Giving Compass' Take:
- A RAND Europe study for Public Health England highlights promising practices for employers to adopt to help sustain employees' health and wellbeing during COVID-19.
- How can donors help businesses improve employee wellness during crises and beyond?
- Read how health philanthropy can respond to the impact of COVID-19 on social determinants of health.
What is Giving Compass?
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COVID-19 is quickly changing the way people work. Where they can, employees are remote working, staying in touch with colleagues by phone and new technologies, combining home and work life, and trying to find new routines.
There are also profound anxieties in households around job and financial security, their own health and that of loved ones, and in some cases social isolation. Some people may not be able to work at all, losing wages and a sense of purpose.
Our work on Britain's and Asia's Healthiest Workplaces suggests how people's productivity may be affected because of suboptimal health and wellbeing in the coming months. In our analysis we focus on productivity loss—the sum of people being absent from work or off sick because of poor health, and presenteeism, when people are less productive at work while unwell.
Across the countries surveyed, the main reasons for people's productivity loss are poor mental health, lack of sleep, financial concerns and musculoskeletal conditions. For instance, a person in the UK at risk of poor mental health will lose on average of about 48 days of productivity per year. Having financial concerns in and by itself accounts for 10 working days lost per year. Such issues are prevalent in the research, with 9 percent of UK employees surveyed at risk of poor mental health and 50 percent having financial concerns.
While many employers responding to the COVID-19 crisis have understandably been concerned with business resilience, processes, and performance, it is important that they also continue to focus on the health and wellbeing of staff.
Fortunately, there is help for employers to support their staff's health and wellbeing. A RAND Europe study for Public Health England highlights a range of promising practices that employers can adopt, and the What Works Centre on Wellbeing in the UK has just published new resources for employers. These include interventions delivered remotely and virtually.
Read the full article about employee health and well being during coronavirus by Christian van Stolk at RAND.