(PR in) HR Pulse | HR News Round-up: 9th – 15th October 2023

Photo by Bank Phrom on Unsplash

‘Mental health washing’ is on the rise

A poll by MHR Global has found that more than three-quarters (79%) of UK employees don’t trust their employers when it comes to discussing or promoting mental health and wellbeing policies.

MHR’s research also found that nearly a quarter (19%) of FTSE 100 companies only posted about mental health during awareness days - remaining silent for the rest of the year.

Sharon Bligh, Director of Health and Sustainability at The Consumer Goods Forum, says that well-treated employees are the foundation of a successful business and in the current world of work, health and wellbeing support has now become more important than ever. 

She adds that the cost of living crisis has brought about many different issues, demanding enhanced wellbeing support so employers need to move beyond token wellbeing gestures by tackling real concerns such as workloads and working hour issues. 

Bligh says, HR needs to advocate for better employee wellbeing support by creating a culture that is focused on dealing with mental health concerns. However, to truly make this cultural change, it requires C-suite support.

Sarah Baldry, VP of People and Marketing at Wysa says, in order for workplace wellbeing interventions to work, their impact needs to be monitored and held accountable - otherwise, companies risk wasting large sums of money on poorly adopted initiatives.

She adds that it’s vital for board-level members to share data on employees' mental health before and after these investments to understand the true risk to their workforce. 

Baldry says employers also need to understand that their workforce's mental health directly affects absenteeism, productivity, and staff turnover.

Dr Rodrigo Rodriguez-Fernandez, Global Health Adviser for Wellness and Mental Health at International SOS, says that not addressing mental health issues has a large negative emotional and financial impact on businesses that employers can’t ignore.

Rodriguez-Fernandez adds that without organisations providing cost-effective counselling and support to their teams, individuals will have to bear the expensive costs of seeking mental health assistance.

Source: People Management.

Is psychological safety the key to improving productivity?

Brittany Schmaling, Principal Data Analyst at Dayforce says fostering psychological safety is an important aspect when trying to enhance innovation, problem-solving and productivity in the workplace.

She adds that workplace efficiency is reliant on psychological safety as it allows employees to conduct educated experiments without fear of reprisal.

Schmaling says that teams with higher psychological safety still make the same amount of mistakes, but employees are unlikely to repeat the same mistake as the environment fosters increased learning, innovation and efficiency, allowing processes to evolve rapidly.

She explains that high psychological safety can be seen in workplaces that focus on open communication and transparency - enabling employees to have constructive disagreement and a culture where employees seek feedback and take responsibility for their mistakes.

In contrast, she adds that low psychological safety can create an environment where employees are afraid to speak up when issues occur - causing critical information to get lost or hidden.

Schmaling reminds employers that simply listing core values isn't enough - employers need to practise company values openly and consistently and embrace vulnerabilities while offering reassurances to nurture employee trust.

Source: HR Magazine.

Black and LGBTQ+ are uncomfortable at work

New research from This is Black Gen Z has found that the majority (86%) of Black Gen Z professionals have felt a need to change their names on job applications to increase the likelihood of being hired.

The TapIn study surveyed c2,300 people and found that nearly two-thirds (63%) of Black LGBTQ+ and nearly all (91%) of Black transgender employees are uncomfortable being themselves at work. 

Interestingly, the majority (85%) of respondents said being able to be authentic is most important when it comes to job satisfaction, yet, less than half (47%) also said they code-switch - a practice where individuals change their behaviour to be accepted in certain social settings.

Surprisingly, less than half (42%) of those surveyed think it’s crucial for workplace satisfaction that their employer had a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) policy. Rather, three-quarters (75%) expressed that Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and staff affinity networks played a central role in them remaining with an employer. 

Emily Charlesworth, HR Consultant and InclusivityPlus member at AdviserPlus says, employers need to take proactive steps to implement inclusivity strategies with a focus on onboarding and retention.

She adds that employers need to demonstrate a genuine dedication to DEIB initiatives by evaluating their DEIB commitments to ensure there is diversity training for all, to maintain clear policies and foster open communication about inclusivity. 

Charlesworth says building trust is crucial when creating an environment where employees feel valued and empowered to be authentic at work.

Paul Anderson-Walsh, CEO of The Centre for Inclusive Leadership says, employers must understand that Gen Z approach inclusion differently to other generations and are heavily focused on authenticity in the workplace. 

He adds that employers looking to retain Gen Z staff need to focus on being authentic and consistent in their policies, particularly when discussing company values, mental health awareness, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) efforts.

Idris Arshad, HR Business Partner at St Christopher’s Hospice says, businesses need to be honest with themselves about where they are when looking at their organisations diversity - ensuring they are progressing steadily to becoming more diverse and inclusive rather than introducing reactionary DEIB efforts. 

Source: People Management.

And here are links to other really interesting news stories this week:

HR Magazine: How should employers support parents with a seriously ill child? 

HR Review: 80% of financial services recruiters paint concerning picture of skills gap - HRreview 

People Management: Half of employees expected to push through challenges ‘without complaint’, survey finds 

WorkLife: Why open enrollment is confusing for everyone, especially Gen Z