Mental wellbeing has been an issue that has been climbing higher up the agenda at many organisations for a long time, and its ascent has only accelerated during this pandemic. Therefore, findings from Incomes Data Research earlier this week that revealed almost all (98%) employers had taken specific steps to help employees with their mental health wasn’t a huge surprise. Employer support in this area is evidently valued.
But while such initiatives tended to focus on reminding staff how to access existing provisions, it was interesting to learn about the growing move towards keeping employees connected with each other through social interactions, such as virtual coffee mornings. The social element is one that can easily be overlooked as employers concentrate on core business activity, but it is nevertheless something which can have a significant impact on employees’ overall wellbeing.
Of course, while mental health support is certainly important in the current climate, there are others areas in which employers can help their workforces during these challenging times too. But some of these areas aren’t as easy to identify.
In just under a month, our second online series, Employee Benefits Insights 2021, will explore many of the issues that have arisen as a result of Covid-19 (Coronavirus) and how employers have had to adapt to the evolving employment landscape.
Certainly many organisations have had to adapt their working practices and place a greater amount of trust in their staff as they work remotely, flexibly and around their caring responsibilities in a way that they may never have before. With many employees indicating they would like this flexibility in the long term, it is clear that employers will need to continue to trust their workforces in this way for the foreseeable future.
Kavitha Sivasubramaniam
Editor
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