A huge thank you to all that delivered the election

I’ll start by saying a massive thank you to the Elections team, Customer Services team and everybody who helped on the local election last week. It was a big effort and we delivered the election well. The Wiltshire local election (405 elections on the same day) is one of, if not the largest in the country. It was a long day, and some of us didn’t finish until well after 2am on the Friday. And then a further 12 hours verifying and counting during Friday. Thank you all so much for your efforts. This week we started the induction programme for all elected members which is going well.

On Tuesday I introduced one of a series of staff workshops being held to mark Mental Health Awareness Week. I’m sure many of you will have seen the recent media coverage of Princes William and Harry talking about their own mental health experiences. The workshops and the other campaign material which you may have seen has encouraged all of us to challenge the negative  connotations often applied to mental health sufferers. Everyone, regardless of age, gender or post,  is susceptible to periods of poor mental health, just as we all are to poor physical health, and we need to treat the prevention and treatment of both equally. 

The Corporate Leadership Team this week signed a pledge to end any mental health discrimination in the workplace. Having poor mental health will not be viewed as a personal weakness; will not adversely affect your job security or your career opportunity; and will not be treated any less supportively than any form of poor physical health. I’m delighted that already well over 400 members of staff have also made a personal pledge to help tackle the stigma. You can add your name to the pledge here.

We can all take some general steps towards positive mental health by adopting some simple rules at work. Try to leave work on time when you can; always make sure you take a proper lunch or rest break; and most importantly try to make sure you find the time to fit in those things important to you outside of work. I try not to check or worry about non-urgent work matters outside of working hours and I hope you don’t feel you need to either. Frankly, I’d rather be out on my bike, it’s my own personal favourite stress-busting technique! 

We’re supporting International Coaching Week with a series of Coaching Information Events at the 3 main hubs. Some of our amazing coaches will be on hand to explain the many benefits of 1 to 1 coaching, which is available to all staff and managers. These informal, drop-by sessions are an excellent opportunity to talk to a coach and discover how coaching can support your personal development in so many areas like confidence-building, communication, improving working relationships, coping with change, decision-making, objective-setting, leadership, resilience and much more. If you’re unable to attend an information event, but would like to find out more about being coached, contact amanda.collyer@wiltshire.gov.uk

Coaching Information Events: drop in or drop by

Date	Time	Where	Site
17 May	9:30am - 3:30pm	Atrium	County Hall
18 May	9:30am - 3:30pm	Atrium	County Hall
17 May	2pm - 3pm	Cockerell room	Bourne Hill
19 May	10am - 11am	Langley room	Monkton Park

Speak again soon. For daily updates, discussion, personal opinion, comment or just to connect or keep in touch you can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/drcarltonbrand.

Carlton