This Thursday (3rd February) is Time to Talk Day, a nationwide campaign designed to get people talking about mental health.
We took the opportunity to catch up with ‘Ear for You’, one of our newly formed TIC teams who shared with us their improvement idea which is all about challenging the stigma around mental health in the workplace and directing employees to the support services we have available at Jaguar Land Rover.
The team is made up of Graham Tubey, Simon Williams, Jaime Szakerley and Carl Woods- who all work on the production line in Trim & Final.
Asked how they came up with their idea, Graham said: “Sometimes you work eight hours a day, next to the same person and you start noticing changes in their mood or actions.
“Mental health is a tricky topic, especially amongst co-workers. We understand that by simply asking people around you ‘how are you?’, we can make a difference and break down barriers.”
Carl added: “A manager might struggle to identify changes in an employee’s mental health because they won’t work as closely with them as we do on the line- so we are hoping we can get people talking about this topic and encourage them to keep a look out for their teammates.
“It is everybody’s responsibility to listen and understand our co-workers feelings and emotions.”
Ear for You’s project is still at the early stages of the TIC cycle, but the team has already got clear set goals.
Jaime said: “We want to give our workforce a clear insight on the mental health services and support we have available at Jaguar Land Rover and for people to know that their privacy is protected, and it goes no further.
“We know this is a very delicate topic and sometimes people just aren’t ready to talk about mental health, but we hope through raising awareness we can challenge the stigma and build openness around the subject.
She added: “We are still gathering data at the moment and have written a questionnaire where we ask colleagues about their thoughts on the project. We will roll out this survey in the next few weeks and gather the feedback we need to move forward to the next stage.
Simon, who is the Ear for You circle leader, added: “We feel this project is in line with the current times. The last two years has been really hard for people on the line with all the Covid-19 regulations.
“We used to work closely together but restrictions which were put in place for our safety have meant we have been separated for a long time and also unable to use rest areas to have those important conversations. Over the next few months, with the easing of the national restrictions, we are hoping we can bring people together again face to face and get them talking. We know conversations have the power to change lives - helping to create supportive communities where our employees can talk openly about mental health and feel empowered to seek help when they need it.
TIC not only helps to shape our future by improving the quality and efficiency of our processes, it’s also a brilliant enabler to engagement, allowing you to realise your potential, do something different and give you exposure to other departments and people within our business. It is also a key way that employees can play their part in Refocus transformation- our number one priority in manufacturing.
Refocus is helping us to transform the way operate to improve our quality, sustainability, and the profitability of our vehicles. This will ensure Halewood is in the strongest position to successfully rollout the electric architectures earmarked for our plant as part of Jaguar Land Rover’s Reimagine strategy.
Interested in finding out more about forming a TIC Circle?
Trim and Final: Jason Wilding or Sean O’Donnell
Paint: Mark McGarry or Yvette Murray
Quality: Ian Felton or Mike Burton
MP&L: Craig Roylance
Body Shop: Kevin Cameron or David Williamson
T&PPG: Greg Tunstall
To find out more about the TIC Support Sessions’ lead by Halewood’s TIC Engagement Lead, please email Georgie at ggreen8@jaguarlandrover.com.
For those circles that already have the wheels in motion with their TIC theme, we want to know all about it, so please remember to email us with your progress to Halewood@jaguarlandrover.com
