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Tips For Working from Home at Christmastime

Tips For Working from Home at Christmastime

by | Dec 17, 2020 | Blog, News and Updates, Health and Wellbeing, News

Is it really the most wonderful time of the year when you’re working from home?

I realised something today….this week I will have been working from home for 9 months! The arrival of the festive period (and the lack of office party) has really made me stop and think about where this year has gone, how much has changed and what I’ve learned from working at home during the Covid-19 pandemic.

On March 17th when I loaded my work computer, stationery and worldly goods into my car, it all seemed a bit of a novelty. At that point, we thought it would just be for a couple of weeks, maybe the school Easter holidays would be extended a little, a month or two at the most. And here we are, 9 months later, long since forgotten calendar still on the office wall stuck on the month of March like it’s in some kind of time warp and everything is probably covered in dust by now.

We’re fortunate that the REALSENSE offices overlook the glorious Cheshire countryside and a week before we left the office, we had noticed a cute little lamb in the field below our window. How excited we were, thinking we would be back to watch it grow throughout the Spring and Summer days – and how unprepared we were for the reality that was to come.

Setting up a Home Office

Working for an E-Learning company means I’m surrounded by health and safety expertise and so having undertaken our Display Screen Equipment and home worker e-learning courses, I already knew the importance of setting my home office up properly – to support my posture, my eyes and also my sanity.

I knew in advance that my dining room chairs would hurt my back if I had to sit on them all day so I asked to borrow the chair I use at work. It’s got lumbar support, arm rests and castor wheels and most importantly for me, it’s adjustable. At just under 6ft tall, I can soon suffer from back pain if my chair isn’t the right height.

Christmas working from home tips

Don’t tell anyone, but I’m currently using the Christmas tree for extra lighting as now the gloomy winter days are upon us it’s a bit dark where my desk is set up – although I had the opposite problem in the summer when the sunshine streamed in through the window, causing a problematic glare and reflection from my screen and nearly melting me at the same time. It’s really made me miss the office, where everything is already set up properly and we have wifi that works all the time (Don’t get me started on all the wifi issues I’ve had while working from home!)

I’ve also been really mindful about security and staying safe whilst working from home by myself, thankfully the Homeworking training gave me some hints and tips so I could take the necessary steps to make sure my home office is safe and free from potential threats or hazards. Our new Information and Cyber Security course has also taught me a lot about keeping data and information secure and helped me ensured I don’t breach any Data Protection rules.

Missing the REALSENSE team

Although I’m currently longing for the big Christmas tree in the entrance hall to our office building and the smell of mince pies wafting up from the coffee shop on the ground floor, what I miss most at this time of year is my colleagues. I miss human interaction, the shared jokes, someone else making me a cup of tea and being able to share frustrations and difficulties without scheduling a Teams call. My current work colleague is called Eric…he’s an Elf on the Shelf…and yes, I do find myself talking to him at various points throughout the day.

Working from home has certainly been a challenge to my mental health and stress levels at times, especially during the first lockdown when like many, I had to juggle work and homeschooling plus pandemic-induced anxiety. Looking back, those days seem almost unbelievable, and at REALSENSE I think we’ve coped because we pulled together as a team and supported one another, sharing hints and tips about self-care and trying to muddle our way through the days as best we could. Here are some of the things we’ve done to help us cope – and thrive – whilst working from home. We’ll definitely be relying on some of these things to see us through the festive period.

Christmas Working from Home – Hints and Tips

  • Catch up with the rest of your team – we’ve implemented a team ‘Elevenses’ call where we dial in on Teams and just say ‘hi’, have a cup of tea and check in on one another to make sure everyone is OK.
  • Individually we’ve set personal daily goals – get up, get dressed, keep to a routine, try to implement boundaries between work and home. Some of us have been following Joe Wicks’ 90 Day Plan and sharing information and motivating each other has spurred us on.
  • Get some fresh air – whether that’s a quick walk at lunchtime or before or after work, exercise and a change of scene have proven to be life-savers.
  • Treat yourself – a nice meal at lunchtime, a hot bath, a new outfit. There’s not been a lot to look forward to in recent times but even little things can help. Today I’m wearing my sparkly Christmas tree earrings, even if they’ll only be seen on a screen during a Teams or Zoom call.
  • Have a digital detox evening – as soon as you finish work, turn off your computer and phone and try to enjoy your home environment without social media or digital distractions.
  • Watch your alcohol intake – studies show that more than one in five people have been drinking more this year. We’ll be looking at this more in the new year when we explore some of the issues raised in our Drugs and Alcohol Awareness Course but it’s certainly something to be mindful of over the Christmas holidays.

Looking Forward to 2021

We’ve got lots of exciting times ahead here at REALSENSE, collaborations with some of our partner companies, new courses in the pipeline and lots of new content coming for our website.

Hopefully we will return to our office as soon as it’s safe to do so, reunite with colleagues and feel proud of ourselves as a team that – like many others – showed flexibility and resilience during one of the toughest periods of our lives. And maybe if we’re lucky, there’ll be a new lamb to look at out of the window.

With news of vaccines on the horizon it feels like the end is in sight – and with it a possible return to normality. For some people reading this, working from home will become a thing of the past, for others, it’s here to stay, even if it’s only for some of the time.

I highly recommend our Homeworking Training Course it really gives you the knowledge and tools to make homeworking the best possible experience and has helped us ensure we’re ready to tackle 2021 with gusto, whatever it may bring!

Bespoke E-Learning for ITV’s “I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!”

Bespoke E-Learning for ITV’s “I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!”

by | Dec 3, 2020 | News, Blog, News and Updates

REALSENSE looks back at its Bespoke E-Learning for ITV’s Top Rated TV Show

Since 2002, ITV has livened up our winter nights with its popular TV show “I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!” being beamed live into our living rooms. The show needs no introduction – bush tucker trials, creepy crawlies and the campsite shower have all become TV gold. However, have you ever thought how many people it takes to get the show on the road – and onto our screens?

In the earlier years, the production team was primarily made up of over 600 people from the UK, Europe and Australia, many of whom would need to be on site for up to 3 months before filming began – a large team all needing health and safety training. Achieving this was in some ways even more challenging than some of the trials faced by the show’s celebrities.

The challenges of training in the jungle

Initially, the crew would undertake an induction session upon arrival on site in Australia. The on-site health and safety team, headed up by Bob McCarron, medical supervisor for the show, delivered training on a face to face basis. Trying to co-ordinate the training of personnel in groups of 1 to 15 without adversely affecting set-up was a real challenge. On occasions, training could result in significant lost time up to as much as an entire working week. Training suffered from busy schedules and personnel spread over multiple locations with some crew members not able to complete their training effectively, putting themselves and others at greater risk.

The key issues to address

There were a number of considerations and points to address:

  1. the risk associated with crew members working on site before receiving induction training
  2. all personnel were having to be trained on site by the health and safety team on arrival
  3. time taken to deliver training was lengthy
  4. training records needed to be logged and recorded so compliance could be monitored
  5. the training had to fit in and around setup and production schedules
  6. existing learning resources were ideally to be used and evolved where possible
  7. the knowledge and expertise from existing induction needed to be an integral part of the solution.

Creating site safety e-learning for a production team

Online learning was an obvious fit, and the design of the site safety induction started to take shape. The aim being to enable staff to access and complete the training prior to arriving on site.

REALSENSE worked alongside Health and Safety specialists Praxis42 to put together a bespoke e-learning solution that could be delivered to all of ITV’s production team around the world prior to arrival on site.

It was important to ensure that the training was meaningful, memorable and measurable. Whilst many people may associate general health and safety training as quite dull and boring and not particularly user-friendly – we turned our attention to producing an engaging learning experience. The bespoke e-learning solution comprised of interactions that built on the fun themes of the show and attractive challenges that tested the transfer of knowledge and retention of the learnings.

We took time to understand what ITV was looking to achieve and then designed a way to incorporate those elements into the training. The learning was presented with easy to use navigation- sections logically presented relating to all elements of jungle life, focusing on hazards and issues the crew could face on site. The course addressed hazards identified in the environment, from fires, weather, animals and insects and environmental issues as well as all the necessary health and safety requirements needed to ensure the safety of the team and compliance associated with all of the safety points.

Positive Feedback

We were delighted with the feedback we received for this project, ITV reported that their crew arrived on site fully trained, with detailed knowledge of the major risks of the jungle and the site safety procedures. This saved significant time and money, with ITV reporting that by using the bespoke e-learning they had saved money on their overall training budget too.

The training was delivered successfully, with an increase in uptake of approx. 25% over previous face-to-face training. It is always rewarding to have a satisfied customer and in this case a safe and happy production team, with some feeding back that it was “the best training we’ve ever done”.

REALSENSE at the E-Learning Awards

In 2015, we were excited (and proud!) for the bespoke e-learning solution to be shortlisted for the E-Learning Awards alongside ITV and Praxis42, in the category “Best use of e-learning to ensure compliance with external regulations or internal policies”.

REALSENSE nominated for E-Learning Awards with ITV and Praxis42 in the category of “Best use of e-learning to ensure compliance with external regulations or internal policies” for its work on ITV’s “I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!”

The teams enjoyed a great night at the awards and although we were just pipped to the winner’s prize, we were delighted with the recognition for our bespoke work.

Bespoke E-Learning from REALSENSE

Our work with ITV is one of many examples of our bespoke work. Whether it’s compliance, induction, system or product training, our bespoke solutions are designed to fulfill our customer’s training needs, their culture and brand.

We inolve our customers throughout our production process – whether delivering accessible content to impaired learners, providing multi-lingual learning on multiple devices or as with ITV, delivering bespoke e-learning that addresses unique requirements – we build learning that drives change and achieves goals.

The real value of our bespoke solutions can be seen by the positive impact it has on our client’s learners and the transformations their organisations have seen.

Ground up development or evolving existing resources

Whether ‘starting from scratch’ or building on existing training resources, we collaborate with customer teams and subject matter experts to identify and define clear learning objectives. We’ll plan content, design storyboards and evolve a look and feel that delivers quality e-learning, on time and to budget.

Our experience shows that good collaboration delivers greatest results so we involve our clients throughout all stages of production to ensure we maximise the potential of our solutions. You can take a closer look at some examples of our work in our bespoke e-learning section.

Modern Slavery in the UK – Whose Problem is it?

Modern Slavery in the UK – Whose Problem is it?

by | Dec 2, 2020 | Corporate Governance, News

Addressing the growing hidden issue of Modern Slavery

For many people across the UK, today is the day businesses reopen their doors, consumers head out to grab a cheap bargain and retailers try to make up for lost lockdown profits by staying open for 24 hours a day. But did you know, today is the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. It is 250 years since the transatlantic slave trade was abolished, yet the UK government estimates that there are tens of thousands of people in the UK today in slavery, with over 5000 modern slavery offences recorded in 2019.

What is Modern Slavery in 2020?

Modern Slavery takes many forms, but increasing cases of human trafficking, labour exploitation and debt bondage are appearing in the UK workplace. Modern slavery exists everywhere – in our communities and our local businesses and as well as trafficking also includes sexual exploitation, domestic slavery and forced labour.

According to antislavery.org, Human Trafficking exists because vulnerable people are often willing to take big risks in order to provide for their families and traffickers exploit this human desire, often offering victims a seemingly great job in the UK. When they arrive here, the situation is completely different – their passport might be taken away, they could be told they have to pay off their debt to their traffickers before they can leave and they’re exposed to violence and threats. They are trapped here with no possessions, no means to return and become totally reliant on their traffickers.

Vulnerable British people are also targeted – especially individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds (including children) – to be groomed into drug criminal gangs in so-called ’county lines’ trafficking.

Where does Modern Slavery occur?

Modern Slavery can happen anywhere, in any industry including (but not limited to) farms, in the construction industry, in shops, hospitality, the beauty industry, car washes or during the manufacturing process in factories. It is often driven by consumer desire for cheap products and services with very little thought given to the people it could be harming.

Complicated and convoluted labour supply chains can often allow forced labour to thrive. Some companies with large market presence in the UK may indirectly rely on people working in slavery to produce the goods they sell, or have supply chains that can encourage trafficking. Many companies use sub-contracting and supply chains managed by external staff can often mask or hide company involvement in slavery – whether intentional or not.

Clearly, Modern Slavery is a problem that everyone needs to be made aware of so that staff within UK organisations can work together to diminish the tolerance of slavery and in time, eradicate it all together.

 

Spotting the signs of Modern Slavery

 

You will probably come across people who are in slavery on a regular basis and they may appear ordinary, just like you and me. But, take a closer look and you might spot some of the common warning signs – red flags – that indicate that slavery could be occurring.

Working Conditions

Victims may have no contract, be unable to choose when or where they work, not have any time off or be forced to work long hours over long periods. They could also be reluctant to share personal information with colleagues.

Living Arrangements

Victims may not know their home or work address, live in poor, sub-standard or unsuitable accommodation, have no choice about where they live or who they live with or live in excessively large groups in the same place.

Restricted Freedoms

Victims may not have possession of their passport or identity documents, they could appear reluctant to seek medical care when needed and depend on their employer or other person for work, travel and accommodation without any freedom of choice.

Physical Appearance

Victims may suffer injuries that could be a result of assault or control measures, they may wear the same clothes every day, not be dressed adequately for work or be without protective or warm clothing. They could also have unexplained injuries.

Finances

Victims may receive little or no payment for their work, have no access to their own money, be charged for services they don’t want or need or be disciplined through punishment or fines.

If you suspect that someone is in slavery, do not confront them or try to fix it yourself as this could lead to increased harm for them. Instead, inform relevant authorities or organisations such as the Modern Slavery Helpline on 08000 121 700 or if necessary call the Police.

Educating your workforce to help prevent Modern Slavery

 

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires all organisations with a turnover of over 37 million to produce an annual statement on how they are combatting Modern Slavery. However, all organisations have a responsibility to make their staff aware of this escalating problem and a growing number are now requesting evidence of an ethical supply chain, free from Modern Slavery, where all individuals are treated fairly and justly and their Human Rights are supported. By recognising and talking about this issue, we can raise awareness amongst our friends, employees and co-workers.

Modern slavery awareness training

Staff training, such as that provided in our Modern Slavery Awareness Training Course is essential to help teach all staff about this issue, thus helping eradicate the issue of Modern Slavery in workforces across the UK.

If you would like more information about how we can support your staff training and help raise your employees awareness of Modern Slavery, take a look at our Modern Slavery awareness training which forms part of our Corporate Governance suite of courses which includes also LGBTQ Awareness training, Equality and Diversity training and many more.