This is a guest blog written by Buzz Education.
This year’s theme for Anti-Bullying Week is Power for Good - so, what steps can businesses introduce to inspire positive change and create safe, supportive workplaces?
At Buzz Education, we’re a marketing to education agency and we help businesses, charities and organisations to connect with UK schools through our email marketing and education data service.
To help inspire healthier, more supportive workplaces where team members thrive, we’ve pulled together 6 ways businesses can use their power for good. These are based on our own practices and what we’ve found to be effective over the last few years. Let’s dive in!
1) Support local businesses
In a world where we can get anything and everything delivered in an instant, supporting local businesses has never been more important.
Shopping locally is a great way for businesses to support one another, demonstrate their appreciation for different products and services and like the inclusive message behind Odd Sock’s Day - celebrate what makes other businesses unique.
Supporting local businesses is also a fantastic way to reduce your environmental impact with fewer emissions from online deliveries. At Buzz Education, we stock up on sustainable supplies from our local zero waste shop. It allows us to reduce our carbon footprint while giving back to our local community – a win, win!
2) Build a positive, rewarding work culture
Another way businesses can use their power for good is through celebrating their employees’ personal and professional achievements.
Here at Buzz, we recognise each other’s successes through our positive praise whiteboard and employee of the month scheme, but we also take time to celebrate personal milestones. From engagements to new homes, we support our team as they embark on new life chapters, helping them to continuously feel part of a caring community.
We also regularly arrange team socials to encourage team bonding. From mini golf to cricket to office pizza parties, we plan a wide variety of diverse and inclusive activities to ensure nobody feels left out. These small things make a big difference and allow us to exercise our power for good, encouraging each other to celebrate each other’s hard work and empower them to be their best selves inside and outside of work.
3) Accommodate your team’s personal needs
As we all know, sometimes life gets in the way. Appointments crop up, trains are cancelled, cars break down and work pressure on top of this can exacerbate stress. To reduce the impact of these stresses on mental wellbeing, businesses can offer their team greater flexibility over their workday.
We use a hybrid work model and flexi-days at Buzz Education - where employees can request additional days working from home for personal circumstances. This flexibility to work from home enables our team to maintain a healthier work-life balance and more easily juggle the inevitable day-to-day challenges we all encounter.
4) Introduce a buddy-up scheme for new employees
The first few weeks in a new job can be daunting.
Creating a buddy-up scheme is an effective way to help reduce the pressure team members face when getting to know new social groups and dynamics.
This is something we’ve implemented as it enables regular check-in points during the first couple of weeks. Team members can arrange coffee catch-ups in work time away from the office to provide a safe space for open conversation. By allocating time for honest and friendly chats, businesses can help build a sense of inclusivity, helping team members know that their feelings are valid and recognised.
5) Offer financial support programmes
Another way in which businesses can use their power for good within the workplace is by offering financial support schemes. Financial stress can have a significant impact on wellbeing, and extra help with reducing costs of day-to-day expenses can go a long way.
For our team members, we use Rewards Gateway, an employee experience platform where team members can save money by accessing discounts on shops and restaurants.
We recommend other businesses introduce similar programmes to demonstrate their commitment to supporting staff.
6) Support charities like Anti-Bullying Alliance
Charity work is an incredible way businesses can exercise their power for good. To demonstrate this step in action, Buzz Education is running a free email marketing campaign for Anti-Bullying Alliance to our expansive UK schools database. This campaign will help to raise awareness of anti-bullying week and the various ways teachers and schools can get involved.
By helping to share important messages and getting involved in meaningful projects, businesses can have a positive and profound impact on people’s lives.
It’s time to use your power for good!
There are several ways businesses can use their power for good to create happier, inclusive workplaces.
Anti-Bullying Alliance’s vision is to: stop bullying and create safer environments in which children and young people can live, grow, play and learn.
Let’s continue this vision into adulthood, helping create safer environments where adults can live, grow, play and learn in the workplace too!