Since we spend the majority of our adult lives at work, it is vital that employers provide sufficient employee mental health & well-being support and create a work environment that is conducive to happy, healthy employees.

According to a recent study by the mental health charity Mind, 60% of workers think that if their employer made steps to support their health and well-being at work, it would increase their motivation and the likelihood that they would recommend their company as a great place to work.  And if you like stats, according to further, poor mental health costs UK employers between £33 billion and £42 billion a year.  Considering these significant costs, it would seem beneficial to invest in the well-being of your employees.

So, what can managers and leaders do?  There’s no magic answer, implementing some simple steps will go a long way, here’s a few ideas.

Encourage continuous learning

This not only increases skills and knowledge, but also boosts employee engagement and collaboration.

Create a mentor scheme

Mentoring schemes not only encourage employees to learn from each other, they also promote healthy collaboration and cross function working.

Encourage innovation

Providing a safe space for innovation and creativity can often give a shot in the arm for some.  Harness this eagerness and don’t be afraid to fail.

Limit multitasking

Taking on too much at once can actually hinder progress.  Encourage your teams to switch off the emails and divert the phones when they need to focus on an important task or project.

Promote a work/life balance

Put the smart phone down!  If you can’t put it down, then limit the notifications in the evening and at weekends.  Promote a positive way of working and don’t expect people to answer your emails out of hours.  Also, look at ways to encourage a better balance, offer flexible working hours / hybrid working models, encouraging regular breaks, reviewing employee’s workloads and have managers and leaders focus on employee’s productivity and output rather than the number of hours they work.

Provide an EAP

Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) provide employees with a platform where they can seek help regarding personal or work-related issues that may be negatively affecting their work performance.

Make recognition the norm

Probably the simplest but the one often overlooked.  Showing appreciation and recognising employee effort is one of the easiest ways to increase engagement.  They’ve done a good, tell them!

Ask and question

If you don’t ask, you don’t know.  Ask your teams about their mental health and how best to improve their wellbeing.  Showing an interest goes a long way.

Talk to us about our extensive range of courses and workshops to help improve employee mental health and wellbeing at work or click here to learn more – Personal Development & Employees Well-Being.

The management definition of empowerment is the concept that if employees are given information, resources, and opportunity at the same time as being held responsible for their job outcomes, then they will be more productive and have higher job satisfaction.

That’s all well and good but, it is important to understand that a company cannot implement empowerment itself – instead, those in managerial positions have to create the right environment so that empowerment can take place.

So how does a manager set up this kind of environment where employees feel empowered?

Communicate the vision.

Ask yourself, have I communicated what I want to my employees and have I linked it back to the overall business goals?  Once this has been done, stick to the plan!  When staff have the necessary information of where they’re going, they are more likely to carry out that task.

Involve your team in business decisions.

When people have a say in decisions, they are more invested in the outcome.  This is not always easy when decisions are made higher up the chain, but perseverance and managing upwards effectively can push the agenda to those deciding.  Remember, those doing the bulk of the leg work will feel better about doing it when they know why they’re doing it.

Trust your team.

It is vital to trust your team to get on with the job you recruited them to do and to resist the temptation to over manage them. Trust will instil a sense of pride in their work, they will want to be proactive and as a result will be empowered.

Recognition goes a long way.

Recognition plays an important part in creating an empowering environment and it’s easy to see why. If you fail to recognise your employee’s hard work and initiative then your employees will soon lose the motivation, however, if you reward positive behaviours staff will be more motivated and empowered to keep up the good work.  Recognising employees doesn’t have to be complicated, a simple ‘thanks for doing a great job’ goes a long way but is often overlooked.

Loosen your grip.

Let employees take some control, as a manager, you’ll be busy and sometimes chasing your team can put unnecessary strain on you and your relationship with them. So, loosen your grip, let the team run and stop monitoring them so closely.

Learning how to empower your team is a key topic covered in our management development programmes so come and talk to us about our pathways that could help develop you as a manager.

New Manager / Team Leader / First Line – Team Leader Structured Development Pathway

Department Manager – Department Structured Development Pathway

Leadership Development – Leaders Structured Development Pathway

Delegation can be one of the most important techniques in a manager’s toolkit. It can fast track productivity and empower those around you to grow, allowing for better performance and a boost in morale. Simply put, if frees up time, gives others the opportunity to develop and step up and provides much needed head-space for you to focus on other things. However, it can be a struggle for some managers and done poorly can lead to trouble down the line.

Many managers who delegate well often follow these logical steps:

Make a plan – what’s your overall aim and why are you asking someone else to perform the task. Try to think about the why, what, when, who and where.

Before you can start delegating, take the time to develop a plan that outlines exactly what you’re expecting. Unless employees get clear direction, they won’t be able to deliver the results that you want. This is only possible when you’ve thought about the tasks and your expectations regarding its completion.

Describe & assign the task – be clear about what needs to be done and provide sufficient detail so they can be clear on the result required.

Create a list of tasks that your employees are currently working on and assess the strengths of the employees carrying out the tasks. This will help you delegate tasks based on individual skills and attributes.

Set the timeline – when does the task need to be done by and what contingency do you have if the timeframe shifts

While providing information about the tasks, including specific information on timing, budget and context is really important. Set expectations for updates and other communications, including frequency, content and format.

Who’s involved – talk through who else might input in what needs to be worked on or need consulting with and what their involvement might be.

Make your checks – is everything clear, do they understand what’s required and do they know where to come for help and support?

Regular check-ins and status reports about the progress ensures timely delivery and can avoid last-minute surprises. The check-ins should outline the tasks completed, provide a plan for next steps and highlight potential issues.

Ownership, responsibility & accountability – your employees should be completely responsible and committed to getting the expected results. A key part of delegating is an open line of communication and accountability. Employees must communicate the status of the deliverables and its timings regularly. You should also be available for clarification on certain points.

Finally, don’t ignore the power of praise and a thank you – your team will appreciate it massively and be more likely to take on more in the future.

At Futureproof, we know how difficult effective communication & delegation can be which is why we build the topic into our management development programmes, talk to us or click this link to find out more about our Structured Development Pathways.

In recent times, businesses leaders and employees have seen the importance of a supportive workplace and what a vital role first line managers have in creating that support. Being a modern day manager is more than just having the necessary technical knowledge and skills. To be great at your job and eventually become a great leader, you must possess some essential people management skills.  These skills are valuable but continually evolve and develop throughout your career.

People skills can be defined as the ability to interact amicably with others. These personal attributes can affect relationships, interactions, and communications with others. And that is why they are invaluable for business success, particularly to those embarking on their first people management role.

Many believe that the key people skills, or soft skills, are crucial to becoming a great manager and when we refer to the list below, it’s easy to see why.  Most senior executives, business owners and entrepreneurs today believe that soft skills are more important than hard skills.

Communication / Teamwork / Problem-Solving Skills / Decision-Making / Creativity / Delegation / Empathy / Trustworthiness / Time Management / Critical Thinking

Reading the above list make total sense and you can see just how they can become the glue that underpins the attributes that workers are look for in a supportive manager.

Remember, businesses are made up of people of different ages, from various backgrounds, and with different ideas of how to work. This means different groups within your business will be motivated by different things and will work best in particular ways.

To ensure that everyone in the team reaches their maximum potential, managers must build up a toolkit of people management skills. This is needed not only to motivate each member of the team, improve productivity and boost staff morale, but to also offer support and reduce stress in times of change, disruption or uncertainty. As this must all be done whilst aligning individual career goals and the goals of the company, holding a broad range of people management skills that can be utilised for different people and different situations is the only effective way to get there.

Futureproof are committed to developing new managers and providing them with the tools and techniques to thrive.  Get in touch to discuss our range of short courses and development pathways to see where we can support your new managers.

People Manager Short Courses

New Manager Development Pathway

It’s hard to argue against how important employee wellbeing is, but many organisations still have a way to go when addressing the topic.

The media constantly tells us of the benefits, but how can businesses go the extra mile when looking after their employee’s wellbeing?  Introducing a holistic approach is likely to be the most impactful way of doing it.  Organisations need to look at physical and mental wellbeing, introduce measures to promote and communicate a wellbeing strategy and involve as many people as possible to bang the drum on how important it is, not only for the employee but the wider business as a whole.

As a fairly simple guide, we believe that introducing the following steps could make the difference between a good approach to wellbeing and one that really engages and pushes the topic to the forefront.

Recognise and Praise

Recognition and praise should be at the heart of the culture of a business as it’s one of the most desired and easiest to implement.

Simply recognising employees for their effort, achievements and performance costs nothing but goes a long way in the minds of employees. The impact of a recognition-rich culture cannot be understated.

Don’t underestimate the physical

Introducing initiatives to promote a healthy physical environment for employees has major benefits.  Yes, hitting the gym isn’t everyone’s bag, but thinking laterally and introducing innovative ways to help employees improve their fitness can be a win for all.  Think about fitness challenges between departments, subsidised gym membership, cycle to work schemes, the daily mile, walk to work schemes – the list can be endless and there’s lots of great ideas out there.

Wellbeing Survey’s

Launch a wellbeing survey to get a temperature check on where your employees see the business tackling wellbeing.  Better still, link it with existing employee surveys.

The Wellness Calendar

Pay attention to the key dates, days, weeks and months in the calendar and link them with your own initiatives – think Mental Health Awareness month, Menopause Awareness month, Mindfulness week – the list really does go on!  Link this to your own wellbeing calendar and promote, promote, promote.

Charities & Tech

Look at ways you can link up with key charities on the key topics that mean the most to your employees.  Similarly, look at ways to encourage employees to use apps and podcasts to help boost their mental health and share some of the best feedback with the wide business.

Work/Life Balance

Ask whether your business is doing enough to address this subject and look internally at flexible working, maternity/paternity leave, compressed hours, lieu days, ‘re-focus’ days, sabbaticals or working from home flexibility plans.

Eating’s NOT cheating

Promote a healthy eating lifestyle by highlighting the positives of a healthy diet and look at ways you can help in the canteen.  Ditch the chips and introduce vegetarian and vegan options along with healthier snacking versions to keep people going throughout the day.