Our EAP: Leanne Matthew, HR partner at cable assemblies manufacturer GTK

Our EAP: Leanne Matthew, HR partner at cable assemblies manufacturer GTK

We’ve seen how improving our internal culture in a number of ways has led to better employee wellbeing. An important platform has been making sure we’ve had an EAP in place — and the right kind of EAP for our workforce. Listening to actual needs and keeping up two-way communications on issues of health and wellbeing have been critical.

GTK recently changed its EAP because we recognised that it only focused on mental health but not any other areas. We also knew that uptake was low, a signal that the offering wasn’t meeting people’s needs. We take a holistic view of employee health and wellbeing and recognise that it goes beyond mental health. Physical health can sometimes be just as impactful, as good physical health can improve mental health, and vice versa. Then you have areas like financial wellbeing too. As well as offering professional advice and support, the EAP comes with above-and-beyond benefits, such as the offer of shopping vouchers, as a means of rewarding employee loyalty. We knew our previous EAP was good, but it wasn’t the best we could offer. Since we launched our new EAP, which covers all aspects of employee wellbeing, we’ve seen a 237.5% increase in uptake.

Early intervention is so important in making sure mental health issues are caught at stages when providing support is that much easier. Manufacturing is typically ranked in third place in terms of workplace stress (just behind hospitality and health and social care). We want our managers to be able to spot the signs of stress or poor mental health in their people. We’re building up a pool of resources for our managers — an employee handbook that includes a stress and mental health policy and a toolkit for managers, for example — to allow them to proactively support their people when they need it. They’re the first point of contact for their teams, so it’s important that they’re able to identify someone who may need more support. Sometimes, the hardest step a colleague can take is to open up about stress or mental health concerns. A lot of our managers report that their people come to them in the first instance when they’re experiencing difficulties, so that’s a testament to the environment we’re creating together.

Communications are at the heart of engagement and, ultimately, wellbeing. Whether that’s via regular one-to-ones, performance reviews, regular updates from senior management, or feedback on the EAP offering — it’s essential. If you don’t have it, your people might feel that they’re not important in your eyes.