topic to life and provides guidance, understanding and practical examples of how to manage it.
The team also regularly evaluates the nature of support required. During the pandemic, there was a greater need for bereavement support. Recently, the emphasis has shifted to financial pressures.
Practical and emotional support
This ongoing assessment is key in shaping the support we provide, going beyond that offered directly by the MHFA team into practical areas of support aimed to minimise the risk of mental health issues occurring.
The practical elements include Wagestream, included in our Samsic One app, which provides colleagues with early access to a proportion of salaries, helping colleagues manage cashflow across the month rather than waiting until payday. Through the app, they can access live finance coaching and set achievable savings plans. Wagestream is proving central to the financial wellbeing and mental health of our employees, especially as the cost of living continues to rise and rise.
My Samsic Rewards is a voucher scheme helping Samsic colleagues reduce everyday expenses via discounts with major retailers. It also provides meaningful support through tailored benefits, financial advice, wellbeing solutions and more.
Meanwhile, our Learning Management System comprises an online employee training portal containing a broad range of mental health and wellbeing resources including podcasts, webinars presented by our Mental Health Champion, and advice on how to build resilience and make better decisions.
All of our policies and processes are being regularly reviewed and rewritten as needed, ensuring we provide the right support to all of our colleagues, whatever their background, role, location and the socio-economic factors affecting them.
The results in practice
The impact of our new approach – and the need for it – is exemplified by the fact that in her first year as our company Mental Health Champion alone, Leisa Curry supported no
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less than 64 employees. In particular, she was concerned by the dearth of support available in the public space for those whose first language isn’t English.
Samsic’s workforce is diverse but not all staff have someone they can turn to when times are tough. Some live alone or come from cultures where mental health issues aren’t taken seriously. Others are shift workers who get limited time with families or friends, and lack the support network other colleagues may have access to.
What we’ve learned is that there’s rarely a quick fix, but what Leisa and the MHFA team can do is offer an ear for anyone experiencing mental health issues and identify the right help for that person. This can involve liaising with mental health teams and other health professionals, but more usually takes the form of working through thoughts and emotions an individual is experiencing, before offering an objective, compassionate perspective on how to move forward.
Our MHFAs give time and commitment to their role because they are passionate about helping people, and eager to learn as much as possible to deliver the best support to their colleagues. Some are currently supporting terminally ill or newly bereaved employees, and that support extends outside the traditional ‘9 to 5’ working pattern. Among them are individuals who have themselves experienced mental health challenges, giving them a greater insight into how colleagues may be feeling.
The impact of their work and the difference they are making is perhaps best summed up one of our MHFAs: “Mental health and wellbeing is such a huge part of every individual’s life and I believe that at least one point in every person’s life, there will be a time where they need support. Being a MHFA gives that person a friendly face to approach. If it helps one person, then it’s a success.”
Our approach is already delivering a marked improvement in overall work days lost and the number of employees taking time off due to mental health issues – but more importantly, it’s fostering an environment where colleagues feel free to speak up and any mental health challenges they’re facing can be addressed as early as possible. We plan to monitor this and analyse the data to evaluate the success of our approach and further improve the support we offer to our staff.
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