It may be Blue Monday, but Agilio are here to help with our tips and advice of taking care of colleagues and team members. Read more about Blue Monday with Agilio.
This Monday doesn’t have to be Blue
Today, the third Monday in January, marks Blue Monday for 2023 – the day when those post-break blues, the longer wait for payday, and the cold and wet wintery days can hit us.
As employers how can you support your team today, and their mental health and wellbeing going forward?
You might have heard the phrase ‘prevention is better than cure’, and your employee’s mental health is no different. Whether you offer fancy perks and company activities, employees can still become overly stressed and it doesn’t always stem from work. This can spiral from circumstances in their personal lives that are affecting their stress and emotion levels within the practice. As an employer, you have a duty of care for your team members’ well-being, here are a few tips and suggestions to help you meet that duty.
Communication and compassion
Our mental health is the way in which we deal with ups and downs which can fluctuate as circumstances change and the sooner we’re able to recognise something isn’t quite right, the quicker we can get the help we need.
What you can do as an employer, is make sure you (or a designated member of your team) is available to talk, support and help those that need you when they are feeling troubled. You may be able to relate to their feelings and share experiences, giving them a chance to realise you’re human, too!
As a result of those conversations, you may need to go a little further…
Adjustments
If you have identified that a team member is struggling it may be time to discuss ways in which you can support them by making reasonable adjustments.
Adjustments can be both temporary or if necessary permanent and could range from reduced or revised working hours, additional breaks or downtime to potential workload changes. We would always recommend that any temporary or permanent changes to the team members contract are well documented and audited.
If you are an Agilio iComply member, you can use ‘M 245B-CTC Subsequent Changes to Terms & Conditions’ in iComply to support you with your audit trails.
Value, recognition and benefits
Now this isn’t necessarily about providing fruit bundles or organising Monday morning yoga for the team (although both of which can be effective), it’s demonstrating as a practice the value of your team and how you help them live fulfilling lives in and out of work.
It’s a good start to find out what would be most beneficial for the team by conducting a team meeting, individual conversations or even questionnaires. Once you’ve established the preferred well-being activities, you can set a budget and a plan how to roll this out to your team. Ideas could range from additional time off for the team to support their work/ life balance, subsidised gym or wellness centre memberships and employee assistance programmes to a secure and confidential counselling service for your team to access.
Once you have set out your programme, it can be documented and reviewed as part of your ‘C 212 Staff Wellbeing Policy’ if you are an iComply member.
Your well-being programme can also be measured on its success and how this reflects against your targeted Key Performance Indicators, KPIs. Whether it’s to boost the productivity of your team, reducing the amount of sickness absence, or to improve your turnover and enhance the benefit scheme you offer as an employer, these KPIs can provide you with the foundations to delivering a successful and measurable strategy for your employee well-being programme.
Lifestyle support
We are all guilty of this at times, who would prefer to binge watch a series on Netflix rather than go out for a walk, run or cycle? We all know by now that there is a strong correlation between physical health improving our mental health. Now that the mornings and evenings are slowly starting to get a little lighter, it’s a good time to promote a healthier living lifestyle.
Perhaps by organising team events like getting involved in local charity walks or runs, or an in-house competition for a step challenge each week? But make it relevant to your team and activities they enjoy taking part in.
Not only is exercise beneficial for our mindset but eating well and learning about good nutrition can improve our overall health too. Looking into discounts for food deliveries or local healthy produce and sharing ‘best bakes’ with the team is always a bit of fun. The internet hosts many ideas to help you on your quest to a healthier and happier team.
Promote Better Mental Health
Mental health is no longer a taboo topic and by putting into practice some of the above suggestions you will be promoting a positive workplace environment for mental health and wellbeing to your team. Not only will this benefit your existing team, but it can also help when attracting candidates for future roles!
Discrimination risks
Should one of your employees suffer with ongoing mental health difficulties, they may meet the criteria of having a disability. As defined by the Equality Act 2010, your team member may be disabled if ‘their physical or mental impairment has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on their ability to do normal daily activities’. If this definition is met, they are protected from discrimination and harassment, as well as entitled to reasonable adjustments to enable them on their road to recovery.
iComply members: to find out more please see ‘M 233-EQD Equality, Dignity and Human Rights Policy’ and the overview ‘M 285 Disability rights under the Equality Act’.
I hope these ideas can help make your and your team’s Mondays less blue, as well as your Tuesdays, Wednesdays and the rest of the working week!
You can stay on top of everything to do with your team, their well-being and employment with Agilio’s iTeam: the UK’s only dental-specific HR software and personal support service. For more info, book a consultation or contact us.