LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / May 13, 2021 / Over the past year, mental health and financial wellbeing in the workplace has become more important than ever. As the world has shifted to a new way of living, the expectations and priorities around employee benefits have also had to adapt.
The impact of Covid-19
Throughout 2020, our homes became offices, nurseries, and gyms, with new challenges faced by companies to promote wellbeing and a positive company culture, while helping their people through difficult times.
For Vicky Daugvilaviciute, People Manager at Elder, this meant a continued focus on mental wellbeing. "Care is at the core of our business, and we believe it's as important to take care of our brain as our body. When you break your leg you call an ambulance, but when people are suffering with their mental health we can bury our heads in the sand and delay taking action, so at Elder we make sure that free therapy is available for the whole team whenever they need it to tackle this."
A focus on therapy was also key for leading fintech company, Smarkets. Celine Crawford, CCO says "there's often a barrier to therapy due to the cost, and when that's removed it's amazing how many people engage with support - that's why we cover most of the costs ourselves, and provide weekly sessions so people across the business can come together in a safe space."
Dealing with isolation
The challenges of supporting a remote workforce have been a common theme over the last year, with many employees struggling with isolation during lockdown.
Ceri Henfrey, COO at Moneypenny, a company that answers outsourced calls, live chat and digital comms for thousands of businesses globally, helped tackle this with small acts of kindness such as sending out 800 boxes of chocolate brownies to staff with a handwritten note from the Moneypenny CEO, which nobody knew was coming, because little personal touches of surprise and delight can have a huge effect on wellbeing.
Alongside isolation, financial anxiety has also increased significantly over the past year. Trudy Read, Commercial Director at AMARA explains that they have been fortunate "to thrive during Covid as customers moved their buying habits online, while being able to grow throughout the year has helped the team deal with anxiety, and financial wellbeing is now an area that we're looking at closely to support our people further."
The importance of financial wellbeing
Financial wellbeing was the number one cause of stress in the UK even before Covid-19, and financial matters are close to the heart of Stevie Buckley, Director of Talent at Permutive.
"At Permutive we make sure that every job vacancy has a salary range and a clear framework, so there's a guarantee that nobody in a similar role, at a similar level, is being paid more simply because they're a good negotiator. The impact this has on peace of mind at an organisation is priceless."
The support offered to staff needs to be personal, but where finances are concerned, also confidential and impartial.
Our mission at Bippit is to make financial stress a thing of the past, so we've created a system where every employee gets their own dedicated financial coach, alongside powerful tools and expert resources to support their financial wellbeing.
People are looking for two things right now: security and those who care.
Additional thanks to Newbury, uMotif, Namos Solutions, Torchbox, Fairways, Assael, and Inspired Homes for their feedback.
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SOURCE: ThePRGenius.com