My Whole Self Stories: The National Crime Agency

What is the National Crime Agency?

The National Crime Agency (NCA) leads the UK’s fight to cut serious and organised crime, protecting the public by targeting and pursuing those criminals who pose the greatest risk to the UK.

The NCA is a diverse organisation with officers hailing from different cultures and backgrounds, all with different skills and experiences. Due to the nature of the work, the NCA aims to support and champion its people as much as possible. Not only do they offer all officers a wealth of internal support, but they have also been working with Mental Health First Aid England® since 2019 to train a group of officers as Mental Health First Aiders. Since 2019, over 80 officers across the Agency, and at all seniority levels, have trained as MHFAiders®.

Since 2021 the NCA has also been working closely with MHFA England to embed the My Whole Self campaign for workplace culture change into the Agency.

How have they embraced My Whole Self?

Due to the NCA’s size, and the nature of the work, the Clinical Services and Wellbeing team have ensured the campaign aligns with other activity taking place within the NCA. Over the years, the NCA has worked with MHFA England to devise a programme of bespoke events, using materials supplied by MHFA England.

My Whole Self was launched in September 2021 to tie in with National Inclusion Week, rather than March, when My Whole Self Day is celebrated. To create interest in the campaign, the staff intranet was utilised, alongside an all-staff communication from a Deputy Director and Health and Wellbeing Champion within the NCA. The NCA’s network of MHFAiders also promoted the campaign, with many sharing their My Whole Selfies internally.

Since 2021, the campaign has gone from strength to strength – even being re-named internally to “My Authentic Self”, to ensure that it aligns with the organisation’s values and wellbeing strategy.

Growing the campaign

In January 2022, the Director General, three Deputy Directors and Simon Blake, Chief Executive of MHFA England, chaired a panel event which focused on how people can bring their whole selves to work and how the workplace can support employees from a variety of backgrounds and with a multitude of lived experiences.

On the campaign so far, the team share;

“Getting support from senior leadership was important. We were overwhelmed with feedback saying how great it was to see senior staff discussing their wellbeing and authentic selves. It was a much more relaxed forum compared to some of our other communications, and I think that really helped people open up and share their own lived experiences.”

Fast forward to 2023 and there was continued interest from senior leadership to share their Authentic Selves with the Agency, with nearly two thirds of senior staff submitting an ‘Authentic Self’ biography.

The response was so positive, that the Clinical Services and Wellbeing team have decided to encourage more people across the Agency to get involved, resulting in many more submissions and continued engagement. The internal webpage which hosts the My Whole Self content has seen 67,000 impressions. This is much higher than the average figure for a wellness campaign, so the team were thrilled with the response.

What does the future look like for the NCA and My Whole Self?

The team want to keep embedding the campaign into the NCA, with feedback sought from across the Agency. Overwhelmingly, they have been asked to ensure that My Whole Self activity remains open to everyone, something which they are already spearheading. The team are planning to host a further My Whole Self event to engage and celebrate people from across the organisation, not just those at senior grades.

“When we first started participating in My Whole Self, it was very much a top-down initiative. Having senior managers talk about their mental health and wellness was important as it showed our people that it was ok to have these discussions. 

We really wanted to help change the narrative and break down barriers. I think we have achieved that. The fact that I am being asked by people across the Agency to be included in the planning and delivery of this year’s activity, shows a real change in our culture. People feel safe to bring their whole selves to work and to share their lived experiences.”
 

Speaking about the 2024 resource, My Whole Self: Guide to creating inclusive workplace cultures;

It’s great to have all the resources in one easy to access document. As someone who has been involved with the campaign for a number of years, I have found it useful to recap on the activities available. I have also enjoyed learning how other organisations have used them and consider where we might make changes to our own programme.
The guide has made me focus on how I want to embed the principles of My Whole Self into our wellbeing policies further. I am particularly interested in the Managers’ toolkit and how we can bring it into our onboarding (induction) processes. We will be exploring an event specifically for managers on the resources and best practice.”
 

They conclude;

“My Whole Self for us has never been about ‘over sharing’ or hitting targets. It’s about helping to support our officers in the best way possible. If we can understand our employees’ heritage, culture, and life experiences better we can help to foster an inclusive working environment.
It was wonderful to catch up with the team from MHFA England this year and discuss how we can embed the campaign further. I’m so excited to plan future events and initiatives to engage our staff and empower them to bring their whole self to work.”
 

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