Our November HR Roundup covers important topics for healthcare employers as the year comes to a close, including strategies for promoting employee benefits, managing cold weather and sickness-related absences, and supporting men’s health during Movember.
Encouraging staff to use employee benefits
According to recent research from GRiD, 18% of employers rely on employees to initiate the use of benefits rather than actively promoting them and their use. While benefits are often emphasised during recruitment to attract talent, this is not usually the case during the employment period. As a result, employees can either forget or be completely unaware of the benefits available to them, meaning that they are less likely to be taken advantage of and appreciated by staff.
So what can healthcare employers do in order to promote their available benefits to employees and communicate them effectively?
Employers should foster a culture of awareness and engagement around employee benefits by integrating communication into the employee lifecycle, from onboarding to regular updates.
Tools like infographics or videos can simplify complex schemes, while personalised messaging highlights relevant benefits. Surveys and feedback sessions help gauge understanding and inform tailored communication efforts. Consistent promotion ensures benefits stay top of mind and are fully utilised.
Cold weather and sickness
With the cold weather now creeping back in, it’s always important for both employers and employees to be aware of how to manage the temperature as well as their own physical health, especially when within company workplace settings.
Employers must ensure workplace environments are comfortable and meet health and safety guidelines, including providing adequate heating and addressing drafts. While UK law does not specify a legal minimum working temperature, guidelines recommend maintaining a reasonable indoor temperature of at least 16°C in most workplaces or 13°C for physically demanding roles, such as those in construction sites.
In addition, the colder months often mean that illnesses such as flu and the common cold are more common, due to colder dryer air making people more vulnerable to viral infections (due to nasal passages drying out), as well as viruses themselves generally surviving and reproducing more effectively in colder climates. This is in addition to people spending more time indoors in closer proximity to others who may be transmitting viruses and other illnesses. As a result, absences related to sickness tend to increase during the winter period.
Here are some tips on managing sickness and absences within your healthcare organisation:
- Create a clear and concise absence policy
Develop and implement a clear absence policy that outlines the process for reporting absences, the necessary documentation (such as doctor’s notes) to validate them, and the management approach to addressing frequent or long-term sickness absences, including arranging cover when needed. - Manage sickness absences effectively and monitor trends
A practical way to manage and monitor sickness absences across your organisation is by utilising comprehensive staff management software. This allows you to log absences, upload relevant documents, and generate reports to identify trends in absence patterns. - Support return-to-work processes
When employees return after an illness, consider offering a structured plan, such as phased returns or adjusted duties, to support a smooth transition and minimise the risk of relapse or spreading the illness to coworkers (if it is viral).
Movember – a spotlight on men’s health
November marks Movember—a campaign encouraging those who can grow a moustache to do so as a way to spotlight men’s mental and physical health. Employers can play a vital role by supporting this initiative, taking steps to reduce the stigma around discussing men’s mental health, and advocating for increased resources and education on key issues affecting men, such as prostate cancer and other health concerns.
Here are several ways organisations can show support for the initiatives highlighted by Movember:
- Organise fundraising efforts or support Movember initiatives by encouraging employees to grow moustaches, donating to Movember-related causes, or sharing these activities and achievements with the broader workplace community.
- Offer resources and promote awareness on men’s health topics, including mental health and prostate cancer. This could involve organising training events or displaying awareness materials, such as posters, in the workplace.
- Create a safe space or support group for male employees to connect and support each other in the workplace, offering a supportive network for discussing issues related to mental health or physical health concerns. For instance, at Agilio Software, we have The Man Shed, a community where male employees come together to support one another in these such instances.
By implementing any of the above actions and addressing male-specific issues like the stigma surrounding mental health and physical health concerns, organisations ensure they are properly supporting their male employees. This creates a safe environment where they can openly address and discuss these issues, whether work-related or personal.
