How to link social wellbeing and culture to create family-friendly workplaces
Normal working hours for many used to be 9am to 5pm. With the advent of new technology, those rigid hours are increasingly a thing of the past. Now, many people can work anywhere at any time. But is that healthy?
Overall, work appears to be a greater source of stress than people’s home lives. In our 2020 Health of the Workplace study, we found that 41% of employees we spoke to said work has a negative impact on their mental health, compared to just 8% who said their home life had a negative impact.
With this in mind, as an employer, you need to make sure you’re doing what you can to help your employees get the right work/life balance.
The line between work and home is getting blurry
Technology has enabled more flexible working, both in where we work and the hours we work. It’s a valuable tool to help employees better manage their work and home life, but there’s also a downside. In many ways, technology can encourage the ‘always on’ mentality, with people logging back on when they get home.
When the line between work and home life becomes blurred, it can make it difficult for employees to switch off. Our research highlights some experience symptoms – like difficulty sleeping, headaches or mood swings – which can put a strain on employees’ mental health.
Today’s increasing reliance on email and the move towards greater flexibility, including working more from home, has also changed the way employees interact with their colleagues. I find it concerning that over a quarter of the people taking part in our study say that work is negatively impacting their mental health because it’s making them feel lonely or isolated. Quite often, being unhappy at work can spill over into other parts of an employee’s life.
Enjoying this article?
Try rebaLINK, our networking and due diligence platform, to ask your fellow reward professionals about the family-friendly benefits they offer.
Read more about family-friendly employee benefits.
Contact the Associated Supplier to discuss benefits that can support employees’ families.
Looking after your employees’ social wellbeing can be a game changer
As an employer, you can help reduce these feelings of stress and isolation by introducing social wellbeing strategies and flexible working practices. Encouraging your workforce to make use of these policies can do wonders for raising morale and building an inclusive working environment.
Our research showed flexible working was the second most valued benefit in our study. It’s useful for all employees, from those juggling family or caring responsibilities to those who live alone and handle all household issues.
Looking into offering shared parental leave or a carers’ policy can help employees struggling to balance work with commitments at home.
Another great way to build positivity is to encourage your workforce to volunteer, giving them the chance to give back to the local community. This can strengthen team bonds, give colleagues a chance to interact outside the workplace and boost the overall feel-good factor that comes from helping others.
Whatever business you’re in, it’s important to embed your company’s core values and behaviours from the top down. Setting up a network of employee advocates across all levels can help you spread the word about wellbeing policies throughout the business. If you can afford to give them a budget, they could also run initiatives to help bring people together.
Introducing social wellbeing policies gives your employees the opportunity to support and interact more with each other. That can happen in many ways, from setting up lunchtime running clubs, choir groups or yoga sessions, to team nights out or tea breaks where staff can stop for a chat.
Find out what your employees need and start making it happen
Looking after your employees’ social wellbeing at work is just as important as looking after any other aspect of their wellbeing.
Encouraging supportive relationships strengthens the bonds between your employees and their loyalty to each other. In turn, that can benefit your business as employees work harmoniously together.
You may already have a package of policies and benefits in place to help your employees, from private healthcare to group income protection, but social wellbeing is more than that. It’s about bringing all the parts together – your benefit strategy, your HR policy and your workplace culture.
The key is to understand the unique needs of your workforce and introduce relevant policies and benefits. Once you know what makes your employees tick, you can start offering them what they need.
The author is Lisa Ost, people business partner, Aviva UK Health and Protection.
This article is provided by Aviva UK Health and Protection.
In partnership with Aviva
Our purpose is to be with you today, for a better tomorrow.
