Here's What I Know - Look After Your Tribe

  • Business Advice
Peninsula Logo

Peninsula Group, HR and Health & Safety Experts

(Last updated )

Read our article: 'Here's What I Know - Look After Your Tribe'. Contact us today for more information about our Employment Law, Health & Safety, and HR services.

In an interview on employee wellbeing, Sir Richard Branson said, “Much like the word 'entrepreneur', the idea of employee wellbeing was an alien concept when Virgin was in its infancy. “While we didn’t openly discuss ‘wellbeing’, the health and happiness of our people was always top of mind. “New and exciting technologies have come along to shape our approach to employee wellbeing, but our attitude has always remained the same—it’s our people who drive our success, so we strive to maintain a healthy and happy culture, and create environments in which everyone can flourish… “There’s no magic formula. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated.” Wellbeing in your workplace He’s 100% right. Employee wellbeing has to be paramount for all employers in the modern age, in the way it always has been part of the culture at Virgin. Having a workplace where everyone feels valued and respected, where they are undertaking work they feel is meaningful, is essential. From a business perspective, it reduces absenteeism and increases staff retention, morale and productivity, so it’s a win-win situation for both employer and employee. I was interested to see that many of the issues we tackle in today’s In the Loop look at some aspect of this. Could you be a victim of “leavism”, for example? Can remote working affect your employees’ wellbeing? Mental health is rightly climbing to the top of the news agenda and, in a 24/7 society with constant access to technology, pressures on employees are only increasing. Managing this effectively is key for employers and is one of the biggest challenges we face. Give your employees assistance As you might know, one of the Peninsula group of companies, Health Assured, provides employee assistance programmes (EAPs) to companies so that they can offer their staff wellbeing advice and counselling. What you might not know is this: We took more than quarter of a million calls on our EAP helpline last year. The top reason for people calling was concerns around mental health, with people from the 31-40 age range making up the highest percentage seeking our support. Around a third of those who call the helpline will go onto have some type of formal therapy. All of these services are provided in total confidence for the employee and are seen by many as a lifeline. Do right for your people Making sure your employees are supported in this area is becoming less of an option and more of an obligation for employers. It’s also the right thing to do. If you’re interested in an EAP to help your employees—it can work out at pennies per employee per month—then give us a call on 0800 028 2420 and we’ll be happy to talk through the options available.

FAQs

Got a question? Check whether we’ve already answered it for you…

Related articles

  • person typing into calculator

    Blog

    Preparing for new HR laws: Statutory rates

    From the first week of April, you’ll need to get to grips with a new rate of sick pay, minimum wage, maternity pay and more…

    Peninsula TeamPeninsula Team
    • Employment Law
  • Holiday rules changing

    Blog

    Deadline looms for Covid carry-over leave

    Any employees with carried over leave from the Covid period will have to take their holiday by 31 March or lose it

    Peninsula TeamPeninsula Team
    • Employment Law
  • Employee national insurance cut by 2p

    Blog

    Average worker to save over £900 in National Insurance

    For the second time this year, the Chancellor will cut employee national insurance by 2p to 8% from the new tax year

    Peninsula TeamPeninsula Team
    • Employment Law
Back to resource hub

Try Brainbox for free today

When AI meets 40 years of Peninsula expertise... you get instant, expert answers to your HR and Health & Safety questions

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest news & tips that matter most to your business in our monthly newsletter.