Pamela Gellatly, Strategic Development Director, HCML provides our readers with some advice on what employers need to do to prioritise employee wellbeingand shares tips on how spot the key signs of burnout, how to reduce absence and how to help employees better manage workloads and stress.
As September brings a return to normality with children going back to school, many will be returning to work 
following time off for holidays or other activities. This group of individuals may be coming back to work refreshed and well-rested after their annual leave. But for those who were left manning the fort, the last couple of months could have been quite stressful. With less of a team around to help and subsequent increases in workloads to accommodate this, many may be left feeling stressed and burnt out.
Employee absence due to sickness or holidays can be damaging to the mental health of colleagues who remain active in the workplace. Our recent report looking into the impact of employee wellbeing further confirmed this. It found that a third of employers cited rising workloads as a main reason for employee mental health-related sickness absence.
Interestingly, 40% of employers said rising workload is the main reason for their staff being off work with mental health illness, highlighting the need for employers to be better equipped to help colleagues manage their workloads and remain resilient.
Our research also found that 31% of employees felt that workload pressures would ease if fewer colleagues were off. The pressure and expectation around performance at work contributed to mental ill health absence with 27% of employers stating this as a main reason. Coupled with a rising workload, this is recognised as a significant issue.
We know that when colleagues are absent, their responsibilities often fall on the remaining team members. This can lead to increased stress, longer working hours, and burnout, which in turn can weaken the immune system and lead to absence.
What can employers do to help?
- Better understand the extent of the issues in your organisation
Only by establishing the extent of the absence issue in your organisation, will managers to be able to determine the support that needs to be put in place. Systems that allow the collation of information and data, measuring the level of absence, the cause and any underlying factors is extremely valuable. Once you have this, you can start to work out the type of initiatives that will help to reduce absenteeism and better support the workforce.
- Actively manage annual leave
Annual leave is not often well managed and it’s common to find that more people than you thought are off at the same time. School holidays are a particular problem especially in organisations that have many people of a similar age. Implementing strategies to address this is important, including ensuring that employers have a good mix of people with different circumstances so fewer people are trying to take time off at the same time.
- Prioritise employee wellbeing
Managers have a duty of care to ensure that employees are not overwhelmed while their colleagues are off sick or on annual leave. When absences are known in advance, for annual leave for example, it is important to review the workload beforehand to ensure it doesn’t impact employees who are covering. Of course, when it comes to sickness, and long-term sickness in particular, this is harder to predict. Once absence has been reported, its critical to look at the impact and determine how resources can be deployed to manage any gap.
Of course, sickness can also be mitigated and reduced if the right initiatives are put in place to help support employees and avoid reaching the point of burnout. EAP’s and other wellbeing schemes can help with this. Support needs to clearly signposted so employees are clear on how to access the right support.
- Spot the key signs of burnout
With a struggling National Health System and long waiting lists for treatment, medical and mental health support is not always quick and easy to access for many, that is why it is vial for employers to spot signs and take action. Having strategies in place that assess not only the presenting symptoms but the underlying causation as well, can help employers understand what they need to address to reduce the occupational factors whilst employees can benefit from tailored care to ensure they received the most appropriate intervention.
- Help with managing workload and stress
The report found that employers need to be better equipped to understand the root cause and contributory risk factors of mental ill health absence and how workload is viewed, in order to help colleagues better manage their workload and remain resilient. Employers seem aware that poor mental health and a rise in workplace absence are inextricably linked but finding key solutions to tackle this are less easily understood.
Where our NHS cannot provide immediate help for those suffering from mental ill health, employers must offer alternative solutions. EAPs and workplace benefits can offer targeted, and specialist help for all sorts of ailments and issues. Having these benefits in place can also help employees to feel more supported, fostering a great sense of value and loyalty.
- Reducing absence
For many employers providing more in the way of health and wellbeing benefits could be the difference between a healthy, happy, and present workforce and in turn a profitable company.
When managers look ahead at potential periods where workload pressures can be higher than normal, teams can better plan for this and help manage individual stress, before it becomes too much. Establishing and implementing an effective wellbeing strategy, can make all the difference. Employees feel supported at work and absence will be reduced.