Fiscal Case Study

FISCAL Technologies is an award-winning company in the Thames Valley – With several accolades including 2014: SME of the Year and the Second Best Company to Work for in the Thames Valley and this year, for the second time, listed in the prestigious Great Place to Work in the Sunday Telegraph. It is a fast-growing dynamic company with numerous FTSE 100 companies on its client list.

FISCAL believes in investing in staff and has a Wellbeing Programme in place. FiXme has been the Wellbeing Provider for FISCAL for numerous years, providing Pain and Stress Management to the staff.

To raise the awareness of Stress in the Workplace, Diksha Chakravarti, Director of FiXme, was invited to Lunch n Learn sessions where she presented a humorous, informative and enlightening talk to the Management Team, titled Why Zebras don’t get Ulcers.

Following this presentation, FiXme was invited back to conduct Workshops in Mindfulness, Effective Communication Skills and Managing Conflicts for the rest of the company. They specifically wanted FiXme to address communication and dynamics within the Technology team, where meetings often over ran due to the enthusiasm of colleagues insisting their viewpoint was heard.

FiXme had several discussions with Directors and Managers to agree outcomes, and then spent some time observing the team to understand the dynamics before creating a tailored programme of Workshops.

The Workshops were bite sized (2hrs long), interactive and not dependent on PowerPoint. Instead, participants were encouraged to use old-fashioned Workbooks. The Workshops were conducted face-2-face in the UK and virtually to the team in the USA. Unlike usual Workshops, FiXme’s style ensured the learning process was challenged and active, thus facilitating long term retention of the material.

Following the delivery of the Workshops, staff were given homework and encouraged to provide feedback to facilitate compliance and successful outcomes. Continuous support was provided by way of email and telephone. Any objections/obstacles were relayed back by FiXme to the FISCAL Management.
As a direct result, a cultural change ensued: in response to staff saying they didn’t have the time to practice Mindfulness, that it was noisy in the office and that they felt like a ‘dork’ sitting there with their headphones on and eyes closed, Fiscal agreed to ear mark the time from 0900-0915hrs every morning as Meditation Moment. Staff now had the opportunity to practice their Mindfulness with the office in silence and without looking like a ‘dork’ because others were doing the same.
A Review meeting was held after 6 weeks to determine outcome. As a result of this exercise the following tangible results were found. Staff reported:
1. less time was being spent on problem solving as a direct result of being more Mindful with colleagues and customers. This has led to them listening better, which in turn has led to better communication with colleagues and customers
2. increased team cohesion and productivity – being more Respectful of other colleagues instead of trying to force their viewpoints has meant all possible areas are covered
3. daily stand-up meetings were running to schedule and the atmosphere was calm and productive
4. bi-yearly Review meetings were running to schedule
As a result of these outcomes, Fiscal has decided to continue with the Meditation Moment in the morning and also to create a dedicated Meditation Area in their new premises which will allow staff to access a quiet moment away from the busy-ness of the office when they need to.