2020 was an incredibly stressful year for most, but even before the pandemic, employee stress, burnout, low resilience, unresolved resentment and work life balance struggles were all major contributors to poor mental health!
Although there is more talk around mental health, when it comes to Health and Wellbeing in the workplace, it is a ticking time bomb for many employers who are seeing a massive increase in absenteeism, presenteeism and resignations.
At OutThere we help organisations understand the importance of utilising prevention methods (such as wellbeing initiatives), and the need to be proactive when it comes to creating the very best working environment for employees to thrive in.
When employers place employee Health and Wellbeing at the centre of their business and view it as “vital”, they soon realise that it pays dividends.
What is Employee Wellbeing?
Employee Health and Wellbeing in the workplace is a much broader issue than simply ensuring that the mental and physical state of your staff is “fit for work” purposes.
It is about taking a holistic approach to look at the different factors that influence and shape your employees feelings, both at work and outside of it, and considering how as an employer, you can influence these for the better.
As a manager you want to ensure that your employees are safe and healthy, but you also want to see that they are satisfied and engaged with their work.
Whether your company is brand new or well-established, monitoring and fostering productivity from your employees is a key to success.
Over the past few years, there have been some dramatic changes in the workplace such as remote working, flexible work patterns and in some cases higher job expectations, which have only placed additional pressures on employer and employee relationships.
Why do we need to look after our Employees’ Wellbeing?
Quite often the health and happiness of our staff is often way down on the list of business priorities. As long as people are coming in and ‘getting on with the job’, they can leave their feelings at the door…right?
Wrong! If your employees do not feel good at work, then the upshot is, that they won’t be as productive. They will be unwilling to share ideas or feel good about collaborating with others and will have no passion or drive to do the best that they can.
If your employees are failing to fulfil their true potential, then chances are, that your business won’t either.
On top of this, the cost of not looking after your employees is high, with staff taking time off for stress or mental health issues, costing UK businesses millions of pounds a year!
The benefits of looking after Employees’ Wellbeing
As an employer, when you place employee workplace wellbeing at the top of your to do list, you will not only see increased staff commitment and productivity but morale will be high, making it easier to retain your staff for longer.
By building a more resilient workforce, you can provide people with the tools to cope better with the day-to-day stresses of work and life, and a company culture that can even prevent problems from escalating further.
Investing in wellbeing in the workplace sends a powerful message about your organisations values and ethics and will ultimately help you attract a high quality workforce. Some may even consider you as an ‘Elite Employer’. It’s win-win for everyone.
Why is Employee Wellbeing important?
We all know that a problem shared is a problem halved, but how we get our employees to discuss their emotions is incredibly difficult – not to mention sensitive at times. A small conversation has the power to make a big difference, so it is important that as employers we start to understand the value of our employees wellbeing.
Given that a large percentage of us (73% in fact) find it too uncomfortable, too scary or too difficult discussing our thoughts and feeling with our managers, outsourcing to a third party can help to provide that emotional detachment that so many employees need.
5 steps for a great start to Employee Health and Wellbeing:
In our experience the majority of employee Health and Wellbeing issues, stem from external factors. Internal being work related and external being caused from home life behaviours.
Regardless of whether the factor is internal or external, they will all eventually manifest in the workplace and affect individual and team performance.
Therefore to ensure workplace wellbeing is looked after throughout your business it is important:
- To create a positive and mindful workplace. This will minimise internal factors and also provide a safe space from the pressures of external influences. At OutThere we take insights from data and look into what is stopping your workforce from having these important conversations. This could be physical health, stress, anxiety, depression, grief, paranoia, addiction or financial health.
- To explore & challenge personal barriers and fears through free flowing conversation. Serviced by a team of qualified Mental Health First Aiders, we are able to support your business to achieve a healthy, happy and more productive workforce and can provide a host of simple and practical tools to enable conversations going forwards.
- Adopt a beginner’s mind. Sometimes it is best to go back to the beginning, and at OutThere we can offer companies a fully outsourced employee and wellbeing programme which is reflective of your company culture and business objectives. We can deliver workshops on stress, work life balance, mindfulness, conduct mental health assessments and facilitate unbiased mediation between management and employees.
- To empower your leaders. We will teach you how to have ‘clean’ conversations using the right language that encourage your workforce to speak up.
- To look at financial wellbeing. Money troubles can cause ill health and hugely impact headspace, focus and ultimately work performance. Our OutThere Health & Wellbeing Team can deliver a financial wellbeing programme that will educate employees on managing income and costs to signposting for advice and financial counselling.
To find out how implementing an Employee Health & Wellbeing programme will position you as an “Elite Employer”, contact us at OutThere today!
It’s time to get talking – it’s time to look after your Employee Wellbeing
Employee wellbeing programs are more popular than ever. They originally started out being advertised as a nice to have employee perk alongside healthcare, but today they are commonly regarded as a must have by most businesses.
When carried out correctly by employers, a good employee wellbeing strategy can offer staff incentives, tools, social support, privacy, and coping mechanisms to adopt and maintain healthy behaviours.
In return, managers often see an increase in employee morale and a renewed passion for work which often leads to increased productivity.
If you are a company that sees the benefits of an employee Health and Wellbeing programme but are unsure how to implement it, then contact us to discuss the outsourced services and resources that we offer.
Pricing can be provided following a discovery call around head count, employee engagement, retention rates and overall business objectives.
