With thanks to Tina Woods, Founder & CEO of Business for Health, for sharing this insight with Hospital Hub…
The past several years have delivered the greatest shift in our approach to workplace health & wellbeing in modern times. The pandemic has brought about a radical transformation in our professional working lives and a newfound appreciation for the value of a healthy workforce.
But other forces are now at work in 2023. The year ahead will be marred by recession, the cost-of-living crisis, labour strikes, the war in Ukraine and with over 2.5 million workers out of the labour force due to long-term sickness (an increase of 500,000 since 2019), UK businesses face an incredibly challenging year.
If employers wish to remain committed to supporting the physical and mental health of their workers, and delivering a healthier and more productive workforce, it is now crucial we take the time to look ahead and prepare for the challenges set to dominate the health & wellbeing agenda in the workplace for 2023.
Overcoming labour shortages and the rise in inactivity due to long-term sickness
While the immediate impact of the pandemic on the UK economy was clear, the steady rise in long-term sickness amongst working age people in UK continues to hamper economic growth. January 2023 will not see the UK hit the same record levels of COVID-19 cases as last January, yet the impact of long-term ill-health continues to threaten the ability of UK businesses to fill critical vacancies.
According to a recent survey from Indeed, over three quarters of UK workers (78%) have seen ‘long COVID’ limit their ability to work — with 19% ceasing work altogether. The ONS recently revealed that there are 565,000 more ‘economically inactive’ people than pre-pandemic, especially among those over 50. This has led to three quarter of businesses struggling to fill vacancies due to a shortage of workers.
The challenge for employers now is how to deliver health & wellbeing policies to support these people to return to the workforce. Businesses must be prepared to offer a clear roadmap of support to encourage those who have become ‘economically inactive’ back into the workforce. For older workers, that might involve offering reskilling and retraining courses to equip them with the tools needed to succeed.
In terms of health & wellbeing more specifically, it will be important to offer flexible working schedules that give those with caring responsibilities (e.g., older relatives looking after children or adult children supporting older relatives) some much-needed autonomy. It is also important that businesses offer equal team management opportunities, so that older returning workers feel valued and have access to the same chances for career development as younger workers in the business.
Mitigating the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on employee health
The threat to the health of the nation currently posed by the cost-of-living crisis is severe, with surveys from the Royal College of Physicians indicating that over half the population have seen the rising cost of living negatively impact their health. This may manifest itself in people putting their health at risk by not turning on the heat, ignoring health issues over fears of the cost, or simply being unable to afford to travel to the hospital. Most obviously, the threat to financial security can provoke both direct feelings of anxiety and worsening mental health.
Potential measures for employers to take might be to make more explicit provisions to guarantee fair and equal pay, offering greater pay transparency and, most directly, boosting incomes. For those not in a position to boost salaries, a one-off ‘cost-of-living payment’ might be an option. Offering enhanced employee assistance programs to limit the impact of financial concerns on the physical and mental health of the workforce must be a priority for all business leaders in the coming year.
Addressing the recession in the room – investing strategically in health & wellbeing
One of most exciting business trends to emerge over the past few years is the growing recognition amongst businesses that investing in the health and wellbeing of your workforce is critical to delivering long term success. As the UK loses 131 million working days a year due to ill-health, businesses are witnessing how a healthy workforce means a more productive workforce. As we enter 2023 in the midst of a potential recession, it is important that this progress is not lost.
Undeniably the year ahead will be challenging from a business resilience perspective. According to the ONS, total company insolvencies in England and Wales reached their highest quarterly level since Q3 2009 last year and surveys from Bibby Financial Service indicate that four in ten (38%) of UK SME owners describe themselves as “just about breaking even”.
In this landscape, employers committed to investing in strengthening the health and wellbeing of their workforce will have to be far more strategic and focus on the actions most likely to deliver value. This is why Business for Health, in partnership with CBI, launched a new Work Health Index to benchmark business’ health provisions and help them to understand where there is room for critical improvement and investment.
The fact is that policies that contribute to improved workforce health need not be costly (or cost anything), but they do take leadership and sustained commitment. There are a number of measures to improve the ‘culture of health’ that can make a huge difference. By giving employees greater flexibility around how, where and when they work, employers can create a safe and supportive environment. Additionally, creating peer networks that aid in creating open discussion around health issues can be a way to ensure employees don’t feel alone in their struggles.
Perhaps most importantly, employers need to understand the needs of their own workforce and sector – there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to health and wellbeing. Business leaders can work to better understand the needs of their workforce through pulse surveys, interviews and open forums – all of which are non-costly endeavours that ensure open and non-judgmental lines of communication.
As the Chancellor recently warned, the UK economy is set to “get worse before it gets better”; as such many businesses will be looking to cut costs in 2023. However, investment in health and wellbeing should be rightly viewed as essential for the business’ survival – delivering on staff retention rates and productivity gains that will help edge ahead of competitors and allow for a strong bounce back post-recession.
