Association of Electoral Administrators

Following delivery of our Practical Approaches to Handling Pressure training course

The Association (AEA) provides help and advice to professionals in the UK who are involved in electoral administration.  As such, their work is manifold and includes: encouraging training and education by providing events and written materials for members; promoting knowledge through encouraging opportunities for the views and experiences of members and others to be exchanged; circulating information and advice to members and others about the conduct of elections and all aspects of electoral registration.

As AEA explained:

“Running the EU Referendum and snap General Election in the space of just over a year – on top of other scheduled elections work – brought into sharp focus that in simply trying their best to do their jobs, many electoral administrators experienced real challenges in both their professional and personal lives.
While we support the professional development of our members, their welfare is also hugely important to us. We wanted to provide a course that taught useful and practical coping strategies that our members could put into place straight away. In Equilibrium’s experience showed us that they could provide this, and they tailored the course perfectly.”

The course we ran for the AEA, at various locations across the UK, was “Practical Approaches for Handling Pressure”. This one-day course helps participants gain an understanding of stress and the effect it can have, and provides tools and techniques so individuals can develop strategies to help them cope with stress-related issues.

The course was very well received by those who attended and, as the following selection of comments illustrate, was not just an engaging training day and an opportunity to exchange experiences – practical tools and techniques were taken away to be used both professionally and personally in the future.

Why did you attend the course?
“I wanted to find out ways and means of addressing issues with putting too much pressure on myself at times of busy periods.”

What topics or sessions were of most value to you?
“Be assertive – This has helped me already with my communication with the general public and how I feel after I take a phone call.”

What will you differently as a result of attending the course?
“Have already changed my telephone style…”
“Outlook on work pressures. Deal with things in a slightly different way – is already paying dividends.”

How will this training improve your work performance?
“If I can control the way I respond to pressure I will be more productive because I won’t waste time worrying about things I have no control over.”

Please describe your overall experience of the course in a sentence
“Brilliant and the trainer was so good and understanding. made the course about us.”
“The course was well worth it, learnt a great deal and it has changed my outlook on work and life pressures. As a result, I sleep better and look at life differently. Thank you (sorry, more than one sentence)!”

Training and development specialist, Sue Butterfield delivered the training at all locations and commented,

“Prior to the course I had a number of discussions with key people at the AEA around historical, current and future challenges, and to agree key outcomes for the training.  This enabled me to put together a bespoke course for them which was very well received.
The course was attended by AEA members ranging from directors to operational staff.  Delegates engaged with the course well and each of them put together their own personal ‘tool-kit’ from the range of practical approaches the course covered.
All AEA members were a delight to work with, fully engaging with the session.  An added advantage for delegates was just time out to talk and share experiences.  I was particularly impressed by the strong team work ethic from delegates and their outstanding commitment to the fantastic job they do under exceptional circumstances.”