Newport & Wildman has continued to monitor the ongoing advice from the Commonwealth Department of Health and World Health Organisation to plan and manage responses to Covid-19. We are now experiencing the impact of infection here in Australia. We’ve had a number of people, our own included, ask for advice and support on how to manage individual, team and organisations in the current situation. As a result of these requests, we wanted to share examples of how we have approached this with our own people as it is an evolving situation we are all experiencing together, the scale of which we have not previously encountered. We believe it is important that we have a conversation and learn from each other.
Encompassing Newport & Wildman, AccessEAP has a Business Continuity Plan to ensure our ongoing operations and ability to support customers and their people during times of crisis. In addition to our Business Continuity Plan (BCP), AccessEAP has a Multiple Customer Support Plan. We have extended our BCP and created a specific Covid-19 plan based on the Commonwealth Government advice and risk levels. As a leadership team and organisation, these plans allow us to have clear, thoughtful discussions to manage how we can continue to provide support to our people and our customers. We’ve incorporated official WHO and Commonwealth Government advisory notes around general and personal hygiene strategies in our communication to our people. What we have learned in providing support to our own people is they need calm leaders focused on supporting them during what is an anxious time. We know from our experience that they can feel reassured when we communicate with them about how we are proactively managing risks to them and their wellbeing. We are putting their safety first.
We believe it is critical to remain abreast of current events, which we do by monitoring official government advisory releases and reputable news sources. We know from experience exposure to sensationalised, highly emotive media sources can directly impact the psychological health of individuals, and therefore their teams and organisations. This can be further compounded by exposure to social media, which does not always distribute correct information which can further exacerbate heightened feelings of anxiety and confusion. How have we addressed this with our own people? AccessEAP CEO Sally Kirkright has shared her own self-care strategy in an internal newsletter - selectively curate and choose what information to let in, reduce exposure to mainstream news coverage and focus efforts on supporting her own emotional resilience. We have encouraged conversations at work for our people to discuss how they are feeling and to reflect on and share their own strategies for managing their individual resilience, and through this to provide support to each other. We encourage you to have these discussions with your people.
If you have any further questions or would like to discuss specific requirements on how Newport & Wildman can assist your organisation and your people please contact the Relationship Director or the Manager Support Hotline. As always, as your EAP we are here to support your people whatever the nature of their concerns, please contact Newport & Wildman on 1800 650 204.
Previous blog posts on this topic:https://www.newportwildman.com.au/resources/eap-blog/coronavirus
https://www.newportwildman.com.au/resources/eap-blog/covid-19-response-and-being-prepared