High levels of sickness? IC can help staff wellbeing
Sickness absence is at an all-time high. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, last year the average employee was off sick for 7.8 days. That’s the highest level in a decade and a full two days more than in 2019. Obviously, a lot has gone on in the last four years, with the pandemic and the current cost of living crisis both having had a significant impact not just on people’s wellbeing, but their places of work as well. That said, the reasons people are off sick are still largely the same, with stress continuing to be the biggest cause of absence.
We know stress is often work-related, but sometimes it’s because of personal issues too. All those plates we’re trying to keep spinning – it can be tough. It’s why at Cosy Meerkat we have this belief that as long as one aspect of your life feels safe and secure then, no matter how many other plates come crashing down, you’ll ultimately be okay. And in our profession, we’re privileged to be able to have a direct impact on how people feel about one of the biggest influences on our wellbeing: work. Work takes up so much of our time, why wouldn’t we try and make it better, more meaningful for everyone?
So, how can Internal Comms help reduce sickness rates and make work feel like someone’s safe place? In our view, there are three things. We can:
1. Collaborate with HR to publicise wellbeing initiatives.
2. Train line managers in the art of creating a psychologically safe place at work.
3. Help reduce the stigma around mental health.
Collaborate with HR to publicise wellbeing initiatives
Internal Comms is a natural complement to HR – it even sits within the HR team in many organisations – so this should be something that feels obvious to any IC professional. Even so, there are specific things you should make sure you do:
· Gather data on the workforce demographic and any areas that would benefit from more comms on wellbeing.
· Develop a strategic internal comms plan which communicates the responsibilities of the various different groups within the business, including occupational health, managers, employees and, if possible, a senior-level sponsor.
· Set up a communications calendar to time comms and other wellbeing offers so they fit employees’ work schedules. You’re aiming to create a regular, engaging and informative drumbeat about wellbeing which will help people deal with their individual situations or raise the profile and understanding of certain topics. This could include:
o Highlighting national initiatives such as Mental Health Awareness Week or Anxiety Awareness Month to keep wellbeing front of mind.
o Reminding people how to access things like employee assistance programmes.
o Providing guidance on how to spot early signs of mental health concerns in colleagues, with advice on how to help.
o Running competitions with wellbeing-related prizes.
Train line managers in the art of creating a psychologically safe place at work
We’ve said it many a time but not all managers are natural communicators and the topic of wellbeing can, for some managers, feel like a difficult one to navigate because it’s so personal. But if people in your organisation don’t feel they can express their view safely, even just on what they think about a particular project, they’re never going to open up about their health. Feeling psychologically safe at work (believing it’s okay to take risks, share ideas and express concerns without fear of negative consequences) is a major contributor to overall wellbeing at work - without it, you can have all the mindfulness initiatives in the world and people are still going to go off sick because of work-related stress.
You can:
· Provide training on essential communications skills and consider using a trained therapist or counsellor to lead workshops on active listening, giving and receiving feedback, as well as conflict resolution.
· Incorporate communication skills training into onboarding and ongoing professional development programmes.
· Give your line managers toolkits to help them identify and support employees who might be struggling with their mental health.
· Use inclusive language in all your comms – and make sure line managers do too. Again, if you need to, provide resources and training on what inclusive language looks and sounds like.
Help reduce the stigma around mental health
There is, unfortunately, still a huge stigma around mental health, with a lot of people worrying that if they admit they’re struggling they might get overlooked for promotion or even lose their job. One recent survey found only one in eight (13%) people said they’d be comfortable admitting to their employer that they needed to take time off for poor mental health. Yet two thirds (67%) said they had taken time off for exactly that reason – and lied to their employer when they did.
Why not:
· Share statistics on mental health to help people realise it’s more normal than they think.
· Make sure you talk about physical and mental health at the same time.
· Get leaders to be open and honest in their communication. If they’re taking a few days off to recharge, get them to talk about how they felt it was important to look after their own health.
· Share wellbeing stories from around the business. Even if people want to be anonymous at first, they’re a great way of making people realise they’re not alone – and that the company will support them.
There’s no doubt that wellbeing has shot up the corporate agenda in recent years and we think that’s a great thing. But we also believe wellbeing is about a lot more than just having lots of nice initiatives; it’s fundamentally about your organisation’s culture. It’s about the behaviour of leadership and managers, it’s about putting people rather than processes first – and it’s about having a commitment, from the top, to make sure employees know they are valued and respected. And for Internal Comms, that’s where we can make the biggest difference of all.
