Chief People Officer for Mental Health Concern and Insight IAPT, Sarah Dewar, is passionate about prioritising colleagues' mental health and wellbeing - and has been awarded the 2022 CIPD North East People Management Awards for Excellence in Health and Wellness.
“Our organisation is about supporting and helping people, and our new strategy puts our people at its heart.”
Sarah is an HR professional with over twenty years of experience educating organisations in colleague care. Throughout her career, she has used her expert knowledge to help shape HR departments in both the private and notfor-profit sectors.
Fascinated by people and the value that an engaged workforce can bring to an organisation; Sarah is passionate about workforce wellbeing and enjoys participating in the decision-making process. Within just a year as Chief People Officer, Sarah’s work, alongside the People Team and leaders across Mental Health Concern, has resulted in winning the CIPD North East Award for Excellence in Health and Wellness, and she hopes this will inspire other organisations to consider adding a CPO into their own team.
“I am so glad that so many organisations are investing in a Chief People Officer on their Executive team. My interest stemmed from my law degree – though I soon realised I didn’t want to pursue law; I was fascinated by employment law and the complexity of the workplace.”
Sarah joined Mental Health Concern and Insight IAPT during a significant change. Before 2021, Mental Health Concern prioritised service users rather than its employees despite the incredibly demanding nature of the work. High absence and attrition levels, combined with low morale, were at odds with the organisation’s ethos. An internal wellbeing survey in early 2021 had very low uptake and revealed that people felt ‘abandoned’ regarding their own wellbeing.
Through their tireless commitment to the organisation and the people that make the work possible, Mental Health Concern and Insight IAPT have experienced a dramatic change in morale and workplace culture. In April 2021, the charity launched its wellbeing strategy, directly linked to the CIPD Pillars of Wellbeing. A series of policies were introduced including an Agile Working Policy, Colleague Forum, and the launch of an Employee Values Award.
In response to recent economic hardships, Sarah and the other executives have implemented several financial support initiatives including charge cards for lowerincome workers and implementing a Real Living Wage as of April 2022 – impacting around 200 colleagues. Since Sarah joined as CPO, the organisation has been named a Great Place to Work provider and employees have reported increased satisfaction at work.
“I aim to continue with a modern and progressive people offer that enables us to grow in our journey as a Great Place to Work. We will be focusing on diversity and inclusion, choice, and personalisation in all that we do.”
