How the cost of living crisis is impacting the mental wellbeing of your staff
"Millions of us around the UK are experiencing high levels of stress and it is damaging our health. Stress is one of the great public health challenges of our time"
- Isabella Goldie, Mental Health Foundation
Soaring energy bills, inflation hitting its highest level in 40 years, and looming recession are taking a toll on people’s mental health. Champion Health’s ‘Cost of Living Crisis. Financial Stress and Employee Wellbeing’ report has revealed that 71% percent of employees are currently experiencing moderate to high level levels of stress with financial pressure being the most common cause of stress outside of work. Moreover, people experiencing financial stress are twice as likely to experience thoughts of suicide or self-harm. Therefore, it is important to recognise the symptoms of stress amongst employees and provide appropriate help, signposting and resources to employees.
Below you can find some useful guides, toolkits and a directory of various charities that you could share with your colleagues who are struggling:
Taking you from Distress to De-stress guide - Stress Management Society
Stress - Things You Can Do video - Every Mind Matters
How to manage and reduce stress guide - Mental Health Foundation
Tips for managing stress at work video - Mental Health UK
Stress guide - Mind
Money problems and mental wellbeing resources - Money Helper
Money guides - Bank Workers Charity
Global Crisis & Support Directory - Champion Health
WORK RELATED STRESS
822,000 workers suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety (new or long-standing) in 2020/21
- Health and safety at work. Summary statistics for Great Britain 2021
Stress is a significant problem for many employers, as it can lead to various issues such as increased absenteeism and presenteeism, indecisiveness and poor judgement, decrease in work standards and productivity, loss of motivation, as well as arguments and disputes with colleagues. Therefore, it is important to recognise the symptoms of stress amongst employees and provide them with appropriate help. We would like to share few resources that will give you some tips on coping with stress and supporting colleagues.
Below are guides that will give you some advice on managing stress at work and supporting employees.
HOW WE COULD HELP
WEBINARS
Dealing effectively with high pressure situations and Developing mental resilience webinars could help your staff identify and develop a personal strategy to build mental resilience. The webinars aim to provide tips and techniques for employees that will help them deal with stressful and difficult situations.
Stress Risk Assessment Training
This training is suitable for managers and team leaders on how to implement the Management Standards and understand all the issues in tackling work-related stress. It will help them identify stress, understand how it can be risk assessed and what recommendations might be used to reduce its effects.
Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) offers various wellbeing services, such as online health portal, 24/7 counselling, legal and information line. It is intended to help employees who are experiencing both work and non-work related issues that can have a negative impact on their health and mental wellbeing.
Counselling
Counselling aims to provide support with various issues that employees may be facing. All counsellors that we work with are registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and a wide range of topics can be addressed. We can provide both telephone and face to face counselling, as well as critical incident support counselling.
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Course
The MHFA course is designed to benefit employees, line managers, HR professionals and senior leaders. It helps people recognise the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide support on a first aid basis. Course attendees are taught a set of practical skills which will enable them to support someone experiencing mental health issues.