Tag Archive for: Mental Health

Why You Should Celebrate Employee Appreciation Day

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National Employee Appreciation Day falls on 4 March 2022. The day provides an opportunity for employers to celebrate their employees and express gratitude for their hard work and contributions.

Actively recognising the contributions of your employees can help improve staff morale and ultimately, staff retention rates. In addition, it is also an effective way of helping employees feel valued by acknowledging that their work is appreciated in the business. 

The day can also be used as a good opportunity to check in on employee well-being. Taking the time to engage with staff in an open and genuine way can help employers find out what they can do to support their staff and if there are any new practices they can adopt to address employee concerns.

In light of the difficulties that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on employees, employers should take any opportunity they can to help improve staff wellbeing. Whether it is an extra hour for lunch, a communal coffee break or time out to pursue a hobby, taking part in National Employee Appreciation Day can be a great way of improving employee / employer relations. 

For more ideas of how you can support your employees, read our previous articles for our top tips for supporting employee health and wellbeing, and how to best support employee mental health.

For support with managing and improving employee appreciation and relations, please contact Helen Couchman in our team on 07799 901 669.

Voluntary Reporting on Disability, Mental Health and Wellbeing

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In October 2017, “Thriving at work: the Stephenson/Farmer review of mental health and employers” was published.

Following this, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health and Social Care have published a framework to support employers to voluntarily report disability, mental health and wellbeing in their workforce.

The framework is entirely voluntary in nature and aimed at larger employers with over 250 employees. However, smaller employers are also encouraged to engage with the framework as well.

The purpose of the framework is to drive transparency in organisations. Employers are encouraged to provide a narrative explaining the action taken to recruit and retain disabled employees and provide support in relation to mental health and wellbeing in the workforce.

The Stephenson/Farmer review suggested that poor mental health was costing employers between £33 billion and £42 billion per year (namely in relation to sick leave, staff turnover and impact on productivity).

It appears that the issues of disability and mental health and wellbeing is increasingly under the spotlight and it is possible that reporting will become mandatory in the future (although this is not suggested at present). Employers may decide to voluntarily report as a point of best practice and to demonstrate transparency and a commitment to addressing issues arising out of disability and mental health in their workplace. Further guidance regarding reporting is to be published shortly.

For more information, please contact Sarah Martin on 07799 136 091 or Caitlin Anniss on 07909 683 938 at Narrow Quay HR.