Our vitality specialists come to work day-after-day to assist clients.
Our crew’s most necessary job – the factor they’re finest at – is genuinely chatting with clients, human to human.
On a typical day, we discuss to round 40,000 clients throughout cellphone calls, electronic mail and social media. That is all the time included some folks in actually tough conditions. Within the vitality disaster we’re receiving extra heartbreaking messages and calls than ever earlier than.
It is a reminder of how essential our vitality specialists’ work actually is: giving reassurance and actual assist to clients in tough circumstances, whether or not that is direct help from our £5 million Octopus Help fund, assist accessing numerous authorities schemes, or different distinctive Octopus provides like heat-loss recognizing thermal cameras or free electrical blankets.
It may be an extremely powerful job.
It is the job I began in at Octopus, and nonetheless do a little bit of – so I needed to jot down about all of the methods our crew are taking care of each other by the disaster, ensuring the identical quantity of care and help we give our clients can also be accessible to our folks.
In 2020 our lives obtained turned the wrong way up
Whereas different suppliers shut off their cellphone traces, we have been right here for patrons all through. Nobody at Octopus was placed on furlough or laid off.
The pandemic has taken an enormous psychological toll on everybody, irrespective of their background or present circumstances.
This prompted a bunch of Octopus workers to affix forces and develop into ‘Wellness Heroes’, discovering new methods to help their teammates psychological well being at work.
Head of Operations and skilled psychotherapist Lynne was one who obtained that ball rolling at Octopus.
She additionally occurs to be one in every of our first ‘Digital Operations’ crew members – our sensible digital crew who labored from residence remotely and flexibly lengthy earlier than it was cool.
She shares why it is so necessary to prioritise psychological well being within the office:
“At the start of the pandemic, it rapidly turned obvious that folks throughout the enterprise have been struggling. We have been apprehensive, notably contemplating most of the regular psychological well being providers have been unavailable. Folks couldn’t even go to the gymnasium and meet up with associates to deal with stress and socialise, so we spent a variety of time fascinated with methods we might take care of folks.”
Our folks aren’t simply anonymous staff who present as much as work.
They’re human beings who we wish to assist be the perfect variations of themselves.
Lynne Higgins, head of operations
“Lots of people at Octopus have reached out to me to inform me that is the primary time they’ve labored for a corporation that actually supported them, and I’m very pleased with that”.
Listening Ears
A Listening Ear session with Dee
Lynne kickstarted a tremendous thought: match people who find themselves struggling to an Octopus volunteer who might provide private help and assist, whether or not it was work-related or not.
As of 2022, Listening Ear now has 70+ volunteers throughout each a part of the enterprise.
“Each Listening Ear session is completely different. Typically somebody will attain out for a one-off chat as a result of they’ve had a tough day and with some others, I’ve had common classes with for the previous 2 years.
We have now supported folks by completely different phases of their lives and profession and I all the time ensure that to test in on folks semi-regularly simply in case they want additional help.
Folks can decide their very own Listening Ear in order that they really feel completely snug.”
Lynne Higgins
Headspace
Anybody in our crew who wants a bit extra help can entry remedy from licensed professionals by Headspace.
Wellness Wednesdays
Power specialist Beth Boulter began off Wellness Wednesdays as an informal crew get-together. It went down so effectively, it became a weekly slot within the calendar, sometimes involving a 30-60 minute check-in session the place folks might vent or simply chat about how they’re feeling, ending with a feel-good film.
The classes have been popping up everywhere in the firm. It’s an effective way for folks from each crew and stage of Octopus to share their experiences and foster a way of connection and friendship.
I requested Beth to inform us extra about what impressed the weekly classes:
“My ardour has all the time been psychological well being. After I first began working I typically felt lonely, and it wasn’t till I went manner out of my consolation zone to get to know folks that I began to open up in regards to the issues I used to be going by.
Creating that area for folks throughout the firm is so necessary to me. The principle factor we’re hoping to realize is for folks to know they don’t seem to be alone, and there may be all the time help accessible. We get a variety of constructive suggestions and it makes me emotional understanding we have helped even one individual.
Psychological well being is among the nice equalisers so it’s actually impactful to honour that and be there for folks.”
Staff meditation
Our personal Dee Dee, Emergency specialist and all-round legend, occurs to be a scientific hypnotherapist and meditation professional alongside her work at Octopus.
She places on common digital meditation classes for the crew after work.
They’re very informal affairs – Dee follows a unfastened strategy, and the principle objective is to fulfill folks’s wants on any given day. They’re completely non-work associated and the aim is solely for folks to loosen up and take a second out of their busy days to prioritise their psychological well being.
Dee Dee tells us all about her involvement with Wellness at Octopus:
“With my background and expertise it made excellent sense for me to get entangled with the psychological well being programmes at Octopus. Meditation has a variety of psychological well being and stress associated advantages and I really like having the ability to present this service, freed from cost, to folks within the consolation of their very own houses.
I’ve by no means heard of an organization doing this a lot work to help the crew, and I’ve had fantastic suggestions from individuals who have advised me how the classes have helped them.
Caring for your psychological well being has a domino impact on the remainder of your life, and the folks round you.
The reality is, we truly care. Not simply as an organization that desires to make sure individuals are capable of work – however as a bunch of individuals which can be actually invested within the well being and wellbeing of the folks we work with.”
Dee Dee
A Zoom Meditation class in session
Unfold a bit love round
A handwritten buyer letter
#Be-Form is a slack channel that is a assured pick-me-up
Some of the necessary issues we do at Octopus is taking the time to have a good time one another’s successes.
This channel was created purely to unfold pleasure and happiness throughout the corporate – an countless feed of beautiful messages from our clients and colleagues. It is our manner of giving each other digital high-fives while sharing the love we get from clients and exhibiting the affect we’re having on peoples lives.
Form phrases for a colleague
A beautiful handwritten ‘thanks’ card from a buyer
A notice on how we work at Octopus
All of the specialised help I’ve shared right here is necessary, however probably the most elementary manner we ensure that we’re glad and wholesome at work is thru our distinctive firm tradition.
We have all the time been a enterprise based on ideas of freedom and accountability. Our vacation coverage is extremely versatile so our hard-working folks can take the time away they want.
We additionally do not have an HR division – relatively notoriously, due to the BBC’s interview with our CEO ‘My billion pound firm would not have an HR division‘.
This doesn’t suggest we simply ignore the necessary duties concerned in a HR operate. We have now an ethos of taking accountability. Moderately than making it another person’s drawback, our managers are anticipated to tackle these obligations themselves; they’re those who assist their groups when they’re in want. This retains them related to the realities and challenges our individuals are dealing with.
We take the identical de-centralised strategy to psychological well being.
We discuss extra about this on the Inside Octopus Power podcast episode on Tradition.
Staff chief Amy explains extra:
“As a crew chief we’re all the time conscious of psychological well being; the crew know they’ll strategy me or every other chief at any time in the event that they’re struggling. I’ve common check-ins and low mornings so folks can speak about something they want. I additionally ensure that to have month-to-month catch ups with the entire crew to gauge if there may be something extra we will do to supply particular help.
When somebody within the crew is struggling, we’ll after all provide issues like Listening Ear classes, but it surely’s additionally about being sensible – giving folks a breather, and area to focus and get again to what they do finest: serving to clients”
These help methods are simply a number of the methods we glance after our fantastic hard-working crew whereas they appear after our clients.
They’re the center and soul of our enterprise, and the one purpose we will hold supporting greater than 3 million clients across the UK by a once-in-a-generation vitality disaster.
