As we reported earlier this week, managed transport and accommodation group CMAC will be hosting a number of employee wellbeing events as part of its ‘Time Out Week’ from Monday (22 March) to boost morale among its workforce.
By offering sessions including virtual yoga, cocktail-making classes and online learning, the organisation intends to keep staff engaged and motivated. It aims to encourage them to make time to take breaks, and to give them the tools they need to manage their mental health and resilience during lockdown.
While such events may not be particularly ground-breaking, CMAC is one of a number of employers recognising how essential it is to ensure employees continue to feel supported during the pandemic. This is especially important where people are working remotely and could be feeling isolated and disengaged.
And although it often falls to HR and benefits teams to make these provisions available, employers must remember that they are professionals whose wellbeing needs must be considered too. According to Natural HR’s research, one in five people working in HR said they felt undervalued, with the difficulties of the past year having had a significant impact on their morale.
Introducing wide-ranging wellbeing provisions can help address this issue, and a study by Canada Life showed there’s clearly a demand for some kind of support in this area. Its survey found 90% of people working from home either already have, or would like to have, better access to employer-provided mental health provisions. In addition, 54% of those polled said they wanted specific mental wellness days, which rose to 59% among females who now currently work from home.
The Canada Life data further revealed 54% of home workers thought their employer needed to address their feelings of always needing to be present and online, so perhaps encouraging workforces to take time out is the answer. With World Sleep Day taking place on 19 March, what better time could there be to boost morale by proposing staff have a well-deserved rest?
Kavitha Sivasubramaniam
Editor
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