Louisa Mayor, head of income generation, Pendleside Hospice
We’re a charity, so spending on health and wellbeing is difficult
because we have to watch every penny.
Sometimes it doesn’t have to cost a lot and sometimes it goes right back to the beginning when on-boarding somebody into your organisation.
You’ve offered that job, so then it’s keeping in touch with them right up until their start day. Ask ‘How are you feeling? Tell them ‘We’re looking forward to you coming’ and then do a really good induction.
We’ve been working on our induction so people coming into our organisation spend time with different people in the business, understanding what everybody does so they’ve got an appreciation of the work and they’re getting to know the team.
They almost become part of that team from the word go and then we carry out regular check-ins throughout the probation period.
That is so you can tell from the start if there are any issues, if they’re feeling comfortable and if there’s anything more you can do to support the person. It starts at the beginning and it doesn’t cost you a lot of money.
Adrian Wright, associate dean of school of business, University of Lancashire
Keep it simple. There is that basic management
competency – checking in with people, making sure that they know what their job responsibilities are, being aware that stress, anxiety and depression and physical injury can be caused or made worse by work.
Research that we have carried out shows that it is a big issue in Lancashire.
Making sure we get the quality of work right and that there are proactive ways to stop people from falling out of work because of their physical or mental health are important.
Also, look at the ways to make sure people do return to the workplace and stay there, that they’re enjoying work and being productive. It is also making sure they are enjoying getting that ‘reinforcement of identity’ from work.
There are also legislative issues around Employment Rights from day one: unfair dismissal, flexible work and all sorts of things. But it’s making sure you manage people properly with regular check-ins and understand performance.
It is not simply about legislation. It’s a cultural thing in businesses which aligns with conversations about economic activity.
Jeremy Hartley, chief executive, Eric Wright Group
We pride ourselves in having a very focused people strategy and a key component of that is health and wellbeing messages. We believe that a powerful wellbeing strategy that goes in a number of directions can benefit individuals and the business itself.
It can differentiate you as an employer and a genuine commitment to health and wellbeing can play a big part in the decision that people make when deciding where they want to work. There’s a whole step change in knowledge in businesses when it comes to mental health issues. Recognising the signs and early interventions are critical because when people go out of the workplace, the longer they are away the harder it is to come back.
It’s got to come from the top because when you have a workplace that’s dealing with people with challenges, whether physical or mental or skills, the people they work with day to day have to have a degree of understanding and empathy. It is important to raise that understanding across the business and to keep an eye on the people and help them.
Lydia Ferguson, employment and enablement service manager, Lancashire County Council
We support people with disabilities into
employment. We’re working alongside the Connect to Work team and we’ll be delivering the programme moving forward.
In the past two years we’ve been delivering a programme called Local Support in Employment, which is follows the same processes.
We provide really close support to the person – person-centred, individualised support. We’re working extremely closely with employers, getting that right job match, providing training to employers, providing advice, including on reasonable adjustments.
We support the person to pick the right job, help them to look at their transferrable skills that they can move into different jobs.
We also encourage employers to consider job carving or even shaping roles for people that might not be able to do the full job but can certainly do 90 per cent of it, encouraging them to continue that work and keeping them in work.
This is where employers and programmes such as Connect to Work should really be linking together to engage with each other and look at the people we have been supporting and find if they can fit with jobs they’re struggling to fill.
Are physical or mental health issues making work difficult for you or a colleague?
WorkWell aims to help people with recent physical and mental health conditions to stay in work.
A NEW WAY TO RECRUIT DIVERSIFY YOUR WORKFORCE Connect to Work provides a specialist employment coach to support inclusive workplaces where individuals with health conditions, disabilities, or from priority groups can thrive.
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