On Thursday 7th February it was ‘Time to Talk’ day. How many of us knew that?
Promoted as a time for managers to discuss mental wellbeing, I suspect most of us were too busy with the day-to-day challenges of running our businesses to find the time to remember, let alone act on it.
What is the cost of not taking mental wellbeing within our organisations seriously?
We know from Mind’s Workplace Wellbeing Index, that over half of employees say they don’t feel able to talk openly with their line manager if they’re having problems with stress.
Thriving at Work, an independent review of mental health and employers, found that the potential cost of mental ill health to you as an employer could be as high as £1,400 for each employee per year.
Organisations investing in wellbeing will see the benefit
According to analysis by Deloitte, investing £1 in the wellbeing of your staff can result in a £10 saving in return to tackle the cost of mental ill health to your organisation. There’s a strong connection between staff wellbeing and their motivation and performance.
As a growing SaaS business, we’re busy focussing our attention on bringing in new business. But it is the team itself here that is at the heart of it all.
We’re always looking to invest in our team, both in their skills and capabilities (which we achieve through training), but how do we maintain their wellbeing?
With employee support options, like the H&S Talking Toolkit
Just this week I came across the Health and Safety Executive’s (H&S) easy-to-use Talking Toolkit. It includes a wealth of resources, which have already inspired us to initiate some small changes.
At Groop, we have decided that one of our first steps will be to include the six headings of the H&S executive into our Quality Management Framework; Demands, Control, Support, Relationships, Role and Change.
They will become part of our regular review and motivational conversations between our colleagues. With this change, we hope that it will improve the quality of conversations and assist us in the early detection of concerns before they become an issue.
Our business approach is to pursue an environment of challenge and support, both in equal measure. This opens the door for valuable support and creates a supportive environment for everyone.
Avoid ‘dumping’ work on someone as much as possible. We’re all busy people, but it’s essential to know that giving someone work without clear instruction or context can cause unnecessary stress. This is why we have introduced a clear communication framework, which will support our belief in a holistic approach to our ‘duty of care’ towards all team members.
So, what is your next step?
Have you considered your organisation’s Corporate Social Responsibility to boost mental wellbeing? The Groop platform is very effective as a CSR management software.
This blog was written by:
