The importance of supporting employee wellbeing

When Mental Health Awareness Week took place at the beginning of May, we saw lots of companies publicly showing their support for employee wellbeing throughout social media. Outside of national holidays, what are these organisations doing on a day-to-day basis to support the mental health of their employees?

The most important part of looking after the mental health of your team is consistency. Holding events that shine a light on mental health is great for morale, but employees knowing that they’re constantly supported is key.

Want to demonstrate to your teams that their mental health is your top priority? Here are just some things that you can implement within your organisation:

Mental health days

A study by Deloitte stated that employees attending work whilst mentally unwell has cost employers an estimated £53-56 billion between 2020 and 2021. £10 Billion of which was within the public sector. This figure has increased by 25% since 2019.

These costs are largely attributable to high turnover. With many respondents in the Deloitte study stating that they left jobs within the last year for mental health or wellbeing reasons. The report also highlights that a lack of staff mental wellbeing drastically reduces productivity.

Encourage your team to take mental health days. Either by offering them within their contracts or destigmatising them through internal communications. You’ll help your staff to feel comfortable taking necessary wellbeing breaks.

Training

You can establish mental health incentives for your organisation. But you’ll need support from the top down to secure their implementation. To make sure this is consistent throughout the various teams, your senior team and line managers will need to be trained in mental health awareness.

Not sure how to motivate your managers into undergoing this training? There are many courses (including the ones available with the Mind organisation) that are CPD accredited. This will work as an incentive.

Screening vs surveys

Launching an anonymous survey throughout your organisation is a good way of getting a vague understanding of the health of your culture. However, this approach has its limitations and can often be unreliable. With experts saying as many as 50% of employees don’t answer truthfully.

By investing in mental health assessments (also known as screening) as part of your wellbeing outreach, you’ll create a more inviting environment for your team to express their concerns. Employers that implemented these tools saw an average return of £5.30 for every £1 invested.

Organisations within the public sector need to consider these tools even more so than those within the private sector. With the strain on key workers throughout the pandemic showing new heights of employees suffering from anxiety and burn out. To retain your top talent, you need to create a work environment where mental wellbeing is a top priority.

If you’re struggling to engage with the current jobseeker market, get in touch to see how JGP can help.