Transcript
The following transcript is autogenerated so may contain errors.
Matt Nally
I suppose it’s really interesting in part one, understanding what’s provided who can access it, but I suppose it’d be nice to delve into what it actually looks like practically. So who provides the support to people that are calling up or getting in touch with you.
Parita Odedra
So actually, we’ve got a really great team of support officers who are highly trained and experienced, and we know that picking up the phone to make that first first phone call is so difficult for some people. But I think what’s really important to know is alongside that our support officers have a wealth of expertise. They’re very friendly and approachable as well. And with every first call that our support officers take, they will then be the RCS professionals named support officer. So they’ll always speak to the same person, they won’t have to start again and you know, share their story. So we understand that that’s really important. The name and support officer will then be like I said, the main point of contact for the whole duration of the support that they receive from us. They may be referred to like another service. So for example, if you receive counselling, support your you’ll be speaking to one of our counsellors, but then you will then be passed back to your designated support officer when that particular service ends. And if you are referred to any one of our like external partners, so for example, our Back to Work consultants, you’ll have the support from them, but then you will then be passed back to the name support officer when that work is completed. And we just want to make sure that the maximum support and the right support is provided. When when anyone calls through, I
Matt Nally
suppose for some people, if you’re if you’re on a point in life where something’s distressing, when it could be, you know, could be financial, legal, whatever. At that moment, I suppose it is the most daunting thing that’s going on for you. And you’re worried potentially about being judged or whatever else it might be. I’m guessing you guys have seen everything. So actually, the chances are, it’s nothing new for you. And so are there any topics that are off limits? Or can you just get in touch about anything that should you be worried about the type of topic you’re bringing up?
Melissa Gough-Rundle
No, there’s no topic that’s off limits at all. We have had quite a lot of experience on our support team have taken many, many calls. So they are familiar, as I say, with what affects surveyors day to day. And we always encourage people to get in touch to either through the website on the helpline, because even if the team can’t help or it’s something which we’re not able to help with immediately, we’re really good at signposting. We’ll talk through a situation. And I think it’s just really important to impress on people that please pick up the phone, we will listen, we will be able to help in some way. So I think taking that first step is the most important one.
Matt Nally
Definitely, it’s daunting. Actually, I think I’ve quite often once you’ve had the call. Yeah, actually, that was quite easy. In terms of now it’s being dealt with and the main hurdles over going through the support and the process.
Melissa Gough-Rundle
Yeah, I think and that certainly, if you look at our website, look at some of the beneficiaries that have shared their experiences on their through the blogs and their stories. We do this comes up time and time again, where people say, we are so glad that we made that first step. It was hard, but we did it and it but it was actually the best thing that we did. And without line heart. We don’t know where we’d be at this point in time.
Matt Nally
Yeah, yeah. One thing that we haven’t sort of discussed this off the call. So you may not know the answer. But is there a more typical thing that people call up about that? Is there? Is there a common type of issue that crops up? Or is it very varied from
Melissa Gough-Rundle
it can be very varied? And purrito? You’ll probably be able to add to this, I think from, from my perspective, with corporates, I think a lot of it is to do around stress management. And people getting overwhelmed at work. And it we’ve just done a series of podcasts ourselves, haven’t we purrito. And our top subject at moment is overwhelm and burnout. And I think post pandemic, where things started to get back to normal. People were going back out, I think the pressures really on I mean, I think it was on during the pandemic as well. But I think it’s increased even more since we started going back to doing face to face interaction, and the surveyors are out on the road again.
Parita Odedra
Yeah, I think stress in the workplace is one of the number things that always comes out, even when we’ve done service in the past, it’s something that is really impacted. It’s, it’s always been a really big thing for them to deal with, I think, because it’s such a fast paced industry. You know, there’s like things that need to be done projects that need to be completed, it can be kind of very difficult. But yeah, I think, like Melissa said, in terms of the calls that we get, they are very varied. Our counselling service actually is one of the most popular services that we provide, along side our AAPC practice presentation sessions. So that’s really grown in the last year, its numbers have, literally duck just over doubled from last year compared to this year, which is where an APC candidate gets the opportunity to practice through their presentation with a support officer. And we just kind of help them about their presentation style, you know, tricks and tips on how to kind of manage that. So we don’t focus on the technical skills of their presentation. It’s more about the delivery of their style and and how we can support them. But yeah, that’s another kind of really popular surface at the moment.
Matt Nally
That’s really interesting, actually. And it’s, I’m not surprised that stress that at the moment is a big one, because it’s there’s so many factors going on. And I think on top of that, it’s very easy. Everyone talks about this, but you know, you go on social media, and you’ve got the glossy, I call it the glossy Christmas cards, you know, you get the letter that tells you all the good things that have happened this year, but none of the bad and so you can feel quite like what you know what you’re doing is very different to everybody else. And it might be but often it won’t be. But yeah, with all the financial pressures and housing markets constantly all over the place or the property markets all over the place. Yes, I can Imagine one thing that you can see in the industry sometimes. And I don’t know whether this translates into potentially how you see people feeling, but obviously for a lot of surveyors, you know, some, some will work in teams and offices, and therefore that sort of quite connected anyway. And they might have that support group around them. But I suppose a lot of businesses are SMEs, sole practitioners, and they might be out on the road on their own or just working from home or from an office on their own, a lot of the time. Does that sort of lead to a lot of pressure? And is that a common theme where people are calling up because they don’t know how they’re doing relative to others? Or they feel isolated? Is that is that a factor?
Melissa Gough-Rundle
Yeah, that is that is a common factor. And I think they, when they don’t have that support network around them, if they often the smaller firms, you know, perhaps they don’t necessarily have an employee assistance programme. And then with a big firm, yes, it can weigh quite heavily on an individual. And I think it Lionheart, we want to let people know that they’re not alone, that they can contact the helpline, whatever they think, even if they just think something’s not quite right in their life, they’ve, you know, lost the balance, whether it’s your work or family life, I think it’s quite important to stress that, you know, we’re not just here, with stresses and strains around work, it’s here to do with with family life as well. And finances, please, you know, do get in touch. And I think I said earlier about the the website, you know, we do have a lot of individuals on there who shared their stories and their experiences. And they’re there mainly, for us to just demonstrate that they are not alone, that there are individuals who are just like them, that are going through particular challenges in their life as well, and that it’s really important to talk about it. And contact Lionheart.
Matt Nally
Awesome, think it’s a nice thing to do actually, to share that story, because it’s a big step, because you don’t necessarily want people to know that you’ve had a difficult patch. So to put that out, there is I think, quite a brave thing, but important because it, you know, it’s relatable, people feel they can then get touch. But that’s been really interesting. Thank you for that I think we’ll tune in for for part three, we’ll look at what does support actually like?