Realise Your Purpose is a Bates Wells campaign to help commercial organisations consider, decide on and implement their ESG goals. From governance to people, and from contracts to real estate, this series will provide insight and guidance for business leaders and senior decision makers on the first steps in their sustainability journey.
Employee sickness absence is at the highest level reported for over a decade with stress being one of the most common causes of long-term absence.[1] As a purpose driven organisation, promoting employee health and wellbeing needs to be top of your priority list. Improving employee wellbeing also leads to greater productivity and a more engaged workforce. We’ve put together a short overview of practical steps you can take to promote employee health and wellbeing.
Helping with the ‘Work Life balance’ challenge
There is an increasing focus on the importance of achieving a ‘work life balance’ and in line with this the Government is considering introducing a legal ‘right to switch off’. Whilst the details of this are yet known, the concept is a welcome one for employee wellbeing given technology and the ability to work remotely makes it difficult to ever really ‘leave’ the office.
However, what work life balance looks like is unique to the individual and having rigid rules in place, even if introduced in an attempt to reduce stressors may, for some, do the opposite. The Government will be challenged in deciding how strictly to enforce these new rights, and will likely look to Europe to consider jurisdictions where this has already been introduced with varying degrees of enforcement.
Within your organisation, irrespective of the legislation, ‘switching off’ should be encouraged. But it needs to be balanced with the benefits that flexible and remote working has brought. Flexibility allows work to be more compatible with caring responsibilities and other outside commitments. Having a blanket ‘ban’ on working outside of certain hours is likely be counterproductive and could also give rise to indirect discrimination claims.
The important thing to do is to promote a culture of honest communication on this topic. Encourage your senior managers to lead the conversation and acknowledge that work can be stressful. Teams should work together to find ways to switch off that practically work for them and the organisation.
Take Mental Health seriously
Being ‘stressed’ at work is commonly used terminology. However, when an employee says this, even in an offhand way, this should be listened to. If not grappled with, workplace stress can become overwhelming and ultimately lead to long-term absence. This can be challenging to know how to manage fairly whilst balancing the needs of the organisation and presents a risk of claims regarding discrimination given workplace stress and depression, when severe, can constitute a disability under the Equality Act 2010. As ever, prevention remains the best cure.
As above, foster a culture of openness. Encourage people to speak up when they feel overworked or overwhelmed and be supportive when they do.
Having structured and regular 121s and performance reviews in place (and ensuring that these do happen) will help spot signs of stress or undue pressure. Managers should be trained on warning signs and what support they can offer.
Embed certain ways of working into performance criteria making clear that not only do you as an organisation promote wellbeing, you expect your workforce to do so too in how they interact with one another. 360 reviews also prevent behaviours contrary to this going unchecked.
Watch this space and embrace progression
It is clear that a culture of long hours and presenteeism is now perceived as outdated and organisations are instead expected to play a proactive role in supporting the welfare of their workforce. The coming years are likely to see increased flexible working, innovative use of technology to help carve those clearer lines between ‘work’ and ‘home’, and increased awareness of mental health issues. If you can be creative, flexible and embrace the change, this will demonstrate that your organisation is one that genuinely cares and dares to be different.
How does it work in practice?
Wellbeing is broad and can mean different things to different people. Whilst we approach wellbeing from a people-centred perspective, there are always ways to improve. Our policies and processes are ever evolving, and these are just a sample of the ways we try to put wellbeing on the map at Bates Wells.
Introducing a Mental Health First Aider (MHFA) programme can be a good first step to developing a culture where talking about mental health, or ill health, becomes more acceptable. A wellbeing strategy, however well developed or intricate, will only work if you have a culture where people can be genuine, and openness is encouraged. We allow people to self-nominate on to the MHFA training, whilst encouraging colleagues at all levels to become trained, means wellbeing can permeate at every level of our firm, and our ambassadors and first aiders are from a range of departments and specialisms. We regularly bring our MHFAs together to share their experiences and to collectively flag any themes they are hearing across the business, so that we are in a better place to understand what challenges our colleagues are facing, and to help steer our wellbeing offering.
Where there is the option of private medical, make sure it’s easily accessible and communicated clearly. People generally only look at it when joining, and then in times of emergency. If there is a mental health provision within your PMI, signpost this, and any other support the company offers, clearly. Employee Assistance Programmes have become more sophisticated in recent years, many offering more than the important 24-hour helpline. We work with Help at Hand, which offers remote GP access, mental health support, which can lead to further therapy sessions, as well as financial and legal support. The offer also extends to immediate family, which eases the burden on colleagues who are carers or who have dependents.
We have also joined the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Network. The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower is an internationally recognised symbol that signifies a safe and welcoming environment for people with hidden disabilities such as autism, anxiety disorders, bowel diseases, chronic pain conditions, and many more that are not immediately visible to other people. Colleagues can wear sunflower lanyards to voluntarily share that they have a hidden disability and in doing so, are letting everyone know that they may need extra help, understanding, or simply time.
The Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse reports that 75% of individuals living with abuse are targeted by their perpetrator whilst at work, and we have therefore introduced a domestic abuse policy as part of our commitment to supporting our colleagues’ health and wellbeing. The policy includes appointing a member of staff as a nominated point of contact, special leave provisions, and signposting to external sources of advice and help. We also promise to offer, if applicable, an advance on net pay, for example to facilitate the renting of a safe place to live, and temporary or permanent changes to working times and patterns where relevant, in the event that a perpetrator makes visits to the workplace. Our aim is to foster an environment in which colleagues feel safe and supported, with their wellbeing nurtured and cared for.
You should be cognisant that life beyond work may affect an individual’s wellbeing. Whilst you can’t solve all external problems, you can take action to make your culture supportive of wellbeing needs. Flexibility, responsiveness, and access to support provide an excellent foundation to allow individuals to get, and feel, better. Offering line manager training, hosting organisation-wide awareness webinars on positive wellbeing, and asking colleagues what they would like to see on the wellbeing agenda are other ways to turn up the volume on conversations around wellbeing.
[1] CIPD Health and Wellbeing at Work Report September 2023
The material in this article is provided for guidance and general information only and is not intended to constitute legal or other professional advice upon which you should rely. In particular, the information should not be used as a substitute for a full and proper consultation with a suitably qualified professional. Please do contact the Bates Wells team if you require further information.