I’ve previously written about how approaching procurement with a sole focus on cost saving can end up costing you more money in the long run, but I wanted to elaborate on one particular point I raised within that article. And, that’s how investing in your employees can benefit your bottom line.
It’s becoming widely recognised that work-place stress, anxiety and depression is on the rise – with the World Health Organisation recently including burnout in its lists of medical definitions. While the impact this could have on your business may seem remote, the Health and Safety Executive’s figures for 2017-2018 show that the impact of this prevalence equates to fifty-seven percent of the working days lost to ill-health during that period.
So, how can we reduce this – and the associated cost?
According to this article, people who work in certain positions and sectors are more prone to burnout. These include directors, those who work in the care-giving industries, teachers and those who work for non-profit organisations. While it makes sense to include measures within your business strategy to ascertain how close to burnout your employees are, it is particular pertinent to set up stringent screening for any employees that are more at risk.
Once identified, those people (in particular, though this is also relevant for all staff) should be supported with relevant practices to protect their wellbeing. These may include introducing more team members, changing shift patterns, providing training courses or improving the facilities that they can use during their break time.
Investing in all employees
Of course, it’s not just the most at risk employees that should be invested in. I’ve previously written about the impact staff training and innovation can have on employee morale. And, high morale means high productivity, low sick rates and low staff turnover. But, benefits such as parental leave also make employees feel valued – as well as helping to attract the best talent.
There seems to be an increasing number of firms who are going one step further in making their employees feel valued, and that’s by turning them into owners. It will be interesting to see if this is something that continues to grow in popularity, though it’s obviously not going to be suitable for every company.
Regardless of how you decide to invest in your employees, suppliers specialising in areas such as employee benefits, training, staff wellbeing and recruitment have solutions to offer. If you’d like to discuss the best ways to navigate those supply markets to make the most of your investment in your employees, then why not book in a call with me.
