Employee Health and Wellbeing Report

Transcription

1 Employee Health and Wellbeing Report Background This briefing sheet is about the impact that employee health and wellbeing can have on the performance of an organisation. It draws on findings from across the employment market as well as what is known about employee health and wellbeing in the FE and skills sector. This briefing sheet also pulls together the known sources of information and advice for FE and skills providers wishing to promote better health and wellbeing for employees. What is health and wellbeing? Defining health and wellbeing is complex. Health and wellbeing is the result of a combination of physical, social, intellectual and emotional factors. Experiencing positive health and wellbeing enables an individual to realise their potential, helps them to cope with the challenges and stresses of life and to work productively and fruitfully. For the purposes of this briefing sheet promoting health and wellbeing at work is about enabling employees to work productively and positively, using their skills and talents to the full and being able to interact positively with other around them; providing individuals with opportunities and information by which they can better manage their health and wellbeing; supporting people back into work following a period of sickness absence; supporting those with an illness or impairment to function to their best, making reasonable adjustments where necessary; and ensuring that the working conditions and environment do not compromise the health and wellbeing of any individual Why promote health and wellbeing? Health, Work and Wellbeing is a Cross-government initiative to protect and improve the health and wellbeing of the working age population. The work is based on a theoretical framework that states that: work is central to individual identity, social roles and social status; employment and socio-economic status are the main drivers of social gradients in physical and mental health and mortality; but various physical and psychosocial aspects of work can also be hazards and pose a risk to health. Clearly for the FE and skills sector promoting the health and wellbeing of employees has implications with regard to costs employees with a positive sense of health and wellbeing are less likely to take time off ill therefore reducing the cost of sickness absence, and of performance providing good teaching and learning is easier with staff who are present. Promoting health and wellbeing of employees might also be said to contribute to the importance of FE and skills providers in their local communities in promoting the social and economic wellbeing of their communities, particularly if they are large employers. What is less clear is the question of whether employees with positive health and wellbeing perform better in their jobs. It could be argued that a positive sense of wellbeing contributes

2 to a sense of confidence and self-esteem, of being able to build and maintain positive relationships and ability to meet challenges and deal with setbacks. In a sector where many of the job roles, be it teaching, learning support or management, require a degree of emotional labour, having positive wellbeing may enhance an individual s ability to meet those demands. A positive sense of wellbeing helps to create resilience and adaptability which is particularly important in a climate of constant change and cutbacks. Organisations such as Business in the Community see the health and wellbeing of employees as part of the larger picture of promoting employee engagement, stating that A healthy, engaged and resilient workforce is more productive and profitable in terms of efficiency, customer relations, team working, loyalty and retention, and sustainable performance i. So in shaping an approach to promoting health and wellbeing for staff has to be based on what an organisation wants to achieve and how impact of any work will be measured. As a basic level, improving the health and wellbeing of staff should decrease sickness absence and therefore save costs in sick pay, cover and management time. Reducing sickness absence of staff should also impact on the learner experience with less disruption to teaching and learning. It will also impact on the wider customer experience, with staff present to respond to employers and community stakeholders. This may be easy to evidence as well in terms of learner and customer satisfaction rates, reduced complaints and repeat business opportunities. At another level, improving staff health and wellbeing may also impact on staff satisfaction, reduced turnover and reputation as a good employer with increased applications to vacancies. Improving health and wellbeing of staff may also impact on staff performance do confident, positive, resilient and energetic staff bring greater creativity to their work, do they deal with the pressures of work more easily and do they build more productive relationships with colleagues and learners. Only by promoting health and wellbeing at work will be able to start answering these questions and start evidencing the impact

3 2) Employees perceptions of Further Education and Skills In the absence of evidence about the health and wellbeing of staff in the FE and skills sector how can we get a sense of how staff feel about in the sector? Research commissioned by the Further Education Reputation Strategy group (FERSG) and supported by the Institute for Learning (IfL) highlighted that there are issues that could be said to undermine the health and wellbeing of staff. Staff are strong advocates for studying in the sector but are less positive as advocates for working in the sector. This is mainly attributed to poor management by some providers and the increasing workload and changing targets. Some staff are critical of less than up-to-date business practices. Our wider research shows there is a clear alignment between satisfaction and advocacy and therefore a focus on improving staff engagement is critical to the improvement of advocacy. ii Feelings of health and wellbeing are a component part of the general feeling of satisfaction with life and work and an enabler of engagement. While some managers and leaders may see some of these factors associated with the state of the sector as being out of their control, it is nevertheless important to recognise that management style can be a key determinant of health and wellbeing at work: How workloads are managed, dealing with constant pressure with little recognition and thanks can lead to stress and anxiety in the workplace How people are managed on a day to day basis has a significant impact of health and wellbeing of staff At the heart of employee wellbeing and engagement lies good people management iii

4 3) Key Facts on Staff Health As of April 2011, the UK s largest survey, the Annual Population Survey (APS), has included four questions on subjective well-being. The data from the survey allowed analysts to better understand the determinants of well-being. The report has been analysed by NEF (the New Economics Foundation). These sections of their findings relate to work in Post 16 Education Individuals who have permanent employment contracts experience higher well-being than those who don t, even after individual circumstances are controlled for. Post 16 providers should consider the impact of short term contracts. Short term flexibility may impact on long term improvement strategies. On average, those working in the health sector have higher well-being than others in the public sector; those in the public sector have higher well-being than those in the private sector; and those working in local government have higher well-being than those working in central government. The analysis finds that longer working hours are associated with higher levels of anxiety and lower levels of happiness. Conversely, it is found that working longer hours is associated with higher life satisfaction among people working less than 55 hours a week. The pattern for feeling that what one does in life is worthwhile is more complex: falling, rising and then falling again as working hours increase. Women appear to be more adversely affected by working longer hours than men. Those working part-time because they don t want a full-time job have higher levels of well-being than full-time workers Those working part-time because they are unable to find a full-time job have considerably lower levels of happiness and life satisfaction than those who work full-time. It is a complex mix but Post 16 Leaders should consider how this mix impacts on their own organisation. Staff Audits can be redeveloped to take into account these factors and although uncomfortable (the results may be difficult to assess and address) and may help signpost future approaches to well being The Cost of neglecting Health and Wellbeing in employment ( HSE Statistics): - More than 200 people are killed at work in the United Kingdom each year. - In 2006, 30 million working days were lost in the UK to occupational ill health and injury, imposing an annual cost to society of 30bn (more than 3% of GDP). - Surveys show that about two million people suffer from an illness that they believe to be caused or made worse by work. - Many thousands of deaths each year can be attributed to occupational illnesses, including some cancers and respiratory diseases.

5 4) Causes of Staff Absence In 2011, around 131 million days were lost through absences due to sickness or injury, a fall of around 26 per cent since The most common reason given for sickness in 2011 was minor illnesses such as coughs, colds and flu. This type of illness tends to have short durations and the greatest number of days lost were due to musculoskeletal problems. This accounted for just over a quarter of all days lost or 35 million days. Around 27.4 million days were lost due to minor illnesses and 13.3 million days were lost to stress, depression and anxiety. Women have consistently higher sickness absence rates than men but both sexes have seen a fall over the past 20 years. People are generally more likely to develop health problems at older ages and sickness absence rates also increase with age. For workers aged between 16 and 34 around 1.5 per cent of hours were lost to sickness in 2011 compared with around 2.5 per cent of hours lost for workers aged 50 to 64. Workers aged 65+ lose a lower percentage of hours to sickness because those with health problems are more likely to have left the labour market Looking at sickness across different occupations, those working in Caring, leisure and other service occupations lost the highest percentage of hours in 2011, at 2.7 per cent. This is more than double the percentage of hours lost for Managers, directors and senior officials which stood at 1.1 per cent. Case studies have shown how colleges can address health and well being positively. A Practical Guide to becoming a Healthy College- Marshall and Stylianou provides numerous examples of good practice and methodology. Problems reported in Colleges include mental health, Stress, Obesity, Coronary heart disease, back pain, depression and diabetes. Presenteeism this relates to lecturers and others with underlying health problems who continue to attend work but are not productive. Does the ethos of the learning provider encourage openness around well being and health? If not then issues around presenteeism are likely to grow. The impact on other colleagues then needs to be considered. Employees tend to experience increased stress in times of economic hardship, which have an impact on employers and the ways they treat their staff. This means people are worried about taking time off when feeling ill, so they are tending to stay at work, regardless. The Office for National Statistics indicates the consequences of this a massive fall in the number of working days taken off due to sickness: in 2010 the total was about 19 million, whereas in 2011 the total was about 13 million. The Work Foundation reported in 2010 that almost half of workers are being pressurised by employers to stay at work, even when ill. As well as affecting the productivity of those staff who report for work when unwell, sickness presence can affect general staff morale and contribute to longer recovery periods from illness.

6 5) Health Matters/Compliance Costs A weak Health and Wellbeing strategy will have costs both direct and hidden in terms of: Absenteeism Presenteeism/Low outputs Staff Turnover Organisational Culture (A Can do culture relies on a healthy, positive work force) The quality of relationships with Trade Unions The Cost of Non-compliance and related legal consequences Consider the following simple scenarios: 1) College A ignores dealing with a middle manager who is known to bully his staff; some staff have approached their Unions and are considering an action under the Protection from Harassment Act The Union believes that College leadership is vicariously liable for the manager s actions. 2) Training Provider B has a very poor record in Health and Safety resulting in several serious accidents to staff. 3) Provider C does not manage the stress levels of staff. As a consequence there are high levels of absenteeism and some colleagues are now seeking redress using common law Negligence (Duty of Care) 4) Institution D does celebrate Diversity and a member of staff from a BME background believes that his ethnicity has cost him a promotion opportunity. (Remember that the Equality Act 2010 now identifies 9 Protected Characteristics.) What will be the direct financial costs (including Management time) of dealing with these issues? How much time will the provider now spend on legal costs? Consider the impact on reputation (recruitment of both staff and learners) and the potential impact on an OFSTED inspection. The moral case for an effective strategy are compelling and will be a catalyst for continuous improvement; but the alternative outcomes of a weak strategy are likely to result in a downward spiral of ineffectiveness, false starts and reduced outcomes. 6) Good Practice Case Studies: Case Study 1 As long ago as 2008 Grimsby College of Further and Higher Education ( now known as Grimsby Institute) was recognised in the BITC Healthy People = Healthy Profits publication What was done? The health and wellbeing approach introduced there included: Alignment of HR Strategy, staffing and health, safety and wellbeing policies, procedures and processes, employee benefits, internal communications with the mission, values and business plan; Provision of regular management training (e.g. managing stress);

7 Extensive employee communication through monthly staff newsletters, Staff Council meetings and other channels A proactive Health and Wellbeing Team (HR, Health & Safety, Occupational Health and Physiotherapist) working with other Institute and external experts; Speedy and supportive interventions to keep people at work and to accelerate returns to work. What were the business benefits? Case Study 2 Bradford College Increased engagement of staff; Improved Ofsted inspection marks in 2007 compared with 2003;Positive Investors in People re-assessment in 2008; Sickness absence levels reduced from 10,000 working days lost (for 1,000 staff) in 2001 to 3,806 working days lost (for 1,460 staff) in 2008 or 2.61 days per employee (sector average = 8.8 days), saving approximately 620K; Working days lost due to musculoskeletal disorders were reduced by 48% and stress-related absence was reduced by 57% between 2004/5 and 2007/8; Winner of the 2008 Business in the Community Healthy Workplace Big Tick and the 2008 Orange National Business Award for Health, Work and Wellbeing. Bradford College committed to Healthy FE and Skills recognition in Using a whole college approach to improving health and wellbeing services for staff and learners resulted in many positive outcomes. Improved diets and eating patterns helped students keep alert, which in turn contributed to improved success rates; this impact resulted in a 700k increase in Bradford College s funding contract. There has been a steady increase in the number of staff and learners using related services year on year. More people are going to the Occupational Health Therapist to try to quit smoking, combat stress or discuss emotional problems Stress levels used to be very high at Bradford College, particularly for staff; now they are one of the lowest in the country. Staff absenteeism rates dropped considerably. In 2007, the national average for colleges with over 750 employees was 4.48%; in contrast the absenteeism rate for Bradford College was 3%; A saving for Bradford College against any public sector benchmark of at least 390k. Bradford College s Healthy FE work meant that it achieved the Investors in People: Work Life Balance kite mark and was also awarded a Grade 1 Outstanding by Ofsted for Every Child Matters: Being Healthy.

8 7) The position in Further Education. - The role of FESH Further Education Safety & Health Group Substantial progress has been made to revitalise health and safety in the further education sector. Clear and consistent leadership was identified as necessary to improve health and safety practice in the workplace. In line with the Health and Safety Commission s document, A Strategy for Workplace Health and Safety to 2010 and Beyond, it was agreed that a long standing Higher and Further Education Advisory Committee would be replaced by new sector-led forums. This led to the development of an Assessment Tool, based around the recommendations of a Ministerial Taskforce Report and its subsequent One year on' report, the basis of which is making improvements to workplace health and subsequently better service delivery. FESH has drawn up this Assessment Tool to provide Colleges with a recommended strategy to help them to meet their health and safety responsibilities. Recommended Actions for Colleges Add the Assessment Tool as a standing item to Safety Committee meetings Nominate a person to lead/champion the use of the Assessment Tool Begin using the Assessment Tool immediately Member Colleges were surveyed, in October They were asked about how they were using the Assessment Tool and examples of good practice were gathered. The findings are summarised in the Assessment Tool Survey Findings Oct ) Healthy FE and Skills Nearly 100 providers have achieved Healthy FE and Skills recognition. The programme will be delivered by NIACE from August 2013 The Healthy FE and Skills Programme aims to improve the health and wellbeing of those who study or work in the further education (FE) and skills sector. It isn t about creating something new: it s about working with FE and skills sector providers to make the health and wellbeing of staff and students an integral part of all aspects of FE life. The Healthy FE and Skills Programme is sector-led, and it seeks to support Healthy FE and skills sector providers in their role as community leaders. It will enhance their ability to cater for the health and wellbeing of staff and students through tools and guidance, and fostering partnerships with your local health services. As part of the Healthy FE and Skills Framework, Healthy FE and Skills recognition provides the acknowledgement of the provider's commitment to the delivery of services that include health and wellbeing strategies with clear, stated objectives for its staff and students. The Healthy FE and Skills recognition award is for providers who are committed to developing healthy services for staff and students, in partnership arrangements with local and regional health services, local authorities and others. Potentially, the award provides evidence to the current Ofsted and ECM requirements and supports improved student performance and achievement.

9 Sources of Advice Occupational health services in higher and further education This is a free-to-download, web-friendly version of HSG257 (First edition, published 2006). This version has been adapted for online use from HSE s current printed version. Occupational health services in higher and further education Health and Safety Executive- HSE National Healthy FE and Skillshttp:// Acas amongst other activities works with employers to develop practical solutions for dealing with stress and managing its effects on productivity, morale and absence levels. In addition to guidance on identifying, addressing and minimising stress in the workplace, Acas offer individually tailored training courses to help employers manage stress in the workplace, as well practical training in absence management and creating an attendance culture (Workforce Equality in the North East) Bibliography Work Related Stress-Joint Guidance for Colleges from the Association of Colleges and Trade Unions of the National Joint Forum Sickness Absence in the Labour Market, April Office for National Statistics Waddell G, Burton AK (2006). "Is work good for your health and well-being?" Department for Work and Pensions. Workplace Wellness UK. Vielife and London South Bank University. April Niace 2009 Working well-staff wellbeing in the post-16 education and training sector Employee Perceptions of Further Education- developing our understanding of the reputation of the Further Education sector (This study was commissioned by the Further Education Reputation Strategy Group and supported by the Institute for Learning. It was prepared for FERSG by The Knowledge Partnership). Annual Population Survey- nef report 2013 CIPD (Absence Management: Annual Survey Report) published in 2010

10 BITC Healthy People = Healthy Profits publication 2008 Personnel Today 2011 Dr Bridget Juniper A Practical Guide to becoming a Healthy College- Marshall and Stylianou i ii Employees Perceptions of Further Education FERSG report by the Knowledge partnership. Nov 2012 iii CIPD Employee Health and Wellbeing