Poor wellbeing is costing firms across the UK more than £50bn, according to a report from mental health charity Mind. A staggering amount – it shows the value of listening to what your people need, and taking action.

At Calm In A Box, we recently kicked off another cross Nuclear sector CALM Design School, this time in collaboration with Destination Nuclear, the first sector wide initiative to attract new skills.

Through next generation leaders, CALM Design School works to co-create new ideas to help the Nuclear sector become an inclusive industry of choice for people and skills, supporting the development of workplace cultures where everyone can thrive.

With members of this cohort, coming together from Rolls-Royce, EDF UK, Cyclife, Nuclear Waste Services, UK Atomic Energy Authority and Nuvia we identified a number of key factors to consider when identifying people’s needs when it comes to effective design work.

Here are some top tips on what members of the Destination Nuclear cross sector CALM Design School thought were important:

1. Everyone’s needs are different

Obvious you may think but very often needs are over simplified and as surprising as it may sound, people often quickly forget that we don’t all see the world in the same way in the excitement of creating of something new. Driven by our psychological preferences, personality drivers and lived experience, it’s important to consider as many different angles as possible when it comes to understanding thoughts and feelings across employee groups.

2. Don’t forget to ask!

Assuming we know what people want is the enemy here and I’ve seen many groups surprised by discovering their fail safe new idea didn’t actually cut it when they made the effort to go out and ask people’s opinions. Asking is also a key part of the engagement process – as well as providing vital insights it also makes people feel included and involved in shaping the future – meaning they are more likely to buy in to change and transformation.

3. Beware of unconscious bias

We all have it and it takes energy and discipline to make sure we keep a check on it. Make sure you always carve out time to consider where unconscious bias may be creeping in and it’s potential impact on your solution design.

4. Keep going for the magic

We know that you have to have lots of bad ideas before the good ones pop up. It’s the same with capturing insights. The surface level ones will come easily and readily but you have to keep going to mine for the magic – the insights that will really make a difference.

Calm In A Box is all about co-creating cultures which support people to better navigate the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century workplace. Working to co-create workplace culture solutions helps bring people together to significantly increase productivity and innovation for better business and people outcomes.

Find out more and access our free resources on our website – via the CALM Hub – to create work/life brilliance for you, your team and your organisation.

Get in touch via hello@calminabox.co.uk – we’d love to treat you to a coffee!

And find out more about the brilliant work of Destination Nuclear and discover the wealth of career opportunities across the Nuclear sector here https://www.destinationnuclear.com/