Supporting your employees in their time of need – what steps can I take as an employer?

Modern day life pressures, coupled with challenges presented by the pandemic and cost of living crisis, have left many feeling anxious and depressed. Signs of this in the workplace include decreased productivity, morale problems, lack of cooperation, absenteeism, presenteeism, complaints of tiredness, complaints of aches and pains and alcohol/drug misuse.

The good news is that there are a number of tools and strategies that employers can adopt to proactively manage health and well-being in the workplace.

At Blanchards Bailey we made the decision to sign up to the Charter for Employers Positive about Mental Health (Mindful Employer) four years ago and are delighted to say that we have just renewed our commitment to it. Being affiliated with Mindful Employer has enabled us to be recognised for the tools and strategies we had introduced but importantly challenged us to continuously improve our provision and provided useful resources and support to do this.

The comprehensive provision we now have in place includes:

• a focussed wellbeing policy.
• qualified mental health first aiders and internally developed mental health champions.
• training of line managers in recognising the symptoms of anxiety and stress.
• regular self-awareness workshops for staff.
• a resource bank for staff which includes self-help information as well as useful telephone numbers and links to websites.
• an employee assistance programme which includes advice for maintaining and improving health as well as a counselling service that can be accessed free of charge.
• regular staff surveys/stress audits to retain awareness of the overall mental wellbeing of our workforce.

All this means that we have started to develop a culture that encourages discussion about mental health issues and this has empowered those who are struggling, to speak out and seek help and support. Being able to show that we are a recognised signatory has also helped us attract new high-quality staff and helped towards achieving our Investors in People Accreditation.

If you would like any support or have any questions about developing your own Wellbeing policies please contact us today.