Developing Soft Skills: Exploring the Feasibility of an Australian Well-Being Program for Health Managers and Leaders in Timor-Leste

Abstract

The article aims to describe the Family Wellbeing Program (FWB), a program that sets out to facilitate the enhancement of soft skills and to explore the relevance and acceptability of the FWB in the context of health managers and leaders in Timor-Leste. This article presents the fundamental principles of the FWB approach to facilitating soft skills in the context of trauma-informed training for managers and leaders. It describes how a participatory social learning approach advances deep, transformative, and long-lasting impacts. An exploratory mixed-methods design was adopted. Qualitative data were gathered from workshop participants through an evaluation form with open-ended questions allowing participants to provide comments on the program and how it could be enhanced. In addition, attendees participated in an online survey, which sought to capture data relating to demographics, soft skills for managers/leaders, personal well-being, and program satisfaction. Overall, the results show that the FWB program is both relevant and acceptable. The findings indicate that participants’ understanding of concepts of management and well-being, particularly as it is applied to the workplace, was improved. This outcome is important because it highlights how the FWB program can contribute to the development of more accomplished managers and leaders in the future. The results of this exploratory study will be useful in informing future management and leadership training for the Timorese health workforce.