Following the government’s latest announcement many employees around the country have found themselves returning to working from home. For business owners this is sure to present a number of logistical challenges, however as we learned from the country’s first lockdown the impact this will have on employee wellbeing could also be significant and therefore must be considered.
While these new measures aren’t as severe as the UK’s first lockdown, they present an array of new challenges. For example, as we head in to winter many employees will be signing on to work while it’s dark outside and then signing off at the end of the day in twilight also. Many of the activities employees may have used to ‘switch off’ over summer such as evening walks are also not as accessible due to the weather. Going to visit friends or family is now prohibited, increasing the likelihood of staying in all day even further. These changes have the potential to really blur the lines between work & home so it is vital that employers act to prevent any side-effects this may have on the mental health and wellbeing of their employees.
We look at four businesses that are making real strides forward when it comes to employee wellbeing.
BioBeats
Focused on empowering employees to improve their mental, physical and emotional resilience, BioBeats’ app can be used to enhance overall wellbeing and reduce the impact of challenges including depression and anxiety. The app contains a range of useful and innovative features such as built-in questionnaires that employees can use to measure their wellbeing, live feedback/insights with tips tailored to each user as well as a dynamic wellbeing score, calculated using health data that users can input in to the interface. These insights all serve to provide users with the information they need to improve their wellbeing in the face of the range of challenges they may face.
Unmind
Unmind take what they call a ‘whole-person’ approach to workplace wellbeing. Rather than focusing on the one in six people who would typically suffer from mental health issues in the workplace, Unmind instead choose to focus on all six in order to prevent issues before they arise. Looking at the three core factors that make up mental wellbeing (psychological, social, physical), Unmind provide proactive support that enables employees to measure and manage their own mental, improving productivity in the workplace, in-office culture and the overall reputation of businesses for whom employee experience is so important.
Headtorch
Founded by a team of experts specialising in workplace development and psychology, Headtorch’s solutions enable businesses to embed a positive mental health culture and improve overall employee wellbeing. Equipped to work at every level within organisations, Headtorch coach employees and business owners about how to talk about not only their own mental health but that of their colleagues. Headtorch’s solutions are tailored to every business they work with as well as every level within them. Whether they are educating senior leaders about the business/legal reasons for implementing mental health programmes, introducing front-line staff to what mental health is all about or working with mental health champions within the workplace to deliver a more in-depth understanding of workplace wellbeing, there is a solution in place for every business and every challenge.
Sanctus
Sanctus’ founder story is not only hugely inspiring but also incredibly personal. When founder James Routledge started experiencing challenges regarding his mental health he wanted to talk about them but found that there wasn’t a space that was really right for what he required. Not feeling ‘ill’ enough to go to a therapist and not wanting to offload to family or friends he wrote a blog titled ‘Mental health in start-ups’ that you can find here. Within days the post had received thousands of views and interactions from people experiencing similar issues and thus, Sanctus was born. Since then the business has been going into workplaces to provide safe spaces that people can use to talk about their mental health, whether that be at the positive or negative end of the spectrum. Sanctus are all about encouraging everyone to talk about mental health and are passionate believers that as we all have mental health, we should all be able to talk about it.
If your business is providing mental health support to workplaces around the country and you’d like help telling this story in the media, get in touch with our award-winning team today.
