Candice Sheldon brings WELL AP insights to human resource management

As the head of human resources for the Queensland Ballet, Candice Sheldon understands just how valuable the people who make up an organization are. With this in mind and a health and well-being-minded overhaul planned for the Company’s home, Candice knew becoming a WELL Accredited Professional (AP) would help her make the most of the redeveloped space’s people-first mission.

1. How did you first hear about the WELL AP? What got you excited enough about it to apply, study and take the test?

When I joined Queensland Ballet, nearly 6 years ago, the Company’s home, the Thomas Dixon Centre, was targeted for redevelopment. The plan was to put people and wellness at the heart of the building’s design. This vision excited me, and I could see that becoming a WELL AP would be integral to making this vision a reality. Studying for the WELL AP exam positioned me to better understand WELL and how it applies to our built environment. It also provided me with a unique opportunity to develop progressive policies that enhance the well-being of our Queensland Ballet team.

2. What’s one way becoming a WELL AP has impacted your life and/or career?

It has fundamentally shifted my perspective on wellness and helped me to develop as a human resources professional. I now have a better understanding of the importance of putting human health and well-being at the center of building design. Not only can WELL initiatives contribute to well-being, but they can also help increase engagement and productivity in the workplace.

As an HR professional, I believe that the people are Queensland Ballet’s biggest asset, and as a result, human health and wellness should be a top priority. As such, I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to become a WELL AP and support the well-being of others.

3. What are some things you’ve been able to do (or you plan to do) as a WELL AP you couldn’t before? Why are those things important to you?

As a WELL AP, I have been able to develop policies around mental health, stress management, nutrition, flexibility and leave that better support our employees.

4. Did anything about the WELL AP surprise you? What was it? How would you prepare WELL AP candidates for that?

I didn’t realize how much information there was within each of the WELL Concepts. There’s a lot to learn, and every concept has a lot of scientific evidence and data associated with it. You really just need to apply yourself and not get overwhelmed.

5. What’s something about the WELL AP–or the WELL movement in general–that isn’t often discussed, but you think deserves more attention?

I think just how much WELL is really about people and not just good building design. It would be great to see more organizations focusing on the wellness of their people, and WELL provides for precisely that.

6. Do you have any advice you’d give potential WELL AP candidates?

There is so much within this course that you can apply at home to increase your personal well-being, and it is a great opportunity to learn more about wellness in the built environment and how WELL can enhance the quality of life for building occupants.

At Queensland Ballet we hope that WELL will help us attract and retain the most talented employees while ensuring their health and wellbeing and fostering the sustainability of Queensland Ballet for future generations.

7. What does well-being mean to you? How do you incorporate it into your life and routine?

I am a mum of 3 active boys, so life is naturally busy. However, making time to ensure the well-being of our family is always a priority. I enjoy Pilates and yoga and my youngest, Ryan, will often sit with me if I am meditating. As a family, we enjoy hiking and indoor rock climbing, and we regularly walk our dog, Lulu, together. Through the WELL AP journey, I have enjoyed learning more about nutrition and sharing that knowledge with my children has been great for their development.

8. Is there a specific WELL concept, feature or set of features that have really resonated with you and that you’ve incorporated into your own life?

Mindfulness. I have trained as a meditation teacher, and I try to incorporate this in my daily life. With WELL we’ve also brought this into the workplace, where I introduced a Mindful Monday meditation session, which has since been run by other professionals from our Performance Health team.

9. How do you think COVID-19 has impacted your WELL AP practice and approach? How do you think that will change going forward?

Covid-19 has brought health and wellbeing to the forefront of our lives.

The beginning of the pandemic was a scary time. Within my role, we had to work overnight to ensure our workforce was equipped to work remotely. This meant things like dancers rehearsing in their living rooms and our costume technicians sewing from their own homes. For a performing arts organization, this was a whole new way of working. It wasn’t ideal; however, in all the uncertainty we really came together as a team to support one another. When we returned to work we needed to put in place stringent Covid-19 policies to minimize the risk for all performers and staff.

As a WELL AP, this has had a profound impact on our organization’s approach to well-being. Where we were previously a very much face-to-face arts organization, we have now evolved to provide more flexible working options across all our teams to better support each individual’s work/life needs. We have better policies in place that help to ensure the health and wellbeing of our staff, patrons and the wider community. We have also begun running various WELL workshops for staff to provide opportunities for everyone to better connect with one another. For example, we recently held a kokedama workshop with a focus on mindfulness.

My approach has always been that we only have one cup, and we can only fill that with a certain amount of anything, family, work, study, hobbies, friends, etc. The beauty of that is that we can always choose what to fill our cups with. The combination in our cups will always vary and when we are prioritizing our wellbeing within this space, it makes it easier for us to balance out the contents in a way that works for you. This way we can ensure that we stay well and that our lives feel balanced. I guess it’s all about priorities and knowing that it’s OK not to be able to do everything at the same time and that all the key ingredients for wellness are always available to us. Similarly, WELL provides all the key elements for people to be well within buildings, helping us change the mix to engage with different concepts of WELL at different times.

Candice understands that an organization’s most valuable resource is its people. Looking to become a guiding expert to help businesses take better care of – and get more productivity from – their most valuable resource? Become a WELL AP.