Applied Microbiology International’s own Emma Prissick has shared how the learned society prioritises the health and wellbeing of staff.
Speaking to the Charity Finance Group (CFG), the Director of Finance and Corporate Services spoke how about how proud AMI was to have been in The Times’ Best Places to Work lists in both 2024 and 2025, one of only five non-profits to make the ‘small organisation’ section of the list - and how we did it.
The article, by Sam Burne James, marked World Mental Health Day on Ocotber 10 by looking at how four different charities are prioritising the wellbeing of their staff and volunteers.
The VCSE Observatory’s recent report Wellbeing in Voluntary Organisations: The Cost of Doing Good argues that the sector “cares deeply about its workforce but doesn’t always feel equipped to support them”. It notes that while 87% of charities try to foster a culture of respect and inclusion, and 72% consider staff wellbeing a strategic priority, just 37% actively support workload management, and only a little over half (56%) have a specific wellbeing strategy in place. Meanwhile, a reported 12% of people in our sector are paid less than the living wage.
Small but ambitious
With 19 staff, AMI is described as “small but ambitious” with a CEO who “really prioritises staff wellbeing”.
Not only does it offer a four-day week as standard, but AMI provides staff with a subscription to mental health app Headspace, which is also offered to its members.
Emma admits that while it was a coup for AMI to make the The Times’ Best Places to Work list, she also draws on the list for inspiration: “We see what others are doing and replicate that - for example we recently introduced a day off on your birthday, that was something I saw another organisation do, and of course that’s free.”
Mental Health First Aiders
AMI also offers all staff the chance to train as Mental Health First Aiders, and around a quarter have done so.
“There are some drawbacks to being smaller, but there are also advantages - I’m not sure it’s a case of being harder or easier to get this right in a larger or smaller organisation, it’s just different challenges,” Emma says.
“Perhaps in larger organisations or different sectors you’re able to dedicate significant budget to wellbeing, but in a smaller organisation we can genuinely involve everyone in decision-making, we can implement things quickly, and get the feedback by sitting down with every single person, things that just aren’t possible in a much bigger organisation.”
Read the full article on the CFG site.
No comments yet