World Mental Health Day: Supporting employees through the cost-of-living crisis

Today we are recognising World Mental Heath Day. Here in the UK, it is hard to escape the noise around the cost-of-living crisis – from soaring energy prices, sky-rocketing food costs and the rising interest rates. According to the CIPD’s 2022 Reward Management Survey, one in four employees say money worries affects their ability to do their job – and even those on the highest incomes are not immune, with this undoubtedly leading to a significant impact on employee well-being.

General employee well-being has received much attention over the past few years – in particular, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the financial aspect of well-being has historically been neglected. Financial well-being is the least common area included in HR strategies, despite money worries affecting 47% of UK employees (CIPD).

Why does good mental health in the workplace matter?

It’s estimated that mental health problems cost the UK economy £117.9 billion annually. Stress and other mental health problems are the biggest cause of absence from work. The CIPD found that poor mental health is consistently the number one cause of long-term sickness absence (four weeks or longer) across the UK workforce.

The impacts

The impacts of stress and poor mental health on employee well-being can include:

• Sleep problems which can result in safety-related mishaps or tardiness.
• Lack of concentration which can result in procrastination and distraction.
• Slowed cognition which can lead to indecision and project delays.
• Aches and pains which can result in more frequent trips to the doctor and increased health care costs.
• Forgetfulness which can cause errors and omissions.
• Self-medication which can result in missed deadlines and absenteeism.
• Irritability and tearfulness which can strain work relationships with colleagues, supervisors and clients.
• Low motivation or morale which can result in reduced productivity.

Alleviating the financial burden

Whilst there is no golden bullet to solve the crisis, there are several ways employers and HR teams can help to alleviate the financial burden placed on their employees – and not all of them come at an additional cost to the business.

Small gestures

• Paying expenses weekly instead of monthly to ease cash flow
• A choice of where to work – at an office or at home, allowing the employee to select the cheapest option when allowing for their heating, energy, and travel costs
• Offer free debt counselling advice
• Facilitating car-sharing arrangements for staff making the daily commute
• Provide refreshments where possible

Other considerations

• Review your financial well-being policy – do your people know what help is on offer and how to get it?
• Review existing employee benefits – For example, can they provide savings on regular expenses – grocery shopping, school supplies, wellbeing support
• Review your reward strategy to see if you can afford to offer a cost-of-living bonus
• Focus on communication – trust is key in challenging times and it’s important to ensure a dialogue between managers and employees
• Train up members of staff to be come mental health first aiders

Mental health and staff retention

“Taking some of these steps to support your employees through the cost-of-living crisis can minimise the risk of losing valued employees, their skills and expertise” explains Ant Coen, Principal Consultant at Macmillan Davies. “The rising costs aren’t just affecting individuals – they’re affecting businesses too, so where an increase in salary is not possible for existing or new members of staff, I would urge businesses to see what other support they can offer, from reviewing benefits, policies and available training.”

Mental health crisis helplines

If you feel like you might attempt suicide, or may have seriously harmed yourself, you need urgent medical help. Please:

• call 999 for an ambulance
• go straight to A&E, if you can
• or call your local crisis team, if you have their number. If you can't do this by yourself, ask someone to help you.

Mind
You can call 0300 123 3393 or email info@mind.org.uk

Samaritans
You can call 116 123 (free from any phone), email jo@samaritans.org or visit some branches in person.

National Suicide Prevention Helpline UK
You can call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline UK on 0800 689 5652 (open 24/7).