The most recent Health and Safety Executive (HSE) data reveals 27.3 million working days were lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury. The annual cost of this? Around £14 billion. It’s been suggested that the UK’s feeling the economic and social consequences of a ‘wellness crisis’. While big improvements have been made in terms of physical health and safety over the past decades, there’s a lot more to do.
Health and safety isn’t only about safeguarding employees physically either. It must take account of psychological health too. Companies are starting to recognise this; as a result they’re beginning to take a more holistic approach towards supporting employees. Obviously that includes compliance with legislation but companies can go way beyond that to ensure employee health, safety and wellbeing is placed consistently at the top of the agenda.
That includes providing an effective employee recognition programme. A recognised employee is far more likely to be an engaged employee. And, as research like Gallup’s 2013 ‘The State of the Global Workplace’ shows, there are clear links between engagement and health, safety and wellbeing.
What part can an employee recognition programme play?
It embeds long term desirable health and safety behaviours
New health and safety initiatives often struggle to capture attention and change attitudes of employees. But building health and safety into your recognition processes can have a big impact on your employees. A process that allows immediate recognition of the right health and safety behaviours means the individual’s more likely to repeat them. And if it’s highlighted across your company that they’re the desirable behaviours it increases the chances of others demonstrating them too. Over time these behaviours start to become the norm.
It helps develop a culture of trust
As these positive behaviours become embedded, they create a culture supportive of health and safety. Greater transparency results in a more trust-based culture. An employee recognition platform that facilitates two-way dialogue and enables open communication and positive feedback means your culture becomes one where employees are prepared to be more open about health and safety.
It makes key positive health and safety messages accessible to all
If you have multiple sites, or even just one large one, it can be hard to get health and safety messages out there. But if your recognition platform allows you to consistently highlight examples of the right behaviours around your organisation, they can be seen by everyone regardless of location. That includes people who aren’t directly employed too; after all, health and safety isn’t just an issue for employees. Many companies use contractors and temporary staff regularly. While a cost-heavy rewards programme isn’t as likely to cover that population, a social recognition platform can potentially (and cost effectively) include everyone.
It facilitates a supportive environment
The HSE defines work-related stress, depression or anxiety as a harmful reaction people have to undue pressures and demands placed on them at work. It’s estimated that in 2014/15 the total number of working days lost as a result of these conditions was 9.9 million days.
It would be wrong to suggest an employee recognition programme will address all the complex problems that affect many people in (and subsequently outside) the workplace. But for some people, a lack of recognition is a factor. Employee recognition is an essential component for a supportive environment where individuals feel properly valued. Peer to peer recognition programmes create a far more collaborative environment where people feel appreciated and supported not only by their immediate management but by their own colleagues too.
Improving health, safety and wellbeing is challenging and it won’t happen overnight. But as organisations are realising, it’s not the one off initiatives that make the real difference. It’s the enduring changes in beliefs and behaviours that have the most impact and, if it’s done right, employee recognition has a big part to play in achieving that.
