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Managing employee mental wellbeing during the cost-of-living crisis

Between 2021 and 2022, 914,000 workers in Britain reported they were suffering from new or long-standing work-related stress, depression and anxiety. And it’s unsurprising – with all the events in the past few years, and the current cost-of-living crisis, you might start noticing your own employees struggling with their mental wellbeing.

It’s a common misconception that mental health problems are solely caused by problems outside work, meaning a lot of employers might think it’s not their responsibility to step in and help – but in reality, mental health issues are more often than not a combination of problems they face in and outside work. So, while you might not be able to alleviate the actual causes, you can provide support so they can better cope with issues inside and outside work.

In the current climate, keeping your people motivated, productive, happy and healthy is likely to be more of a challenge – so here’s our expert tips for looking after the mental wellbeing of your people, during a crisis and beyond.

Does poor mental health negatively affect businesses?

In short – yes, it really can. One in six people in the UK experience symptoms of poor mental health every single week. In total, it’s estimated that poor mental health costs UK employers £45bn every year. Poor mental health can also lead to:

Less engaged staff
Low levels of energy
Increased chance of accidents and mistakes
Burnout

How can you tell if your employees are struggling?

There are some clear signs that someone could be struggling – but make sure you don’t jump to conclusions. Two people who are struggling may be presenting very different signs.

Some common signs of poor mental health include:

Mood changes
Increased sensitivity
Withdrawal
Apathy or indifference
Sleep or appetite changes
Fatigue
Irritability, anger or aggression
Loss of humour

How can you help your employees who might be struggling?

There are loads of different ways you can help anyone who is suffering with their mental health – and it’s well worth doing it. Plus, there are a lot of benefits to helping with this issue such as:

Reduced absences
Higher retention rates
Engaged staff
Improved work environment and morale

So, how do you help?

Introducing occupational health services into your business means you’ll be able to show you’re proactively tackling mental health issues in your workplace. And that’s where ELAS OH come in – as a leading provider of occupational health services, we can advise you on which services are best for your business and employees. And even better, our services can help all business in all industries.

Just a few of our services include:

A comprehensive and confidential counselling service staffed by fully qualified counsellors to help people learn coping strategies and how to manage their personal responses to emotional difficulties.
Either a half or full day wellbeing session where we’ll come into your workplace, carry out wellbeing checks for your staff and hold Q&A sessions where they can ask anything they want with no judgements.
An Employee Assistance Programme to provide your employees unlimited instant access to our 24-hour confidential counselling line, real-time online counselling and an online health & wellbeing portal.
Our Mental Health Awareness training course provides all attendees with an introduction to mental health so they can better understand the mental health of themselves and others.
We can also provide Mental Health First Aid training to give necessary knowledge and skills to provide mental health support – these people will then become the point persons in your business to identify mental health conditions, provide advice and create first aid for mental health action plans.

Before you introduce any services though, it’s best to talk to your team first. They can help come up with a plan and identify the initiatives that they’d like to see – and this way, you know that the services you introduce will be meaningful and have the desired effect.

Ready to get started with us? Give our expert team a call on 08450 504060 to see how we can help you to provide effective mental health support for your team – or fill out our contact form and we’ll be in touch.

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