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Staff well being is a worth while investment - 18-08-2009 | Staff well-being is still worth investment, despite the recession. The amount of work undertaken over the last few years to promote well-being at work has firmly placed the issue on the long-term agendas of a range of companies. This is according to snapshot research undertaken with fifty employers which is out this week. Over half of those surveyed said that well-being was actually more important to them in the current financial climate.
A new opinion piece, Is well-being still important at work? Employers’ views on recession, the new fit note and priorities for the year ahead, by Claire Tyers and Rose Martin at the Institute for Employment Studies examines employers’ current thinking on well-being.
Responses collected in May 2009 from employers in both the public and private sectors show that they recognise the importance of continuing to focus on staff well-being in the downturn, through providing training, improving communication at all levels and the creation or implementation of solid underlying HR policies. In difficult times, getting the most out of their people and managing absence effectively is more important than ever.
Claire Tyers, Associate Director leading the Work, Health and Well-being research team at the Institute for Employment Studies, comments:
‘There are still outstanding concerns about how the new Fit Note system will work. Employers need more information on how the scheme should be implemented. They worry particularly about the potential extra work it will create for their already stretched HR departments and line managers. Policy makers need to give clear guidance to employers on this as soon as they can.
‘The Fit Note could be a constructive way forward, and some employers already feel that it will encourage flexibility in how staff are deployed around the business. Those employers who welcomed it appreciated the more positive focus on the duties that employees can perform, rather than on what they can’t, and felt that it could be useful in reducing sickness absence if implemented properly.
‘Employers appear to have accepted that improving well-being has positive implications for staff efficiency and, ultimately, the profitability of their business. Therefore there is no reason to lose focus on the issue during the recession – in fact the reverse is true – it becomes more important than ever to keep people at work and working at their best when they are there.’
The opinion paper also explores top priorities for employers in the health and well-being area. These include:
- increasing or improving line manager training and engagement to ensure that managers feel able to deal with well-being issues proactively
- better absence management, including sureing up policies and having more systematic monitoring of any problems
- closer communication with staff about health and well-being to ensure that messages filter through to all staff
- being better equipped to deal with mental health issues and having more developed stress management provisions in place.
| Institute for Empoyment Studies
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