The cost of skimping on your staff welfare, by Alana Patchett

We all know the headlines- poor mental health leads to increased absences and sick days. A disengaged workforce leads to lower productivity. Uninvested workforce leads to low job satisfaction and poor morale. 

 

From my very first weekend job picking Strawberries, to working in pubs, and then into the grown-up world of marketing and advertising, at each stage of employment it was either 

  •  Very clear that staff welfare was a thing or
  •  Sorry, What is staff welfare? Get back to work.

 I believe there are a few core ‘elements’ to staff welfare. 

  • Working environment  
  • Mental health 
  • Work Life balance 
  • Professional Development 

 

Working environment 

I know for a fact if I did not have a proper desk, second screen and office chair, I would be suffering from an even worse posture than I already am, plus the knock-on health impacts.  

Similarly, if when working on site at the studio, I had to work in a cramped, noisy space, it certainly would reduce my productivity and my enjoyment.  

Don’t get me wrong, the studio can be noisy, but it is the noise of jokes and laughter- which improves my mood greatly!  

Make sure your people are healthy and safe. And maybe throw in some free eye tests for everyone, given we are now all staring into our screens for a good percentage of the time… 

 

Mental Health 

Been around for ever, only in recent years do I feel we are all talking about it openly and honestly. And still a way to go.  

Creating a culture where you cannot speak up if you are struggling mentally is no good- it isolates, it intimidates, it disengages and it ruins lives.  

Stop the stigma around this immediately and create space for people to speak openly if they choose to.  

Similarly, allow them the privacy if they don’t want to elaborate. I have been on this journey myself- only now can I feel I am able to say, ‘I am not doing so well today’. And my team know to leave it at that. I am not a sharer. That is my style. Be aware everyone has their own.  

 

Work Life balance 

Ah this ol’ adage.  I have recently heard this being referred to as ‘Life balance’ now that post covid means our work is, for most, physically part of our home life.  

This makes it even harder to disconnect from work and connect with our home lives.  

In all honesty, I am not sure anyone ever has nailed the solution to a healthy work life balance. But we can put measures in place to encourage it.  

Flexible working, Remote working, decent holiday allowance to name a few.  

At Purple Monster, we all hold each other accountable to take the time we need, we are not perfect, we don’t always get it right but if we make the effort to encourage it then we will have a happier more engaged workforce.  

Plus, the research has been done, and the workforce of the future are prioritising employers who put a focus on maintaining a work life balance.  

 

Professional Development 

Training, learning, developing new skills…all good things! If people feel they are being invested in, they will stick around and the new skills and development journeys they go on will by association improve their contribution to the business.  

It is about feeling appreciated and believed in. 

From experience, investing in people is key. When I first started at Purple Monster, I had the intention of doing 6 months before I found something better. The team back then invested in me and helped me develop my skill set, I grew, I learnt….and now 14 years later, I have the privilege of offering the same support to our team today. True story! 

 

I have been a director for over a year now. I have learnt an awful lot.  

But at the heart of it all, is still the necessity to look after the people. 

I have the responsibility of making sure it happens, and whilst we are all to a certain point responsible for managing our own lives, as a collective workforce we have the responsibility to help each other out where we can.  

 

An engaged happy healthy workforce is more productive, more creative, committed, present and loyal to the organization. If you throw in having a great amount of fun, then you are on to a winner.  

 

I will leave you with this small insight into our company… 

At Purple Monster if you are on holiday and you message the What’s app group or Teams chat, everyone is obligated to reply to you ‘I am sorry who is this?’ until you eventually go away and get back to your time off.  

It works and has the added bonus of being amusing too. Try it and see if it works for you.