HEALTH & SAFETY
HEALTH & WELLBEING IN MANUFACTURING How technology can be the catalyst
Moving forwards, there are perhaps greater dividends to be won from using technology to proactively engage with people through Pulse-type surveys to check-in with people’s views and feelings, or using AI to read patterns and create algorithms around human interactions and movements, and then proactively reach out to employees.
Flexibility is always key here. Some people like to connect and engage in-person. They want a cup of tea and a quiet chat. Other people would prefer to have a web chat or a text message exchange. They want to give their problem to a computer and receive an automatic solution. The technology has to be clever enough to evolve with that.
By Emma Morris, delaware W
e are seeing more open discussions about well-being and mental health across the manufacturing sector. After all, most manufacturers don’t just want people to be healthy, happy and well at work, they need them to be. The Institute of Employment Studies’ (IES) recent report, ‘Unlocking employee productivity: The role of health and wellbeing in manufacturing’, published on behalf of EEF, The Manufacturers’ Organisation and Westfield Health, came to the conclusion that positive mental health contributes to staff motivation, commitment, engagement, performance and productivity, and discretionary effort.
That’s a positive testament to the positive power and impact of mental health and wellbeing at work but there are still barriers to overcome in achieving it. Some are generational. Older workers may be more reluctant to adopt a stronger focus on wellness and well-being, for example. Some are technological. Is implementing new technology to utilise data-driven insights into employee habits and happiness a good investment for your organisation, or is it one step too far into the ‘Big Brother’ space? It is one thing to have flexible working, or even mental health coaching at work, but how can manufacturers utilise the latest tools and structure this in a way that provides clear evidence these initiatives are working? To overcome these barriers, there first needs to be a focus on ensuring the organisation as a
whole is open to change. Everyone needs to know what the strategy is and what part they can play in achieving it. But it is also important to recognise that this is not just about scoping out an approach to drive employee well-being and then achieving a cross-business agreement to deliver it. You need the right systems and solutions in place to back this up with clear data. That’s often not the case, it seems across the manufacturing space today. Health and Work the EEF Health and Work Survey, 2018 a recent report by EEF, in partnership with Howden, has revealed that few know if their strategies are fit for purpose. The EFF asked companies about their strategies for work related stress (WRS) but also what change they had seen in the number of WRS cases as a result of putting in place WRS interventions. Just over two-fifths (43 per cent) of companies did not know if the number of WRS cases has increased or reduced as a result of implementing these interventions. It is key that manufacturers have a clearer idea of whether there approach to health and well-being is working. In the case of wellbeing more specifically there are certainly technologies available on the general marketplace today that can track behaviour, providing data that can demonstrate whether a wellbeing approach is working and which areas require a particular focus. It may be that a certain depot is not responding well, or there may be specific policies which need addressing.
50 OCTOBER 2019 | FACTORY&HANDLINGSOLUTIONS
In HR, more specifically, the general trend has been to use technology to support employee and management self-service. Today, we continue to see a lot of innovation in the areas of mobile technology. We are increasingly seeing HR professionals using mobile apps to do quick tasks on the run, for example. The latest technology in this area allows you to quickly approve annual leave, check in and ensure you have completed your timesheets, even if you are travelling and offline.
This kind of capability is available in today’s manufacturing sector. Looking to the future, though, we see a growing emphasis on using bots and machine learning to predict upcoming events. As an example, an employee wants to apply for maternity leave through the organisation’s HR system. This employee ‘life event’ triggers the HR department to start offering certain content specific to that employee, so for example, asking: Have you thought about the return-to-work programme or our part- time working options?
Most people are familiar with this happening in their personal lives, receiving recommendations from retailers, and reminders to arrange medical appointments. So, if there is an absence of this kind of technology in their work life, it may feel quite jarring.
In the manufacturing workplace of the future, employees will expect employers to not only care about their well-being and mental health, but also take proactive action to protect it. Putting the right culture in place is key. Every employee should feel involved and understand how they can help achieve the overall well-being strategy. Technology can be the catalyst in delivering this, enabling businesses both to drive through new well-being initiatives and measure their effectiveness organisation-wide.
Delaware
www.delaware.co.uk
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