More than one in 10 (13%) of HR and business manager respondents believe their organisation has an effective wellbeing strategy in place, according to research by HR and payroll software organisation Cascade HR.
Its Stress report 2018, which surveyed 540 UK individuals, also found that 58% of respondents feel that wellbeing is of crucial importance, and will therefore be improving their efforts in this area.
The research also found:
- 67% of HR and business manager respondents admit that their wellbeing strategy is a work in progress.
- 84% believe stress affects absences within their workplace, with 22% stating that the impact is significant.
- 57% of respondents are aware of the cost of absence within their organisation.
- 18% cite employee wellbeing as a top priority.
- 40% of respondents think their employer takes enough proactive steps to protect their mental wellness.
- 53% of respondents feel they have a place they could go to within the workplace to help alleviate the symptoms of stress.
- 61% of respondents believe they could speak up at work if they started to experience symptoms around stress.
Oliver Shaw (pictured), chief executive officer at Cascade HR, said: “There is the outright fiscal impact of absence to consider of course, associated with reduced output, lost productivity and the need to employ temporary staff [while] also covering sick pay. But there are far wider-reaching consequences too, including the detrimental effect on [employees’] morale, the degradation of team dynamics and a potential drop in customer service. Above all though, [employers] need to be thinking about the root cause of the absence, and the steps that can be taken to prevent stress from having such an impact in the first place.
“It’s quite encouraging to see that [while] there is still a lot of work to be done on employers’ parts, employees are recognising the efforts made so far. Hopefully this is a sign that stigma surrounding stress and mental wellness is changing.
“It is important to note that employees can take steps to help themselves too. [While] a supportive line manager is undoubtedly crucial in this debate, the research found that activities such as seeking colleague support, listening to music and taking regular breaks can also reduce the feeling of stress.”