Link wellbeing metrics to business metrics
Once you can accurately and reliably measure the health of your workforce, the next step is to link your wellbeing metrics to business metrics. These could include:
– Frequency and duration of sickness absence
– Productivity measures
– Customer satisfaction
– Staff turnover costs
– Revenue or profit
Segmenting the data can reveal important trends. For example, if a part of the business with high mental health scores consistently outperforms other areas, it is worth understanding what drives that success and how it could be replicated elsewhere.
Conversely, if low mood is linked to poor customer satisfaction, how are cultural, management or workload factors contributing to this? It may be linked to a particular manager, working culture, life-stage health issues or inherently stressful work.
Only by understanding these pockets of risk can HR make the case for strategic support, be that manager training, making roles clearer or reflective counselling sessions, to address challenges before they affect health and productivity.
Critical to getting board-level buy-in is translating wellbeing statistics into business statistics. For example, the board won’t be interested to know that an onsite counsellor reduced presenteeism (when employee attend work but aren’t productive) by 60%. They will be interested to know that scaling this company wide could boost productivity by £200,000.
Look at existing data, by working with wellbeing providers to identify problem areas and pilot solutions that demonstrate a direct link between wellbeing and organisational KPIs. By
continuing to benchmark outcomes, it’s possible to evaluate initiatives and track returns, creating a continuous improvement link.
Put proactive support in place
Critical to putting a proactive approach in place is heading issues off at the pass, rather than reacting once they escalate. Good policies are critical to this. They set the tone for the organisation, put clear boundaries in place and let employees know how they can expect to be treated, whether dealing with bereavement, a sick child or cancer.
These polices need to be more than just rules, they create psychological safety, giving employees confidence to ask for support without fear. This reduced the energy-draining anxiety that comes for hiding challenges or constantly scanning for consequences.
Simple adjustments, such as offering a quiet workplace to a neurodivergent employee who is sensitive to noise, or a slightly later start time to someone on heart medication, can be the difference between them remaining productive and in work or struggling to attend.
Many workplace stresses are preventable. One in four employees said working for their employer had undermined their health or caused them to become sick. Often this stems from unclear roles and unsupportive management which can lead to overwhelm, self-doubt and stress related absence.
Embedding wellbeing into the very heart of the business, with tools such as the HSE management standards, can proactively design out health risks. As can upskilling managers to better understand their impact on the mental health of others and importance of viewing wellbeing as part of their role.
Health at Work reform will put more onus on employers to protect employee health. Critical to meeting this responsibility is putting the right culture, policies and metrics in place. Done well this will not only reduce the number of people leaving the workforce due to largely preventable issues, but help those remaining become more engaged and productive.
By David Umpleby, Managing Director, PAM Wellness (part of PAM Group)
