As part of our campaign to deliver #FairFlexibleFutures within everyday jobs, we’ve been exploring how different organisations have learned from, and responded to, the pandemic. Here’s what the Resources for Autism team had to say.
Resources for Autism provide practical services for children and adults with a diagnosis of autism and for those who love and care for them. They employ 250 people and have 80 volunteers. The organisation offers a range of part-time and flexible arrangements. However, the need to provide face to face client support makes flexible complicated for some.
Dolyanna Mordochai joined Resources for Autism (RFA) as chief executive two months before lockdown. She is responsible for overseeing the delivery and development of RFA’s support services and fundraising.
Life before lockdown
Flexible working has always existed at the RFA, with those in office based roles able to work part-time and flexible hours.
The greatest barrier to more flexibility was mindset; there was a view that, to be managed effectively and work productively, you had to be present. Working from home was therefore the exception, and while it would be accommodated on request, it was not actively encouraged.
For those working on the frontline, providing practical help for children and adults with a diagnosis of autism, working hours were not as flexible. Full-time autism support workers had to fulfil a certain number of support hours visiting several families each week, and the nature of the role often meant anti-social hours, particularly after school when families need most support.
Reacting to the crisis
When lockdown was announced, there were two points for Dolyanna to consider: the need to keep the office open to continue providing support services, and the risk to employees. As RFA’s CEO, Dolyanna understood that to be a safe employer, they needed to accommodate to all individual needs, and that their employees’ emotional well-being was critical to their ability to support others.
Through staff surveys and individual conversations, Dolyanna and her team created a skeleton rota with those comfortable working in the office. They set out clear expectations; there was no pressure to return to the office and employees were trusted to work around their own needs.
Any autism support workers on the frontline who were vulnerable or had caring responsibilities were furloughed, and RFA topped up their furlough pay to 100% of their normal salary. For those that continued to work, managers assessed the needs and location of clients to help reduce commutes. This was an open and collaborative process within teams to ensure it worked for everyone.
A blended working pattern was then adopted. Support workers visited the families most in need within reasonable distance, and provided online support sessions from home to others. Remote support sessions were not something that had been explored before. They were well received by clients, and gave support workers greater flexibility in their working hours.
Supporting employees to keep working
Dolyanna created a culture of trust that helped RFA navigate the crisis. The focus shifted from working hours to output – getting the work done in whatever arrangement suited the individual. RFA’s communications constantly highlighted the importance of self-care and well-being. This involved holding weekly team meetings with no agenda to discuss how everyone was feeling, and line managers having open conversations to check in.
In terms of practical measures, any formalities in working hours were loosened so that individuals could work effectively. For example, prior to Covid-19, the standard support session was a minimum of two hours. Support workers found a two-hour remote session impractical and tiring for both the client and themselves. Now employees can decide the length of time, tailoring to client needs to have a more valuable session.
Learning from the experience
For Dolyanna, one of the biggest learnings from the experience is the need to trust employees to work in the best way for them. Every part of the organisation operated better when employees were trusted to fulfil their responsibility, and that will continue after Covid-19.
Before lockdown, Dolyanna believed that presenteeism was key to productivity and good management. This time highlighted the efficiency of homeworking both on the interface with clients and giving greater flexibility to their employees.
There is still much to learn as RFA adjusts to delivering services remotely and flexibly. But their online support services are here to stay, during and beyond Covid-19. Whereas before the RFA were limited to operating in the London and West Midlands areas, they can now use remote sessions to reach and help families all over the UK. And offering homeworking is helping them to attract more and better candidates.
As an autism support worker, Megan Hurry is responsible for supporting nine families with an autistic individual and holding weekly evening clubs and care groups.
Life before lockdown
Before Covid-19, Megan worked a full-time 37.5-hour contract: Monday to Thursday and Saturdays. While working hours were restrictive, Megan had accepted this when she joined, and felt she was able to achieve a good work-life balance most the time.
Working through the crisis
When lockdown was introduced, Megan was very concerned about her clients. Part of her role is visiting people’s homes to interact with families – if the support had stopped it, would have detrimental effects to their mental health.
The biggest reassurance was the immediate response from RFA’s senior leadership team. By completing risk assessments and having honest conversations, Megan and her managers balanced what was safe for her and the families. Megan continued to work in her local community, supporting three families with restrictions in place (such as moving the session outside). For more distant families, Megan moved to online sessions either on Zoom or over the phone.
While there were no formal changes to Megan’s working hours, the pressure to fulfil a certain number of service hours was relieved. Instead, the focus was on delivering support, with Megan able to decide what was best for her clients. For example, before Covid-19 one of Megan’s clients would have a two-hour session each week. Megan found a two hour Zoom session unproductive, and instead changed to a 15-minute phone call a few times a week. Despite the time being reduced drastically, because there was less pressure to look at the clock, conversations were better and more valuable.
Delivering some of the sessions from home saved commute times and gave Megan more flexibility in her hours. Working from home also meant Megan worked more creatively: creating fun and engaging activities for semi-verbal clients.
Support from employers
RFA offered an abundance of guidance to help adjust to delivering care online. Megan’s behavioural managers organised weekly behaviour zoom sessions, and all employees had the opportunity to complete training courses for personal development.
Providing community support often means working independently. To encourage creativity and collaboration, Megan’s line manager arranged a weekly call with the team to discuss service users and brainstorm solutions to any issues. Ironically, these remote sessions meant Megan engaged with more of her colleagues than she did before Covid-19.
Megan felt that there was a good balance in feeling supported through clear communications and check-ins, but also feeling trusted by managers to work independently to do the job.
Learning from the experience
Megan initially struggled to adjust to home working. The blurred line between work and home meant Megan was overworking and exhausting herself. Lockdown taught Megan to be more protective of her non-working hours and be honest about capacity to take on more work.
Megan also became more aware of different ways of working that still allowed her to support clients. In some cases, families responded better to virtual support and it gave Megan greater flexibility in her working day. Being trusted to fulfil her responsibilities also means Megan has become a more confident worker; the freedom to try new ideas motivating her to work harder.
Moving forward, Megan is in a new role as RFA’s early help support worker looking at short-term intensive intervention support for children. Her reduced flexible hours has given Megan time to further her skills with a Masters in Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
This case study is part of a series supported by The National Lottery Community Fund, as part of their Emerging Futures Fund
Click on the links below to read the other case studies in the series:
