Christmas parties – will it be wrong to celebrate?

Almost 90% of employees would prefer to have £50 gift voucher than a company Christmas party in 2020, according to a YouGov poll. 46% don’t want a party on whatever terms, compared with 24% who say they do.

In practice, other research by HireSpace has highlighted how 89% of employers are planning to have an online Christmas party this year. With virtual events now so commonplace, organisers are being urged to move beyond online Zoom quizzes and ‘virtual drinks’ events. More adventurous ideas being suggested include arranging a cook-along making festive foods, virtual cocktail making and wine tasting, virtual escape rooms and fun, collaborative games and sports, such as trying to set new world records together.

Hard cash

Media have also been reporting on a letter to Rishi Sunak from Labour MP Chris Evans about an alternative.

He has called for firms to be given the option of making tax-deductible Christmas cash payouts, to “make up for the odd working conditions of 2020…It’s win-win for everybody. The workers would get a few extra quid, it would be a morale booster for the company and it wouldn’t cost them an extra penny.”

Let it glow

EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell said: “The novelty of online socialising has lost much of its gloss over the past eight months. But the Christmas party is another of those events, whether everyone loves them or not, that are an important part of the annual routine and rhythm of our working lives. It’s a shared experience, a time to step back from ordinary work and its pressures and see each other as people – a chance for bosses to reflect on what everyone has been through in this painful year, to say thank you to a whole community for coping and getting things done together.

“There are all kinds of alternatives to the office party that can work, employers need to make a special effort this year to understand what’s going to be most appreciated, where the festive feel good factor is going to come from – some fun spent seeing each other online; socially-distanced time to feel some moments of real togetherness; a thoughtful gift or hamper.

“But it will be important that Christmas – a time when people can be most reflective about their lives and relationships, their state of mind and wellbeing – isn’t downgraded as less important.”

Even in a pandemic, health benefits are being forgotten and under-sold

Only around half of employers believe staff know and understand the range of health benefits available to them, according to a study by the group risk body GRiD.

A third of employers said they didn’t think staff understood the benefits on offer; 10% thought they were only aware of some of the offering. 35% of staff claimed their organisation had not communicated the benefits range (or couldn’t remember if they had). 38% of employers communicated a change in benefits when it happened; 29% at the recruitment stage; 21% just once a year; and 8% not at all.

Unappreciated

GRiD also looked at the issue of whether employers understand which benefits are most valued by their people. 54% of small and medium-sized firms don’t bother to measure staff appreciation of employee benefits – and one-third of larger organisations (with more than 250 employees) are the same. The figure rises to 68% among micro-businesses (with fewer than 10 employees).

When feedback is gathered, 34% said this was carried out via a formal survey. 31% of HR teams just used informal feedback. A third used a ‘suggestions box’. 27% based their understanding of staff appreciation on the level of usage.

In its analysis of the findings, GRiD has warned HR against relying on usage rates – particularly in a context where awareness levels appear to be low. HR need to be pro-active in asking employees regularly about their experiences and attitudes towards specific benefits.

Measure to improve

EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell [https://www.eapa.org.uk/] said: “EAPs have never been more important. It’s critical that all staff are aware of the full range of expertise and support that an EAP offers across the spectrum, from everyday worries around finances and relationships, to access to professional counselling. An EAP isn’t just for help dealing with crises after they’ve happened – just one of the misapprehensions that comes from a lack of communication.

“Measurement of effectiveness and ROI is fundamental. As EAPA’s recent study has shown, it’s the employers who are most engaged and interested in the performance of their EAP, who provide regular management reports using the EAPA calculator, who look at the potential for evolving the offering to best suit their workforce, who see the biggest ROI.”

Why aren’t employers listening to Covid-19 anxieties?

A new report from whistleblowing charity Protect has exposed poor responses from employers to staff with legitimate worries about pandemic safety measures and furlough fraud.

The Best Warning System: Whistleblowing during Covid-19 is based on an analysis of more than 600 calls to the Protect advice line. The majority of cases were found to be around companies exploiting the Government’s furlough scheme, asking furloughed employees to carry on with work duties; followed by the lack of availability of PPE and provision for social distancing.

‘Indifferent’ response

The analysis highlighted how 32% of the managers involved had lost their job as a result of whistleblowing, compared with 21% of those who were non-managers. Furlough fraud was a particular problem among small employers. 41% of employers were said to have been ‘indifferent’ about the issues raised.

One case study featured a worker at a food processing plant whose worries about employees breaching social distancing guidelines had been ignored by HR. When he began to wear a face mask at work he was suspended. Although new rules around wearing face masks were introduced, the whistleblower was still dismissed.

Staff are the best early warning system for making sure workforces are kept safe, said Protect chief executive Liz Gardiner: “There is no excuse for employers to ignore whistleblowers, but during a global pandemic, it is a danger for us all when concerns are not acted on and the consequences could be a matter of life and death.”

Keep talking

“All employees have to feel they can raise legitimate fears about safety or law-breaking,” said EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell. “During the current climate of crisis it’s an imperative. A lack of trust can spread quickly and lead to a toxic culture of silence and suspicion, low motivation, relationship breakdowns.

“The best employers will actively be working to build a culture of security, where people feel able to speak up if they need to, knowing they will be listened to, there will be a professional response from their line managers and issues won’t just be swept under the carpet.

“Having an EAP in place is a key element for a building a secure and resilient culture. Besides being a demonstration of commitment to the psychological wellbeing of staff, it means that people are able to work out personal issues and any related work stress or financial worries, making then better placed to deal with strains from working through the Covid-19 period.”

How EAPs are a highly effective complement to the NHS

Mental illness caused or exacerbated by the pandemic crisis is predicted to be as big a threat to NHS resources as the virus itself. Up to 20% of adults in the UK are expected to need mental health support in the coming year, says the Centre for Mental Health: 8.5 million people dealing with depression, anxiety and PTSD.

It’s a stark picture showing how employers providing EAP services are an essential wellbeing resource and outlet for demand. EAPs are helping to ease the burden on NHS services, and crucially, offering easier access for employees to mental health support, when and how it’s needed, and at an earlier stage.

A new analysis comparing the use and waiting times for NHS services with EAPs is a clear demonstration of how that’s been working in practice. This looks at data from the NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme (IAPT) for people dealing with depression and anxiety. When IAPT was first introduced in 2008 it was a major step forward in terms of recognising the importance of mental wellbeing, putting in place a sensible ‘stepped’ approach where patients with mild to moderate symptoms could move from a low intensity intervention (such as guided self-help) to higher intensity therapies (CBT) if necessary.

But the past ten years has seen growing demand for services – alongside higher expectations. The analysis of data from 2018/19 shows that the average waiting time from referral to treatment was 20 days. Waiting times varied substantially across England, from 4 days in Basildon and Brentwood to 61 days in Manchester. Most worryingly, of the patients who needed to ‘step up’ to a second session, half of them had to wait more than 28 days. One in 6 waited over 90 days.  In contrast to this and even given that the EAP data is now quite old, it does show that the average waiting time from referral to first assessment date was 8.8 days.

Higher numbers of patients going through IAPT don’t complete their treatment, for whatever reason, whether that’s because symptoms have improved or people are frustrated by waiting times. Around 43% opt-out of further treatment, compared with 27% using EAPs. The clients who did complete their treatment with IAPT took an average of 6.9 sessions; with EAPs this was four. 70.5% of EAP clients reached a planned ending with a ‘reliable improvement’ (in terms of recognised measures of anxiety and depressive symptoms such as the GAD-7 and CORE-OM scores). Through the IAPT, 67.4% achieved a reliable improvement.

There are caveats about the comparisons. The IAPT deals with a wider range of cases on the mental health spectrum than an EAP, and the data on the EAP side is now quite dated. But overall the analysis demonstrates some principles around how EAPs are a highly effective complement to the NHS. They widen access, making sure more people are seen more quickly and before symptoms worsen, especially for mild to moderate mental health conditions. Most of all, EAPs are playing their part in keeping people in work through the most difficult of times.

How EAPs help keep the workplace human

More than 400 staff at an electric bicycle firm in the US were made redundant in March via a two minute Zoom call. Anyone who missed the call had no idea why their logins suddenly failed to work. Uber has also reportedly used a three minute Zoom call to part company with 3,000 customer service and recruitment team members. Cineworld staff in one location in the UK first became aware they’d lost their jobs through Twitter, before an email was finally sent.

Most recently, staff at newly-launched streaming platform Quibi, backed by £1.5 billion in funding, were told about the closure of the business via group video call. The CEO, former Disney and DreamWorks chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, told staff they should listen to the song ‘Get Back Up Again’ from Trolls to make themselves “feel better”.

Legal implications

In the wake of the trend for digital lay-offs, employers have been warned by employment law firms that rapid decision-making, not following procedures and using these kinds of methods of communication open them up to more legal claims from employees. Staff are more likely to consider whether they have suffered constructive dismissal or look at the Equality Act 2010 and whether there might be a case for unlawful discrimination.

Law experts have stressed the need to ensure bad news is communicated in a “thoughtful and sensitive manner”, and that employers need to ensure there is the offer of “extensive wellbeing support”.

Stay human

“Digital comms are an essential part of doing business – their speed and efficiency, and in helping people stay connected,” said EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell. “But when it comes to employee relations, genuine engagement and trust, there is no replacement for personal contact and relationships.

“Modern employers want staff to be flexible and adaptable. The danger is that, with the dependence on digital forms of communications, they begin to de-humanise their staff as just an account at the other end of a laptop that can be switched on and off as needed.

“Under lockdown restrictions, human contact is at a premium. It means that EAPs and services that provide access to personal attention, the chance to speak to someone by phone or video, is an ever more important way for the best employers to demonstrate they care, the difference they offer.

Don’t alienate

“And if the organisation is going through a period of considering or making redundancies, EAPs are a much-valued source of support to help employees deal with the added stresses and come to terms with changing situations.

“When times are tough, people remember acutely how they have been treated, and for the long-term. For those businesses not being conscious of the importance of focusing on ‘being human’ that means the alienation of a mass of potential customers and people with useful skills and experience they will need the in years to come.”

How to prepare for a pandemic winter

The next six months will be a greater test of mental wellbeing than the initial Covid-19 lockdown, suggests a new survey. The shorter, darker days being faced by a workforce already worn down by the first wave experience are seen as an additional factor for concern.

Weather warning

Of 2,000 employees surveyed by Vision Direct, 41% said they were feeling “more anxious and isolated” than ever before; 40% that WFH for a further six months will be damaging to their mental health. The biggest challenges were seen to be missing out on office banter; the poor substitute for communication of using video and voice calls; and issues being created by balancing work and home life pressures.

Psychologist Dr Becky Spelman said: “It is understandable that people are feeling low. We’re not just still dealing with a frightening pandemic, but also with the onset of the winter months. The world can seem a less friendly place when it is dark and cold outside. In the summer, long walks out of doors – with or without friends – were a real lifeline to most of us.”

Baby steps

With progress on dealing with the pandemic stalled and the likelihood of more spikes of infections and stricter restrictions for the autumn and winter, employees need to be supported to deal with the challenges one day at a time, argues EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell.

“The coming months look daunting for all of us, whether you’re WFH or needing to go into the workplace under Covid-safe conditions. How are we going to cope if restrictions ratchet up even further? What happens at Christmas when we’ll want to be with our friends and relatives, including those who are most vulnerable to the virus?

“March was a series of shocks: threats to health and threats to our ways of working, financial security and mental wellbeing. We’ve all learnt a great deal from that experience, however not everyone coped well, and some continue to struggle. EAPs really came into their own as an essential employee benefit, helping more staff deal with all the difficult personal issues that the crisis has caused, keeping people at work. And many more people have become aware of the dangers of poor mental health and the importance of maintaining good mental wellbeing both for themselves and others around them.

Resilience defences

“Now will be the real test of that new resilience. That includes understanding how we all need to stop thinking about the pandemic as something we need to take on as a single, giant problem. We need to keep on living from one moment to the next, to remember we cannot control everything and only bother with those things we can have some control over.

“Many of those will be positive moments, all the ordinary things we enjoy about our daily lives, the people we see, the conversations and fun, the rewards from making a contribution through our work. And then there’ll be the difficult moments, worries, arguments, the limitations to what we want to do – but all of them small and temporary, things that can be fixed or forgotten.”

“It’s a time to look differently at things, not at what we don’t have or cannot do, what we have been denied and things we might miss, but get the most out of all the things we can do. When you look back in the future: what do you want to remember about this time and how we made it through Christmas?”

Get ready to beat the darker days

Clocks going back is traditionally a signal for the start of autumn comforts: an extra hour in bed in the morning, cosy evenings in, Halloween treats, Christmas on the horizon.

As per many of the other annual routines we’ve become dependent on, Covid-19 means that’s changed too. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a form of depression caused by a lack of sunlight, is reported to affect 1 in 3 of the UK population. This year the shorter darker days are going to make more of us understand what SAD really means and feels like. 

WFH and living under higher tier restrictions will mean fewer opportunities for being outside. Getting out after work is more difficult. Going to the gym in the rain may seem too much of a bother, walking the dog is a chore. Low mood tends to create a vicious circle of low motivation to get out at all.

What if-Christmas

For hundreds of years Christmas has been used as a release valve, a celebration that takes advantage of the dark days as a time for rest and feasting – as well as the solstice marking the beginning of the return of the light. But this year we have a “what if” Christmas – what if we’re not allowed to celebrate together, what if we go into a national lockdown, what’s it going to be like being at home alone? The pressures of the festive season can be tough enough in themselves but the new uncertainty may cause significant anxiety and other mental health issues, as well as encouraging rule-breaking and risk-taking over health.

Mindset matters

It’s worth looking to Scandinavia and populations who have a culture of coping with what might be only two to three hours of light a day. How do they do it? Research suggests it’s all about attitude. If you just think in terms of the benefits that the winter months bring – the cosy feelings, the particular charms of winter light and scenery, the chance to do things you can only do in cold weather, whether that’s outdoors or indoors – then you are going to build a positive mindset that sees you through.

And, of course, talking always helps, being open about how you’re feeling, accepting that simple things like a lack of sunlight can have a real impact on our state of mind. Then it’s possible to start finding straightforward, practical ways to thrive through the winter.

Can robots provide better mental health support to employees than people?

Robots are the solution to dealing with the global pressures on mental health, says new research carried out by Oracle and HR research firm Workplace Intelligence.

More than 12,000 employees, HR leaders, managers and senior executives across 11 countries were surveyed for the study on the impact of Covid-19 on levels of stress and anxiety, with the conclusion that “they prefer robots instead of other people to help”.

UK differences

In the UK, employees were found to be more resilient, with 62% saying they were feeling more stressed and anxious at work (compared with 70% internationally). 77% in the UK wanted more access to technology to support their mental health, with 69% being receptive to the idea of a robot therapist. Overall, however, UK staff were more sceptical about using AI to support mental health (60% were in favour, versus 75% globally).

Robots at work

The research suggests that staff are looking for more action by their employers on mental health – with technology being the easiest answer. 76% said they thought their company should be doing more to protect their mental health. 83% would like their company to provide technology to support their mental health: self-service access to health resources (36%), on-demand counselling services (35%), proactive health monitoring tools (35%), access to wellness or meditation apps (35%), and chatbots to answer health-related questions (28%).

Only 18% of people would prefer humans over robots to support their mental health, the study claims. This is because robots provide a judgement-free zone (said 34%), an unbiased outlet to share problems (30%), and quick answers to health-related questions (29%). 68% of people would prefer to talk to a robot over their manager about stress and anxiety at work; 80% of people are open to having a robot as a therapist or counsellor. 75% said the use of AI had already helped their mental health at work: providing the information needed to do their job more effectively, automating tasks and decreasing workload to prevent burnout.

People need people

EAPA chair Eugene Farrell said: “The increased demand for advice and support during the pandemic has led to more organisations introducing online support resources, Q&As, videos and podcasts around mental health . That’s been valuable in making sure everyone can have immediate access to a fundamental level of help and ideas, signposting them to the EAP if they want to speak with a human being or arrange personal, one-to-one counselling to explore issues in a more thoughtful, psychologically reassuring way.

“We’re in a world where automation is the norm. It’s a tool for completing tasks, whether that’s at work, for shopping or buying insurance. But it’s important that counselling and the principle of mental health support, is based on a core of human relationships and care. Who wants to open up about a psychological issue, struggling to find reassurance and sense of meaning, while knowing that they’re really only opening up to a blank space, an automated void?

“EAPs will always be about people helping people.”

Are you ready to handle WFH diversity? 

A survey of around 1,000 UK businesses by the Institute of Directors (IoD) has revealed how 74% are intending to keep to the home working regime they already have in place. 

More than half also have long-term plans to cut back on their use of physical workspaces. As Roger Barker, policy director at the IoD has pointed out, WFH isn’t good news for everyone: “Directors must be alive to the downsides. Managing teams remotely can prove far from straightforward, and directors must make sure they are going out of their way to support employees’ mental wellbeing.”

Downsides

Managers are struggling in the new context: 72% of senior executives have experienced poor mental health due to the pandemic experience (meaning insomnia (22%), lack of energy (31%) and anxiety and sadness (23%) according to Bupa’s Global Executive Wellbeing Index of 2,000 high-net-worth individuals.

58% of HR leaders say they believe the added strain of home working leads to stress and burn out (Mental Health Foundation research). Also, with more people being away from the workplace, fewer are taking holidays. An e-Days survey has suggested 37% of UK workers still have 14 or more days of holiday left to take until Christmas. 

Supporting diversity

EAPA chair Eugene Farrell said: “Employers are becoming much better at recognising the diversity of their people, more actively alert and willing to accommodate and respect difference, rather than expecting individuals to change themselves to suit the company culture. Now there’s a new – and bigger – challenge around WFH.

“Working from home works on a practical level for some and not others. Then there’s the more complicated level of psychology. More working-age people than ever live alone – so what does the prospect of being alone all day, with no workplace to go to, feel like? Even those living as part of big busy families can find being at home alone during the day something to dread. Long-term, all of these worries can turn into far more serious threats to mental wellbeing. 

“Most importantly of all HR need to make sure their people feel able to be open about their concerns, and that they know how to get help, via EAP resources and talking with EAPs. Managers need to be equipped to recognise signs of problems and know how they can help by flagging professional support.”

Cut hours not people and prevent a mental health crisis, says the University of Cambridge

Some level of employment – even just one day a week – plays a fundamental role in securing mental wellbeing and prevent a mental health crisis, according to new research. 

The Cambridge sociologists found that UK employees who were either furloughed or shifted to a part-time position during April and May 2020 were at the same risk of poor mental health as full-time colleagues. But those who’d lost all their working hours were twice as likely to suffer from poor mental wellbeing. The work was carried out as part of the Employment Dosage project among more than 7,000 UK people.

Sharing hours

In the wake of their findings, researchers have called for the UK government to encourage more employers to share out available working hours rather than cut jobs. This would be in line with the ‘short-time working’ approach being used across Europe – seen as a less expensive option than furlough schemes and less likely to cause a long-term legacy of damage to mental health from redundancies.

“As well as the individual misery caused, the costs of poor mental health to the UK’s productivity and health service are vast, and cannot be afforded at this critical time,” said Professor Brendan Burchell.

Stay together

EAPA chair Eugene Farrell said: “We’ve always known that while workplaces can be a serious source of stress, any negatives are far outweighed by the benefits. Being part of a team, sharing a mission, overcoming challenges, the recognition and status; as well as all the day-to-day pleasures that come from just being among people, being part of something together, even if it’s only digitally for the moment.
“That’s what EAPs have been doing all these years: helping people stay at work, able to keep the benefits from being in work and contributing, while also managing to deal with all kinds of personal issues. EAPs help save people from long term absence. Getting the equilibrium right, between work and home lives, is going to be essential to everyone as we work our way though the pandemic age.”