Dealing with mental health challenges without judgment

Our Head of People and Culture Vivien Schwarz-Elbelazi talks to us about work-life balance

It’s fair to say that stigma around one’s health, when the problem doesn’t necessarily present physical symptoms, has been a problem for a long time. At HolidayPirates we’re keen to ensure that employees feel comfortable acknowledging and dealing with mental health challenges without judgment. To that end, we interviewed Vivien Schwarz-Elbelazi (she/her), our Head of People and Culture for her take on her experience of how mental health and wellness is prioritized on board at HolidayPirates.

Finding balance

“I manage my role as Head of People and Culture in this rapidly growing company…”

…but I’m also raising two young children and occasionally working as a business coach. The stresses of a modern lifestyle are not lost on me. I think I manage fairly well all things considered.”

“At HolidayPirates I’m able to conduct my leadership role, with the flexibility I require to be a really active parent to my two kids. With the benefits of the flexible and remote first working model my job isn’t locked in to the traditional 9 to 5. I can take days off at short notice – my colleagues have my back, and equally, I’m empowered to support them when necessary. One of our most important company values is comradery, we really live this every day – it’s part of what makes this place so wonderful to work at.”

‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.’

“There is no one size fits all solution but by raising awareness of the options we hope that we actively prevent issues rather than rely exclusively on implementing support after the fact. For people who feel like they are struggling, we have an overview of support numbers, doctors and procedures for psychological problems and our market leads and HR representatives strive to be as approachable as possible with these matters.”

“There was a great training seminar on how to cultivate mental wellbeing followed by weekly sessions to practice the methods we learned. In terms of practical steps we take at HolidayPirates, we try to understand that mental health issues look different for everyone.”

“I personally feel absolutely comfortable talking with my manager about mental health issues, he’s very understanding. Twice now there have been moments where I felt my work responsibilities were beginning to overwhelm and we found a quick fix as well as a longer term arrangement to help ease things.”

“Personally, I’m not so much into morning Yoga classes but others are really enjoying free classes along with some other benefits we are offering.”

Stay tuned for more insights behind the scenes at HolidayPirates Group!