One of the UK’s biggest charities has banned Friday meetings and asked staff to limit their use of email in an attempt to reduce stress and anxiety.
Disability charity Leonard Cheshire is rolling out the changes as part of a three-month pilot, according to an internal announcement seen by Third Sector.
All staff apart from those directly providing services have been asked not to schedule meetings on Fridays and to avoid sending emails before 10am or after 4pm.
The change is being made amid concerns that communications pressures have left employees “chasing our tails” at the £150m charity, the message says.
Research by Third Sector during Covid-19 found that more than 90 per cent of charity staff experienced “stress, overwhelm or burnout” during the coronavirus, while Pro Bono Economics, a think tank, reported “high levels of concern over workforce burnout” in the voluntary sector as employees emerged from the pandemic straight into a cost-of-living crisis.
An email sent to Leonard Cheshire staff on behalf of Jon Forde, the charity’s executive director for people, said: “As an organisation, I am sure you will agree that we have lots of internal meetings and send a vast number of emails, leaving many of us chasing our tails and perhaps leaving us feeling anxious or stressed if the emails back up or we’re unable to respond as quickly as we’d like to.”
Forde continued: “From now – no emails to be sent before 10am and after 4pm. If, like me, you want to respond to an email before or after this time, then feel free, draft the email, but don’t send it.”
He added: “From the start of April – no meetings on a Friday.
“If you have meetings arranged already perhaps they could be rescheduled? If not, don’t worry, just bear in mind for the future.”
Forde acknowledged that urgent matters would still arise but recommended handling it through “a quick conversation” instead, if possible.
A spokesperson for the charity stressed that the trial allowed for staff’s “individual preferences”.
The changes are being trialled from the start of next month. Any longer-term changes will be decided on the basis of staff feedback at the end of June, the email said.
Forde thanked employees for supporting attempts to find “a better-balanced way of working for us all”.
A Leonard Cheshire spokesperson said: “We will be engaging with staff throughout the pilot, taking into account people’s varying working practices and individual impact.”