As a business, we support our clients’ needs every day. But as employers, we understand that our team members are human, and also have needs. This pandemic has highlighted how interconnected we are and how dependent we are on others for emotional, physical, mental, and financial support. This interconnection applies to people in our home as well as our workplace. Since the start of the pandemic, Canopy Group has instigated the following initiatives to ensure our team members are feeling supported mentally and emotionally through everything going on in the world, as we all transition into a new norm and process all the change that has occurred in the last 12 months.
Here are some of our initiatives:
- Hosted an anxiety prevention and management workshop with an experienced therapist. This involved learning general stress-management techniques as well as understanding how anxiety may appear to each one of us.
- Promoted daily “good news” stories to show that there are still good things happening in the world.
- Continued our weekly “virtual coffee breaks” which were already in place prior to the pandemic to ensure weekly communication on a team level, giving everyone an outlet to discuss freely any matter, and ensuring people do not feel isolated.
- Monthly events, such as virtual escape rooms and online word or trivia games.
- Virtual arts and crafts sessions that serve multiple purposes: learning a new skill; a fun break from the monotony of lockdown life; and leaving everyone with something new to enjoy at home.
- Individual and group discussions about any concerns or worries.
- Offers for financial loans or other financial assistance where we are able to provide it.
- Weekly targets for “self-care” actions (such as daily walks, or a once a week meditation session) that we would share with each other and hold each other accountable to them.