Employee wellbeing has increasingly been brought up in conversations with our members over the past few years and this has only increased with the impacts of remote working, with more of a focus being brought on the wellbeing and personal development of individuals in the workplace.
In direct response to this we have decided to partner with The Life Project to offer a range of wellbeing and personal development programmes and employee support solutions to businesses and individuals across the industry.
The Life Project was founded by Beccy Irving as a solution to what she was seeing going on in the industry: increasing rates of fatigue and burnout from the pressures of always trying to be on.
“As a manager I was increasingly seeing people struggle to manage their work life balance, putting unnecessary pressure on themselves to constantly perform but not wanting to speak up and ask for help. I was seeing a rise in anxiety, stress and burnout, people working longer hours in the pursuit of perceived perfectionism and ultimately a huge breakdown in every day communications.”
“Taking time to reflect, review and refocus is incredibly important if we want to be the best we can be in all areas of our lives. The Life Project will offer an additional layer of support for individuals and employees in the industry through workshops, webinars and 1:1 coaching support, providing a safe space, outside of work, to talk through the pressures they’re feeling, challenge mindsets and empower them to develop happier healthier and more balance ways of life for themselves.”
A recent report by Deloitte shows that mental health in the workplace costs the UK employers around £45billion per year, and that presenteeism (the act of showing up for work without being productive, generally because of ill-health) is responsible for the loss of around 31 days per employee per year. Importantly 56% of employees don’t feel comfortable discussing their mental health with their line manager.
“Workplace wellbeing has to be a priority for businesses these days, the impacts of the pandemic have certainly accelerated and need for support for some people, whilst the new flexible approach to working which businesses are aiming for will continue to drive the need for individual employee support. If we want our employees to perform the best they can, then we need to provide them with the right tools and support that enables them to do that.”
Businesses may ask is it worth the additional expense? In a word yes - the Deloitte report shows that proactive investment in mental health initiatives has been proven to deliver an ROI of at least 5:1. Proven improvements in productivity, engagement, staff retention and attraction to name just a few.
As businesses begin to re-imagine and adapt the world of work post pandemic, it’s time to re-imagine employee support too. If you would like support developing or delivering your employee wellbeing strategies then get in touch info@manchesterdigital.com or join our webinar on building a positive culture with employee support on 9th June 2021 here
