In challenging times, it is important to ensure that the Mental Wellbeing of your staff does not get forgotten. Checking regularly on mental health and wellbeing should form part of your organisation’s strategy. In these difficult times, we have discussed some of the ways you can do this and the importance of doing so.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that work-related stress, anxiety and depression in 2018-2019 contributed to 12.8 million working days being lost according to the Labour Force Survey*. This was estimated to cost UK employers £45 billion per year (research conducted by the Charity Mind**). As an employer do you feel that you’re adequately supporting your staff? We are not going to solve the issue overnight, but steps and measures can be taken to help to support employees, especially during times of difficulty. The figures stated above show an increase from previous years’ statistics, demonstrating that further support is needed.
Mental Health issues can develop from:
- Financial concerns
- Health scares
- Work pressures
- Family issues
During this time of difficulty you may find more employees struggling and developing stress, anxiety and mental health conditions. Carrying out Wellbeing Checks with employees, whether they are in work or working remotely can help to monitor their mental health and identity if they need further support. By understanding triggers from the outset you may be able to help support the employee’s wellbeing earlier and ensure that the support and solutions that are being provided are appropriate. Use software, such as SAM, or a tracker to log when the Wellbeing Check was carried out, what was discussed and set a task for when the next one should be carried out. This can also help to fulfil regulatory requirements around demonstrating Wellbeing support. We have developed a Wellbeing Guide for Line Managers which you can access here. We will be adding other How To Guides in the near future, so keep checking the page.
We appreciate that talking about mental health can be difficult for the individual involved, but also for you. Our blog covering how to have a conversation about mental health, might provide some useful considerations. You can access it here.
Getting employees involved in the development of your Wellbeing Strategy, can also help to identify issues that need addressing. Involving employees in the development of a wellbeing policy or wellbeing guidance can also gain their support for the initiatives. The employees could drive the direction and ultimately the implementation of the policy. Something this simple allows employees to also feel more valued within their workplace.
Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) can be helpful, if you have one look into what support it provides. Make sure you are making the most of what it offers as often they can be costly. You should also consider all options available and not just rely on the EAP. It was ruled by a Judge in 2007 that employers should be doing more than just providing EAP, following the 2002 Sutherland v Hatton case.
Counselling is a well-used tool for supporting employees who are suffering with mental health concerns. We can support you with Counselling, Occupational Health and Mediation services as you need them. Please contact the team on 01924 827869 for further information if you are interested in any of these services.
Mental Health will remain a key cause of short and long-term absence and will be likely to increase as we work through this difficult period, so reviewing what you currently have in place to support employees could help to reduce the effects this has on your organisation in the long-term.
We will be releasing new training on this subject in the near future, along with our full training schedule from September. Make sure you keep an eye on communications for when this is released. If you would like to be personally notified of the training that is related to this subject, please get in touch and we will send you the information when the date is confirmed. We will also be hosting a webinar on Managing Wellbeing on 23rd April, click here for details.
If we can assist with supportive services such as Counselling, Occupational Health or Mediation, please get in touch for further information or call the team on 01924 827869.
Sources:
**https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/news/articles/poor-mental-health-costing-businesses-45bn-a-year
