Wellness both at home and at work has a vital role in improving the health of an individual and improving business outcomes. Poor mental and physical wellbeing are among the leading causes of absence and work related accidents. According to the Office of National Statistics, since 1993 the number of sick days taken by UK workers has halved. People working when unwell or working when they should be on rest days is indicative of a shifting work culture relating to stigma around taking time off.
Research shows increasing mistrust and fear of judgement is resulting in larger numbers of employees going to work when unfit. This practice is referred to as ‘presenteeism’ and according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development 2018 this has more than tripled over the past decade. In the short term organisations may consider this as beneficial however there is evidence showing that increased attendance is not resulting in increased business performance. In fact it may be resulting in under-performance.
Managing presenteeism requires both the employee and the employer to openly explore the myths about absence and why people are not performing at work. Stigmatisation of mental health issues for example can mean that employees claim their absence is related to the flu, a stomach bug or bad back. Our aim is to investigate factors both in and out of the workplace to improve fatigue, healthy eating and sleeping patterns, motivation and morale. As an external provider, we encourage open debate about factors impacting on people performance. We offer a range of services such as health education and wellness checks, ergonomic advice, education and line manager training to improve wellness in your organisation.
Amanda Lloyd
Occupational Health Nurse and Counsellor
Email: wellness-consultancy@outlook.com
For more information:
Work related post traumatic stress disorder – Occupational Medicine Journal – Oxford Academic, Vol 63, Issue 3 – April 2013
https://academic.oup.com/occmed/article/63/3/175/1413569/Work-related-post-traumatic-stress-disorder
NICE Guidelines – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Management
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg26
EMDR Association UK and Ireland
http://emdrassociation.org.uk/terry-waite/
BACP – What to expect when being counselled for post traumatic stress
http://www.itsgoodtotalk.org.uk/assets/docs/Client-information-sheet-5_1353923037.pdf
Trauma Aid UK