Prioritizing People Over Productivity

Sept. 6, 2024
Boulders, Dragoon Mountains, AZ

In spring term 2024, Visiting Fulbright Scholar Dr. Ivana Radačić taught a course entitled "Self- and collective- care, well-being and spirituality: A holistic human rights framework." Among other  activities, students in the course developed well-being policies for human rights collectives. This blogpost presents the results by a group composed of Human Rights Practice students Yolanda Stanback, N’Dea Walker, and Michelle Konert. Additional blogposts feature the policy proposals developed by other groups of students (see links at the end of this article). You can also read Ivana's reflections on the course, the policy proposals, and the issues that they raise for human rights practice and education.                      

by Yolanda Stanback, N’Dea Walker, and Michelle Konert

It has now been well-documented that human rights defenders (HRDs) experience serious burnout and other mental health issues. For example, a study conducted with 22 human rights defenders who had experienced burnout has found that they suffered the deterioration of physical health; the deterioration of psychological and emotional health; and hopelessness, while the following were identified as the causes of burnout: infighting and tense relationships within activist organizations and movements; deep sensitivities to injustice that made the slow process of social change difficult to bear; and a lack of attention to burnout and self-care in their activist communities (Chen & Gorski, 2015). Another study confirmed that the rate of burnout was too high for HRDs, while could have been prevented with more recognition and healthy outlets within their work or workplace.

Creating an open dialogue around the challenges of being a HRD is crucial to preventing burnout. Urgent Action Fund intentionally has conscientious dialogue surrounding the challenges of their female human rights defenders: “To support the activists and groups that we fund, we must engage in honest conversations around our own burnout, which stems from our internalized practices and habits, and a lack of healthy policies.“

According to the study published by the Human Rights Defender Hub, growing numbers of organizations are initiating processes of awareness-raising and education about wellbeing but these are often one-off training or events and the focus is on self-care rather than being viewed holistically, relationally, culturally and organizationally. In order to achieve the long-lasting impacts encompassing burnout, we must create a culture of not only individual self-care methods, but also care on a collective level.

For far too long, the framework for human rights has been to prioritize productivity over the well-being of the HRDs. HRDs have taken on the responsibility and continuously expend effort to promote and protect human rights for the betterment of society but have not been empowered to apply this same care for themselves. A comprehensive look at what we can do to support their well-being needs to be taken. A collective care approach is necessary to prioritize HRDs.

The well-being policy we propose introduces pragmatic ideas and preventative solutions to eliminate burnout within the human rights field. This policy integrates wellness onto the agenda of organization and introduces shifts to the organizational structure. The revision of the traditional model for human rights organizations contributes to a much-needed mindset change, which emphasizes the well-being of people over the corporate idea of productivity. Human rights organizations need to prioritize an effective collective care system for their HRDs. The implementation of a care system being codified will minimize the rate of burnout experienced by HRDs, encourage discussion and prevention strategies concerning burnout will support the defenders to prioritize their personal well-being.

Policy Proposal: Prioritizing People Over Productivity

Yolanda Stanback, N’Dea Walker and Michelle Konert

Introduction:

This policy is being created to prevent burnout and implement self-care and collective care practices and ideals with an organization. This policy is also made to ensure any type of trauma human rights defenders (HRDs) experience is directly addressed. The inspiration for this policy is from recognizing the need for collective care within working environments. By creating a human rights framework within work environments, we hope to provide realistic ideas, which can be implemented seamlessly into the human rights framework that currently exists. As claimed by Ilyas and Cordero Velasquez (2017): “To support the activists and groups that we fund, we must engage in honest conversations around our own burnout, which stems from our internalized practices and habits, and a lock of healthy policies.”

Principles and practices:

  1. The organization shall implement a daily check-in exercise for all employees and associates interacting at the beginning of each workday. Examples of this include interacting with a mood chart, having an affirmation system, or an anonymous engagement activity similar in theme. 

    1. If an employee is below the halfway mark, the organization’s supervisor is to do a personal check-in with them. The supervisor must allot space and time for the employee to express concerns in a private and safe environment. The supervisor will assess the employee in determining what solutions can be made immediately or in the short term. 

    2. If an employee expresses that they are having issues with sleep, having their stress or trauma affect their work and home life, and are displaying inconsistencies in performance, the employee is to be put on paid personal leave for the rest of the workday. 

  2. The organization is to have a self-care room or space for employees to step away from their work. Employees can access this room during their breaks or after extremely traumatic events. If this room is available, employees may also have access to it before the start of their day or at the end of their day. The self-care room can be used as a space to recharge during breaks away from work. We realize there is passive trauma from the daily work of an HRD. Aside from passive trauma that may occur, HRD’s empathy can drain them throughout the day as they work.This dedicated room is available to provide space to process whatever feelings the HRD is having. The room can include a system which can provide relaxation sounds, including but not limited to, low-fi or slow tempo music, an area for tea or coffee to be made and consumed, a set of noise canceling headphones, comfortable lounging furniture, or a blanket. 

    1. Employees are permitted to take a minimum of three 15-minute breaks for every five hours of work.* 

      1. The breaks can be taken at any time within the five hour period.

      2. If the employee needs more time for personal, emotional, or mental health reasons, they are to discuss this on a situation-based or ongoing case with their supervisor.

    2. Healthy food, snacks, and drinks are to be available in the safe-care room.   

  3. An organization that has partnerships with local therapists, gyms, classes, restaurants, spas, movie theaters, etc. could help HRD’s take advantage of services or be able to do something fun, to help them de-stress. By taking advantage of these local services, HRD’s are provided with the opportunity to take time for themselves and their families. Oftentimes burnout occurs because HRD’s work frequently continues into the evening and early mornings. Unfortunately, this non-stop work culture has been shown to lead to burnout symptoms (exhaustion, insomnia, etc.) By providing partnerships with local facilities, we hope to create more opportunities for self-care. This list could be more customized depending on the location. This list is not limited to these places. Self-care is very personal and there may be other local partnerships which could provide other forms of self-care.   

    1. The organization should then include those partnerships and incentivize frequenting them during organizational time so that those options are on the forefront of “associates” minds. The options just existing are not benefiting the people, organizations must reinforce their importance and could orchestrate group outings or shoutouts for those that make the time to attend. 

  4. The organization is to have a monthly paid premium for employees to have access to their own doctors/mental health professionals.

    1. Options for this service must include in-person and telehealth access. 

    2. Up to 3 chosen family members or friends of the employee can access this benefit. 

      1. An online portal will be designed to identify the family members or friends of the employee so they can access the support themselves.

  5. Associates will have a paid mental health day built into their schedule every 30 days (about 4 and a half weeks). The associate can request this time off for any day of their choosing. If time off is not utilized by the 30th day, an associate may choose to use on-site self-care services. Otherwise, they will not have any assigned work for that 30th day, encouraging time away. 

*Standard work practice in California and Arizona provides the following breaks permitted to all employees. We highlight this fact, as not all HRD’s use this time. It is widespread practice to continue to work throughout the day and not take breaks. We stress the importance of taking the time legally allotted to HRD’s within their state and/or country.  

  1. The organization is to allot time for retreats and other company events to have dedicated time where the employees meet outdoors and do not discuss work. This is to be non-work related, as the studies have shown that “conversations which deemphasized professional work during retreats and the small group-calls and webinars allowed people to regard each other as human beings and not merely as professionals”. (Severns Guntzel, & Murphy Johnson, 2020, p. 60). 

  2. Each month one employee will be assigned to present or provide a way they appreciate themselves. A weekly meeting may occur to discuss growth and challenges faced when trying the suggested method themselves. 

  3. After working with the organization for six months, quarterly “Opportunity Meetings” take place. This meeting provides employees with opportunities to better their lives and the lives of their families. Topics for these meetings include financial planning (budgeting, investing, saving, etc.), future planning (grant writing, resume building, skill development, etc.) and healthy lifestyles (nutrition, exercise, self-care practices, etc.) 

    1. The goal is for employees to grow with the company or to receive growth while with the company. We were inspired by the examples given in the Strategies for Building and organization with the soul.  (Chigudu & Chigudu, 2022, pp. 45, 50). 

Disclaimer:

The creators of this Human Rights Framework recognize that their cultural background, personal beliefs, and academic training may have influenced the interpretation and presentation of data. We welcome any feedback that may improve the quality of this framework.

References:

Chigudu, H., & Chigudu, R. (2022). Strategies for Building an Organization with Soul.

https://prevention-collaborative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Chigudu_2015_

Strategies-for-Building-Organisation-with-Soul.pdf

Iiyas, M. & Cordero Velasquez, T. (2017). Collective care in human rights funding: a political stand. 

https://www.openglobalrights.org/collective-care-in-human-rights-funding-poli/

Severns Guntzel, J. & Murphy Johnson, N. (2020). Well-being Inspires Well-doing: How Changemakers’ Inner Well-being Influences Their Work (Report). Well-being Project.

https://wellbeing-project.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/research_report.pdf

Other policy proposals written by Human Rights Practice students:
A Wellness Policy Built by Employees for Employees 
Soulful Advocacy: The Heartbeat of a Human Rights Collective