In this article, we explore ways in which business owners can protect both the physical and mental well-being of their workers this winter.
Encouraging Open Communication
While physical health issues make themselves very obvious to us all, it has to be said that if you don’t know whether a staff member is struggling, you cannot help them. Encouraging open communication throughout your teams is important to discover what’s really going on with your workers, and whether they may need any extra support from you.
Be Empathetic
As a team leader it’s vital that you show empathy during trialling times for your workers. If a staff member reaches out to you, ensure that you listen calmly to what they have to say and adopt an empathetic and sensitive bedside manner when discussing their issues. Being approachable is key when it comes to supporting staff with illness or mental well-being.
Provide Appropriate Safety Equipment
While some issues may be mental health based, it’s essential that you are prepared for any physical accident within the workplace. It’s advisable to have selected staff members who are trained in first aid within your team, who can act fast in any unfortunate situation. Alongside this, you must have first-aid kits and any appropriate safety equipment on your premises at all times in case of an emergency.
Know When To Involve HR
If a staff member is sick for an extended length of time, you must inform your HR department so that they can handle said employees sick pay swiftly and efficiently. Your HR department should know exactly what each staff member is entitled to with regard to statutory sick pay and any other fees you may be liable to pay out, dependent on how long the employee has been at the firm, and what rights are stated in their contract of employment.
Planning Ahead
If a team member is going to be off work for some time, you may wish to think about hiring a replacement in the meantime. You should carefully consider your business’s financial situation before choosing whether you wish to advertise this position as temporary or permanent. If you decide to go with the latter and your sick member of staff makes a return to work, keep in mind that you must be able to pay both salaries, and have enough workload to split between both staff members going forwards.
Reinforcements go a Long Way
The one way to protect the well-being of an employee is to make sure that he or she is given regular reinforcements. Rewards go a long way and ultimately it ends up encouraging the employee to perform better in an organization.
For instance, if you have a graphic designer working in your organization then you can give that employee a reward leave. Same as that some pizza party or tea party can happen at the same moment to rejuvenate the spirits of the working stuff.
Rewards work exceptionally well and you should try them out if you want to protect the health of your employees.
Work as a Team
Just because somebody is working for you does not mean that you acquire all the rights to dictate your terms to that person. A working person is not a puppet and he or she should not be treated as such.
Make sure that if you have employees working under you, you consider them the valued member of your team. This will spark their interest and they will ultimately perform better than normal.
Self respect to goes a long way and it should never be compromised when it comes to employees.
Counselling is the Key
We all struggle with different things in our life and same is the case with employees. You never know what a person is going through that’s why it is always a good idea to be kinder than usual.
When you have employees working under you, it is important that you consider them a part of your family. You should try to solve the troubles with your best capacity and counseling. Sometimes just being available for them serves the purpose.
Conclusion
The world is moving at a very fast pace and it is important that we move along equally fast. Mental health is gaining popularity because it is being compromised at the work places.
Only if employers and organizations follow the above mentioned tactics they can take care of the mental health of their employees. Work as a team, that’s all.