HR for SMEs: why small business can’t ignore employee wellbeing anymore
Workplace wellbeing has never been higher on the business agenda in the UK. For the third year in a row REBA’s annual state of wellbeing research showed the rise continuing, with two thirds of businesses now having a wellbeing strategy in place, and the number without one expected to fall to under 20% by 2020. […]
Man trouble: HR’s role in men’s mental health
We have a professional duty to put in place psychological safety mechanisms and measures to protect employees’ mental health based on analysis and evidence. While analysing workforce demographic comparisons – including comparing male and female* employees – are helpful to highlight key concerns for HR, e.g. performance and flexible working, it seems that mental health […]
Migraines: five ways to tackle the workplace productivity killer
Although migraines are a big contributor towards workplace productivity loss, little is being done to support affected employees with this painful, often disabling, neurological disorder. Those who suffer from migraines know very well that the experience is not merely just a ‘bad headache’. The grim combination of pain, sickness, and visual and audio disturbances can […]
Managing employee stress: a vital technique for protecting workplace mental health
HR professionals have many roles within an organisation. They’re there to design, shape and implement workplace policy. They shape recruitment processes, make key organisational decisions and – perhaps most importantly – protect the wellbeing of their employees. When it comes to mental health, more often than not, we can see the focus shift towards people […]
Financial wellbeing: why women are being left behind
There’s been a recent flurry of interest in the issue of financial wellbeing from many organisations, but no one is addressing the elephant in the room – the fact that women are at a huge disadvantage. Last month, the UK’s first female defence secretary, Penny Mordaunt launched the government’s roadmap to financially empower women. […]
Mental health at work: why employers need to embrace psychological diversity
Awareness of mental health is improving, but to really make a difference companies need to move beyond reactive wellbeing initiatives to a more proactive approach. Mental health affects everyone, all day, every day. The state of our mental health determines how we feel, mediates the impact of life stressors and influences our ability to navigate […]
Mental health crisis: time for real change
News headlines about the mental health crisis among employees at Hinkley Point nuclear power station have brought the issue into sharp focus and further highlighted that big changes are needed in how companies approach this issue. It’s sad to read yet another headline pointing to the fact that we’re struggling as a nation to support our […]
Gender equality: why we need to talk about unpaid care
Globally, women on average do more than three times the amount of unpaid care work done by men, rising to more than five times in poor rural areas. There is not a single country where men and women do equal amounts of unpaid care work and in some regions women do as much as 80–90%. […]
Mental health at work: the rise of work separation anxiety
For many of us, work is an important part of our lives. One of the first questions we ask someone we meet is ‘what do you do?’ and we even expect children to know their career aspirations when they are just a few years old. This isn’t a bad thing – after all, our work […]
Heatwave: how can HR take care of their employees in hot weather?
The sizzling summer has arrived, leaving many workers clammy, stifled and tired – none of which are conducive to productivity. Here’s how HR can better handle the heat for their people… You’ll be well aware that the UK is in the midst of a heatwave this week, with temperatures getting up to a stifling 37 […]
From ‘fika’ to offline time: three lessons from European countries about stress management
Stress is rife in the UK – and it’s affecting our health, engagement and performance at work. Are there lessons to be learned from other countries on better managing this epidemic? Every year in the UK, 70 million work days are lost due to mental ill health such as anxiety and depression, making it the […]
Presenteeism and leaveism: can you recognise these attendance problems in your workplace?
Attendance statistics only tell part of the story when it comes to your employees’ motivations and behaviour. Here, we look at some of the red flags for presenteeism and leaveism and how to encourage a healthier working culture. Absenteeism continues to be a thorn in the side of many HR professionals. Recent studies have shown […]
‘Double stigma’ – LGBT+ and mental health issues in the workplace
It is not uncommon for LGBT+ people to face the double challenge of mental health issues and discrimination in the workplace. What can your business do to stamp out the stigma and offer better support? The workplace can be a challenging environment for someone with a mental health issue for many reasons. Equally, people in the […]
Disability discrimination: why HR needs to better understand epilepsy
Despite greater awareness of disability discrimination, people with epilepsy continue to be disadvantaged at work due to a lack of understanding around the condition. It’s time for HR to lead the way in stamping this out. No HR professional with integrity would set out to discriminate on the basis of disability and one might assume […]
Employee wellbeing: how to handle parental bereavement
What does the new right for parental bereavement leave and pay means for businesses and their employees? It is hard to imagine the pain of losing a child and the impact is has on a person. Grief can affect everyone differently, so if and when it happens to one of your employees, it can often […]
Mental wellbeing: why the creative industry is harming its employees
Free yoga classes won’t fix mental wellbeing in the creative industries. It requires a bigger shift in culture and leaders with more emotional intelligence. You don’t have to look back far at some of the greatest figures in literature, the arts and music to find tragic stories about mental health. From Sylvia Plath to Robin […]
Four ways to ensure the wellbeing of women at work
Female employees have a unique set of wellbeing requirements – so why are employers still using a one-size-fits-all approach? As part of World Wellbeing Week, we look at four ways employers can support the women who work for them. Apparently, women are better at multi-tasking than men. I’m not sure if there’s any empirical evidence underpinning […]
Different people, different needs: mental health and older workers
Mental health may be less of a taboo subject in the workplace today, but for older workers the culture of suffering silently may be hard to move away from. How can you ensure that employees across all generations feel safe to speak up about their issues when needed? It’s hugely positive to have mental health supported […]
How employee recognition can support wellbeing
Online tools provide employees more opportunities than ever before to recognise the efforts of their peers, which in turn can have a positive effect on morale. Everywhere we go, processes are becoming automated and we are therefore more reliant on technology than we have ever been. The world of HR and employee engagement is no […]
Workplace mental health: how to be caring, not just compliant
Providing meaningful mental health support does not have to be complicated or costly for employers. By taking a simple three-staged approach to wellbeing, businesses can reap the benefits of a healthier, happier and more productive workforce. The average person today is said to spend roughly a third of their life at work – so it’s […]
