Maintaining Wellbeing in the Heart of Public Service

Overview

🕮 Off the shelf (OTS)

Audience: Public service leaders and managers working in HR, inclusion, organisational, team and workforce development. Working in public service during a time of collective challenge, instability and rising need, takes its toll. Beyond the everyday demands of the job, many civil servants face an ongoing emotional cost - the stress that arises from building relationships with people who are themselves experiencing trauma, hardship, or systemic adversity.
This is secondary stress experienced as compassion fatigue, moral injury, vicarious trauma or burnout. It emerges from care and the effort it takes to stay present, responsive, and effective in the face of suffering or challenge.
Compassion is a deeply human capacity, hardwired into our nervous system. Like any system under pressure however, it can become fatigued. When our emotional reserves are depleted, or when we are required to repeatedly absorb the stress of others, our capacity to think clearly, connect meaningfully, and recover our resilience may begin to erode.

This course offers a reflective and supportive space for managers and leaders to pause, notice, and reconnect. Participants will explore the neuroscience of secondary stress, recognise its early warning signs, examine what protects people and teams from long-term harm and explore the challenges and the possibilities of recovery. They will also consider how the act of recovering can build deeper resilience, reaffirm purpose, and restore connection.

This course supports development across the Civil Service Success Profiles, particularly in:
•Leadership
•Working Together
•Developing Self and Others
•Communicating and Influencing
•Making Effective Decisions

This training can be delivered in person or online, with four format options to suit all needs.
•Full day in-person and virtual learning options provide opportunities for group discussion, application to context, and reflection on daily practice.
•Half day in-person and virtual learning options provide opportunities for group discussion and reflection on daily practice.
•Two hour in-person option is ideal for team building/awaydays and promotes awareness, engagement and reflection.
•The 90minute webinar (virtual) option is ideal for building awareness and introducing key concepts.