Sometimes people just need to be heard…. In the usual hierarchy of employee, supervisor, manager, boss… we find from time to time there are things we feel we cannot say despite how open the communication channels are, we feel if we say how we feel or what bothers us it may compromise us in some way. So, we hold it in or we discuss with a colleague in the canteen or at the water cooler…. Or in the remote world we find ourselves we don’t get the chance to tell anyone…. Take this scenario add in working from home, the Covid-19 fear and we have someone who really needs to be heard.
The impact of not sharing or sharing in the wrong way can be damaging to us, we don’t see it at the time but usually at a later point when we have ruminated the situation into something four times bigger or indeed there is nothing that can be done and have convinced ourselves that we need to get a new job!!! It is also very damaging to the organisation as problems that brew under the surface can multiply quickly and become much harder to deal with than those which are dealt with timely and humanely.
The importance of sharing with someone you trust has your best interest at heart and will hold your confidence is invaluable, quite often we are not looking for advice as the answers are within us, we are looking merely for someone to hear us, to help us dissipate the grey and replace it with clarity of thought and therefore the ability to take action and make decisions.
I am fortunate to provide this support to a number of services organisations across Ireland, quite recently moving my work from in person to ‘Zoom’ on 13th of March 2020. The support I provide is to small groups rather than individuals, where the groups share the differing issues and challenges, they are experiencing in their work, with their manager, their colleagues, their remote working scenario. We discuss, exchange ideas and suggestions and when all talked out, leave where the problem has been shared in an environment that is safe and impartial where they feel cared for.
‘Caring’ is the important piece, if someone feels cared for, they feel valued. The organisations that I provide this support for cares about their teams, they wouldn’t invest in their Wellness if they didn’t. It is a privilege to engage in this work which is valuable to the both the employees of the organisation and the management, the employee feels cared for and the management team know they are listed to by someone who cares.