#ChooseHappy

73% of HR leaders are actively looking into health, wellbeing and inclusion initiatives after a prolonged period of working remotely. Yet, heading back into the office can be a daunting experience for your people and ensuring that everyone’s happiness is at the forefront of the HR teams’ minds is the main priority.

It’s estimated the average person spends 90,000 hours of their lifetime at work – ensuring employees have a happy, positive place workspace is a good start.

The focus on inclusion has never been more heightened, with HR being in the driving seat to create a fair, equal and inclusive workplace for their people.

HR realises the need to create a respectful organisational culture that enables each employee to learn, grow, and contribute to the organisation’s success.

71% of HR leaders have stated that 2020 was the most stressful year of their career. It’s time the people profession look after their own wellbeing as well as their employees.

Hayley T. Wheeler

EmotionMind Connection Therapist & Motivational Speaker

#ChooseHappy is your invitation to do something today that makes you smile, laugh and be happy. Happy doesn’t have to be one thing or the other, happy can be and is what you want it to be. Some people describe external things like watching their children excel at sports or being in nature, swimming in the cold open sea. Others describe the feeling of contentment, warmth and cosy or the heartiness of having a good laugh with loved ones, and every one of those is right.

  • Happiness is yours to define, yours to make your own, yours to own
  • Don’t be fooled by social media, I looked happy on different applications when I was living with depression
  • Don’t pursue the happiness of others; go and claim your happiness in whatever form that takes

Hear from the experts

Mental Health and Wellbeing Tips

Play Video
Incorporating nature into your wellbeing and the workplace

To better understand how the wilderness can enhance our emotions, we got in touch with the Founder of PsycHR, Helen Pericleous.

The HR and mental health specialist kindly sat down with us to discuss three of her top strategies on how nature can be incorporated into your wellbeing and the workplace to improve your own physical and emotional state of mind.

“Use your senses, like your eyes to observe still images and videos of nature, use your hearing to listen to all audio recordings of nature, such as rainfall or wildlife, use virtual reality where possible or use imagination like classic mindfulness exercises, like imagining the environment. Being out in an open space and reap the benefits of everything you can conjure up in your mind.”

  • While working from home or in the office, try incorporating natural features 
  • Increased oxygen can relax our muscles and increase brain functioning
  • Our relationship with nature is a critical in supporting good mental health 
The power of sharing mental health experiences

Following on from mental health awareness week, Director of EPIC HR LTD, Gary Cookson, was brave enough to open up about his own mental health experiences, the steps to achieving better wellbeing and the need for HR to speak up about this sensitive subject.

The people profession especially takes a back seat when addressing their own wellbeing, ensuring their employees have a healthy frame of mind, but it’s time for this to change.

“We’ve got a real challenge on our hands to encourage people to speak up and a real challenge to get people to listen and take such things seriously. But it’s one that I’m up for, are you?”

  • In times of stress, do things you enjoy to help manage your emotional state
  • It’s important to develop your own coping mechanisms to handle the down days
  • Ensure employee’s feel comfortable addressing their mental wellbeing
Play Video
Play Video
Handling stress and anxiety

Combatting stress and anxiety is no easy feat, so to understand the topic further, executive coach and talent consultant, Nikki Hill has expertly provided her own practical ways of reducing these physical and mental experiences.

“If I’m not talking to myself the same way I’d talk to someone else I love and care about, there’s an opportunity to dial up that compassion and kindness.”

  • Having a variety of relief tools at your disposal can help combat these experiences
  • Be kind to yourself when setting and trying to meet expectations
  • Don’t set out to impress other people, be true and hold your own standards

Exploring wellbeing stories from our very own

How does the Natural HR family look after their own mental health?

Chris Bourne, Head of Marketing

Simply focus on the information you know to be true and how you can make an impact. Spend your time wisely on the positive and ignore negativity. 99.9% of the time, things never turn out as bad as you anticipate so why give that 0.01% so much of your time?

Natalie Davies, Senior Marketing Executive

Reading is the best way for me to look after my own mental health. There is nothing like immersing myself into another world, and for the time I do spend reading, little enters my thoughts. It is how I clear my mind, unwind and relax. Even better if I can read in the sunshine. 

Jamie Hubbard, Account Manager

If something is stressing you out, plug your guitar in, turn the amp up and play some easy rock or metal, like AC/DC or Metallica. If you can’t blare music out loud because it’s too late, then just practise some scales on your unplugged guitar  – anything to shift focus.

Are higher salaries the saving grace for recruitment & retention issues? Employee EngagementEmployee ManagementEmployee RelationsEmployee RetentionNatural HRRecruitment
20/05/2023

Are higher salaries the saving grace for recruitment & retention issues?

Could higher paying jobs tackle recruitment & retention issues? Another year, another set of challenges in the workplace. Talent shortages, the cost of living crisis and increased demands from staff have given way to a highly volatile job market, which is now run by employees. This is being felt by HR professionals up and down the country as they try to recruit and retain talent as best they can in the current economic climate. But with more jobs than candidates and inflation running riot, the question is, is cash still king? Our HR in 2023 and beyond report revealed that…
Natural HR
Inspirational Woman: Sarah Dowzell, COO and co-founder of Natural HR Uncategorized
16/05/2023

Inspirational Woman: Sarah Dowzell, COO & co-founder of Natural HR

From starting out in the commercial cleaning industry, to overseeing the day-to-day operations of Natural HR. Our co-founder and COO, Sarah Dowzell recently caught up with WeAreTheCity to take part in the inspirational female entrepreneur series. If you missed the original article, you can catch up below: Tell us a bit about yourself, your background and your current role As co-founder and COO of Natural HR, my day-to-day role sees me overseeing operations within our 50-person business, as well as juggling my other full-time job as a wife and mum! I first became an employer in the commercial cleaning industry…
Natural HR
Why young people need to be taught the value - and meaning - of money FinancePayrollTeam
16/05/2023

Why young people need to be taught the value – and meaning – of money

Having undertaken a course with the London Financial Institute of Banking in 2005 and gaining a real understanding of monetary importance, our co-founder and COO, Sarah Dowzell recently caught up with WeAreTechWomen to discuss why financial education is essential from a young age. If you missed the original article, you can catch up below: If the current financial landscape has taught us anything, it’s the importance of being able to differentiate between what constitutes a ‘want’ vs. a ‘need’ in terms of spending – however, that makes the assumption that people have a basic understanding of the principles of budgeting,…
Natural HR
View All Posts

How Natural HR can help you to improve your people’s mental wellbeing

Employee Pulse

Gauge the feelings of an employee on a given day, presenting the perfect opportunity to act on their wellness.

Employee Recognition

Reward high-performing employees, promote success and provide the recognition your workforce deserves.

Engagement Surveys

Monitor happiness, satisfaction and progress levels, all in a remote environment.

Passion to give you what you need

01. Built by HR professionals

As HR people ourselves, we’re confident we know what you need – and we’ve built a platform that delivers it.

We’re with you every step of the way

02. World-class support

We offer telephone and email technical support from 7am to 11pm UK time, 7 days a week with 96% of tickets actioned within one hour.

We love improving NHR!

03. Driven by innovation

We thrive on innovation and delivering best-in-class software. Exploiting new technologies to deliver the very best software is part and parcel of what we do.