What if your job was good for you? A year into the pandemic can any business afford to ignore workplace health?

Business in the Community – The Prince’s Responsible Business Network, has collaborated with senior business leaders and national stakeholders to produce a report identifying how employers can take action to transform wellbeing at work.

Sara Foster, Director of Resources at RHA, has praised the report as an excellent guide for businesses to take action to better support and improve mental health and wellbeing at work.

Released today, the What If Your Job Was Good For You? report advocates two calls to action for employers that build on lessons learnt from the pandemic:

• Treat mental health and safety with the same importance as physical health and safety
• Collaborate with colleagues to enable employees to create their own ‘good jobs’ within organisational parameters

Employees don’t expect to be physically injured at work and nor should their mental health be negatively impacted. However, the reality is that 41% of employees developed mental health issues caused by work in the last year.¹

Although work is part of the issue, good job design must be part of the solution. The organisations which thrive during this period of post-pandemic recovery will be those that put people first. The report sets out ways of working that involve a collaborative, individual approach to job roles, that focus on relationships between employees and managers that encourage open dialogue.

RHA, a social landlord owning over 1800 homes across Rhondda Cynon Taff, introduced a new People strategy at the end of 2019. During the pandemic, RHA surveyed their staff to understand how they were being impacted by the pandemic and to assess views on homeworking. In response to the survey, which highlighted a desire for a hybrid model of shared home and office working, RHA introduced a new flexible and homeworking policy. This introduced a nine-day fortnight working pattern and was supplemented by improved health care and benefits which provided 24/7 access to mental health support, employee assistance, and an enhanced offering of medical insurance cover.

Sara Foster, Director of Resources at RHA, said: “Over the last 18 months we’ve worked hard to deliver on our People Strategy, we’ve sought feedback from our colleagues on what was most important to them and have strived to deliver on our promises with impact. It’s been really positive to see the benefits and outcomes of our work; improvements to sickness, wellbeing levels and staff satisfaction scores, and we want to continue to build on this for the future.”

David Oldfield, CEO Commercial Banking, and Interim Group Chief Operating Officer, Lloyds Banking Group, and Chair of the Wellbeing Leadership Team at Business in the Community, said: “Overnight, the pandemic changed the nature and place of work for many of us and we now have a once in a lifetime opportunity to reimagine ways of working and transform mental health and wellbeing at work. Working from home, and hybrid working, have created opportunities for taking a more inclusive and individual approach that enables people to co-create their own ‘good jobs’. With the importance of listening to employee voices, mental health and safety needs to be established on a parity with physical health and safety so everyone can speak out without fear of negative consequences. I strongly urge employers to take action, and learn from each other, to leave a positive legacy from what we’ve learned in the past 15 months.”

Peter Cheese, Chief Executive of the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development added: “We’re proud to support this important new report from BITC which highlights the need for employers to take a strategic and integrated approach to workplace wellbeing in all its forms. Commitment and visible leadership from senior leaders on health and wellbeing is key to fostering an environment where people feel fully supported and able to speak up. There is more expectation now that organisations put people first, provide good jobs together with supportive cultures and places of work, including opportunity for flexible ways of working. These are all essential in enhancing wellbeing, but also in engagement and retention of staff and critical business outcomes including productivity. The pandemic has forced us all to focus more on people’s health and wellbeing, and we all have the opportunity to take these learnings forwards to help better working lives for all.”

Louise Aston, Wellbeing Director at Business in the Community, concluded: “Our report is evidence based but there are still many unknowns, with the best practices around future ways of working still to be written. During this period of transition into this new era, Business in the Community is convening a collaborative movement which enables businesses to take a test and learn approach, where businesses can learn together, build knowledge and share insights to help everyone navigate the journey ahead, recognising that we can’t achieve change on our own. Publicly demonstrate your commitment to action, transform mental health and wellbeing at work.”