Small changes; big impacts

EDVOS is a medium-sized family violence organisation based in Melbourne’s East. It has a small human resources (HR) team who have been focused on supporting their workforce and maintaining connections while working remotely during COVID-19. EDVOS has used the following initiatives to support its workforce in 2020:

• In March, every staff member completed an ergonomic safety self–assessment and developed personalised COVID-19 wellbeing and practice work plans which outlined how they wanted to be supported during lockdown. These were then discussed with their manager.
• The introduction of the ‘Good News Gazette’, a weekly newsletter focused on good news stories from staff. The aim of the gazette was to counter the negative news cycle and openly address the challenges everyone was experiencing. The workforce embraced the gazette, contributing pictures of their pets, stories of their weddings and humorous tales from lock-down, including memes and photos. The gazette also focused on wellbeing and included tips on how to cope with lock-down boredom and links to course and meditation apps. The gazette has been so popular, EDVOS has decided it will continue in 2021.
• The facilitation of two EAP sessions, called ‘wellbeing check-ins' for each team. The provided teams with a safe space for teams to discuss how they were coping with the lockdown and additional supports they needed from their managers and EDVOS. The sessions had a high attendance rate and provided EDVOS with insights into workforce wellbeing needs.
• Supported a team’s request for the purchase of an online games package which was then scheduled into their fortnightly catchups. This helped boost the team’s morale, fun and connection with one another; much needed during lockdown.