
- "...ask yourself as a leader, what is making my staff so unhealthy? Why does our work environment lack the conditions for them to flourish? How can I make it safe for them to work here every day? We have to dig into the data and ask our people what would make work better for them."
We could easily have picked other equally important points from the article (Burnout is about your workplace, not your people). Still, if you read just these, it'll give you a glimpse into the work that's needed, and it just happens that they read like a manifesto for Harkn.
Our summer
One of the tasks that we set ourselves this summer was to create an explainer video that distils into less than 2 minutes what we've spent years developing -- we're pretty pleased with the outcome.
We've also been busy with upgrades and developments to the platform, and our latest product enhancements have a clear emphasis towards those in people leadership roles with a brand new dashboard and much easier navigation - you can read about them here --> This one's for you, people leaders.
Plus, I've managed to continue in my quest to appear on more podcasts by joining Janice Porter as a guest on her Relationships Rule podcast. As you'll hear, we discuss the story of Harkn's development from a simple happiness check-in to a sophisticated well-being gauge and employee listening device.
Every company must now become a wellness company.
Unsurprisingly, there's a great deal of focus on employee wellbeing right now. We're always keen to share with you the best articles that we come across, so here's another one, this time from Brian Solis at Salesforce - Every company must now become a wellness company.
- "We now need to (and honestly should have always) frequently ask how our employees are really doing, and what they need from us to do better."
- "...while we’ve long known about the link between customer experience and revenue, prioritizing employee experience can also impact revenue. We need to put the same effort around employees and wellness."
- "This is a time for a new genre of empathetic leader, not just one who reports to Wall Street or traditional stakeholders, but to the human beings who make everything work...every day."
Looking forward
We'll be returning to a programme of webinars in the coming months, with the first one on the 21st of October being an opportunity for coaches and consultants to hear about our new Partner Programme. More immediately, once again, we're teaming up with the organisers of the International Week of Happiness at Work to sponsor both the Wellbeing and Psychological Safety themes running throughout the next week.
Testimonial
And finally, in this short testimonial video, Wendy Christie, Chief People Officer at The Social Element, shares her views on using Harkn.
If you think we can add something to your work on employee well-being or your efforts to build a healthy, happy culture, please get in touch.
Until next time.
David Bellamy
Founder & CEO Harkn
