A recent CSIRO’s wellbeing survey showed that 41% of Australian are set to emerge from lockdown with their emotional wellbeing affected. Hardly surprising, I hear you say. You’ve probably spent the week dealing with Zoom meetings, dodgy internet and home haircuts. It’s not just Melburnians who have been struggling with the sudden shifts in lifestyle. If you’re on the sofa with a tub of ice cream, binge watching Tiger King then you’re not alone.
That’s why corporate demand for support on staff engagement and wellbeing has soared this year. Could partnerships be a key part of the solution to this pressing need?
The famous psychologist Dr Martin Seligman identifies 5 measurable elements of wellbeing in his PERMA framework:
Positive Emotion
Engagement
Relationships
Meaning
Accomplishment
Your non-profit can step up and help solve a corporate’s urgent problem of wellbeing and engagement through an effective partnership.
Positive emotion is something that a charity has in bucketloads. Whether it’s about rescue puppies, children playing or life changing moments, your charity has a treasure trove of positive and inspiring stories. Even before COVID, corporates sought content and inspiration from charity partners. The best paying corporate jobs always have their tedious sides. It’s hard to keep people motivated when they’re selling Dettol all day, even if the pay is good. In the current environment where teams are under pressure, your content and positive emotion is especially precious.
Staff engagement has many facets. It’s not just about a day’s worth of volunteering. Effective engagement uses the cognitive and emotional contribution of each staff member. Can you provide engagement that taps into core skills, ideas and expertise from your corporate partner? For example, Translators Without Borders taps into language skills to help humanitarian aid and Zooniverse give volunteers the opportunity to participate in scientific research. Can you think more broadly about engagement opportunities that will inspire your corporate audience and make a difference to your mission? The positive emotion that comes from engaging skills effectively helps people enjoy their daily tasks and persevere with challenges
Relationships are being tested as people work remotely and risk becoming disconnected from each other. Online Friday night drinks are helpful, but your charity’s campaign could be the catalyst for more effective team relationships. Note the success of MSRA’s May 50K, which brought together teams to fundraise and improve their health and wellbeing at the same time.
Meaning and accomplishment can be achieved through active partnership with your charity. How? Because you’re solving the issues that are truly meaningful to society. In the COVID world everyone has had a reality check on what’s important to them. Turns out that the expensive car and Gucci handbag isn’t as vital as keeping elderly grandparents healthy and well. Your partnership with a corporate can unlock the craving for meaning and accomplishment that isn’t fulfilled by day to day work. Create a shared vision with your corporate partner of what you can achieve for the community together and you’ll have a partnership that sustains over the long term.
No single element defines wellbeing, but each contributes to it. Your corporate partner is more intensely focused on wellbeing than every before. Now is the opportunity for your charity to bring all its assets to the table and create a solution to corporates’ most pressing issue. Offer their employees something more than Netflix and junk food, that has a significant impact on wellbeing and you’re well on the way to a valuable partnership.
When you’re ready, here are three ways we can help:
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- Register for our next group training program Partnership Acceleration System to build your system for successful partnerships.
- Book a free 45 min consultation about your partnership needs: info@stellarpartnerships.com