How to support your employees when things go wrong

As part of this, you must also consider how you can offer support to your staff when things go wrong. Life-altering events such as illness, injury or stress may stop them from being fully effective at work and can have an impact on the business’ productivity. 

The impact

Difficulties outside of work can lead to poor employee engagement, reduced motivation and increased absenteeism. When an employee experiences illness or injury, a lack of support during this time can cause even longer periods of absence as well as difficulty getting back to work. The employee may feel undervalued and unsupported, leading them to feel as though they are not being taken care of during their time of difficulty.

The solutions

Supporting employees during illness, injury or life-altering events is an important investment that shouldn’t be overlooked. As well as fostering a positive workplace environment that encourages employees to speak up about the help that they may need, employers can implement a variety of programmes and benefits as a solution to supporting employees when things go wrong.

With the difficulties faced by the NHS in terms of increasing waiting times to receive treatment, private medical insurance plans can help your employees receive faster treatment for life-altering events such as illness and injury. These plans are designed to intervene quickly and ensure that all your staff are fit and well.

As well as this, it’s important that employees know that they have somewhere to turn during stressful events that may be affecting them in and out of the workplace. Here, employers can implement employee assistance programmes to offer 24/7 support online and via telephone.

The benefits

Implementing programmes such as private medical insurance and EAPs into the workplace can benefit your employees by helping them feel supported when things go wrong.

Private medical insurance is all about choice and speed of treatment, giving employees quick access to private medical treatment at a hospital of their choice. This supports them in reducing their waiting time and giving your employees more options at their convenience, helping them to recover and get back to doing what they love.

This will help to reduce absenteeism as well as support your employees in returning to work quickly and minimising the impact on the workplace.

Employee assistance programmes offer an around the clock and around the globe service supported by qualified consultants and clinicians that function 356 days a year. This benefits your employees by giving them a place to turn to during stressful events, meaning they can work through issues that may be affecting them. This can help to improve employee motivation and engagement as well as help them to feel valued and listened to.

A supportive workplace environment is key to helping employees work through difficult times when things go wrong. Even though it’s impossible to prevent illness, injury or stressful life events, it is possible to support employees wherever you can to ensure they have every opportunity to grow, develop and thrive in your workplace.

This article was provided by Busy Bees Benefits.