The Circle is committed to creating culturally grounded policies and practices that prioritize staff wellness. At the core of each of the practices is a commitment to centring the wellness of Indigenous women, embodying The Circle’s organizational values, and honouring the wholeness of each staff person. This is based on the understanding that we are not whole without being able to care for and connect with our families, communities, and lands. Collected together, these policies and practices represent a bundle for staff wellness.
We develop practices and policies that invite whole people to show up and to decompress from the harmful workplaces that they have had to exist in before arriving with us. We recognize that Indigenous people don’t exist just by themselves, they don’t just belong to themselves. Their well-being is actually contingent on the well-being of their families and their communities and their nations. And so if we take care of the individuals, that enables good care for all of the relations that they have outside of their workplace.
– Kris Archie, The Circle CEO
The Seasonal Pathway
All these practices are supported by and exist inside the context of The Circle’s Seasonal Pathway. We believe that a diverse living system creates a more realistic, responsive pathway for lasting transformation. Doing the work in alignment with a seasonal pathway recognizes our interconnectedness with the land and to each other, and the importance of bringing our full selves to the work.
Interview Process
From the very first interaction with The Circle, potential staff candidates are invited into a different way of doing things. Our goal is to learn more about who people are and provide opportunities for them to learn more about us and our work. We share interview questions ahead of time, so people can arrive with some thoughtful consideration of the work and our values, ready to share what specific skills and experience they could contribute. Aiming for transparency, we share timelines at the outset and we compensate people for their time interviewing with us in recognition of the labour required.
Onboarding
New staff members are invited into an intentionally slow onboarding process that gives them time to get set-up, reflect on and decompress from previous work experiences, and become really grounded in the work by connecting with and building relationships with the rest of the team. We are invited to unlearn the urgency and white supremacist understanding of ‘productivity,’ to slow down and practice presence and more depth in the work.
4-Day Work Week
The Circle first piloted a 4-day work (4DWW) week in the Summer 2021 and moved to a 4DWW year-round in 2022. For The Circle, it has never been about productivity., but quality. Our purpose is to prioritize connection, nourishment, and wellness. Read more about our Journey to a 4DWW here.
“Rest, in its simplest form, becomes an act of resistance and a reclaiming of power because it asserts our most basic humans. We are enough. The systems cannot have us.”
(From Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto, by Tricia Hersey
Head, Heart, Hands Reflections
Through regular practice, the Head, Heart, Hands structure (H3s) has become our go-to reflective tool for both internal discussion and external gatherings. It is a practice that supports the deepening of self-awareness, an invitation to notice and listen to the wisdom of our bodies while also identifying shared learnings which inform our work and help us to model and practice discernment in our actions and work alongside each other.
Health and Wellness Benefits
The Circle prioritizes the wellbeing of staff by offering generous benefits and leave policies. Staff are encouraged to optimize all leaves and other extended benefits. Our Operations team works to ensure the team is well aware of all available benefits and ways to fully utilize them. The Winter Steward also provides updates to staff about their remaining leave and benefit balances.
Leave Days
The Circle encourages all staff members to optimize the diverse leave days made available in support of their wellbeing, downtime, professional and personal development, cultural activities, and community engagement.
In addition to Vacation Leave, The Circle offers Cultural, Caregiving, Learning & Development, Health & Wellness, and Volunteering Leave Days. Like health and wellness benefits, staff are given reminders about their available leave days and are encouraged to optimize their use.
Cultural Sabbatical for CEO
In recognition that connecting with the land, community, and culture is an essential part of what makes an Indigenous-led organization truly Indigenous-led, the CEO is granted one week per season for reconnection with their territory, family, knowledge keepers, and teachings.
While The Circle’s policies and practices have been years in the making, many are still being tested and refined, and new ones continue to be developed. We are committed to sharing these as part of an iterative process. . Where possible, we share examples and templates that can be reflected upon, incorporated and adapted to meet the needs of Indigenous organizations. These are available to Indigenous-member organizations via the Cache Pit. For access, contact <members@circleonphilanthropy.ca>
We would also love to learn from other policies and practices centring the well being of Indigenous women that have been implemented. We invite our members and partners to share their wisdom, experience, and expertise to inform the ongoing development of this work. Let us know what works for your organization, what you’re learning, and what your approaches are. Please contact the Winter steward: <dena@circleonphilanthropy.ca>