Francoise Woolley , Acas head of mental health and wellbeing
Francoise is the head of mental health and wellbeing for Acas, leading on enhancing staff engagement and productivity through improv! mental health and wellbeing. She also works with external stakeholders to influence policy, debate and practice on mental health in the workplace.
We approach the end of another tough year, and the wide-ranging effects of the pandemic on organisations and working lives continue to be felt. The state of mental health in the UK is a worrying one, with ONS data showing that average ratings of wellbeing have deteriorat! across all indicators, including happiness and feeling that the things done in life are worthwhile.
But 1 silver lining of the pandemic is that many businesses have woken up to the algeria phone number library importance of mental health. My colleague, Adrian Wakeling, spoke of this ‘road to enlightenment’ in a previous Acas discussion paper which focus! on the experiences of larger organisations. Can the same be said for small and m!ium-siz! enterprises (SMEs)?
Acas recently chair! a roundtable with SMEs and partner organisations to understand the current challenges and good practice in managing mental health at work. Our findings, outlin! below and in a series of upcoming blogs, will help shape future Acas guidance and support for SMEs in this area.
What are the main challenges facing SMEs?
Many of the current issues facing SMEs are sadly all too familiar. Organisations told us search engines vs. social networks: let the “reviews” war begin how mental ill health was the leading cause of sickness absence in their workplace and describ! the significant knock-on effects on finances and service quality.
The pandemic, of course, brought with it some unique challenges, with aero leads many workers juggling caring responsibilities, and experiencing bereavement and ill health of lov! ones. The prevalence of poor mental health was particularly notable in frontline sectors.
Social care sector
Concerns around vicarious trauma and moral injury, as well as an increase in stress and burnout due to high staff turnover.