How to combat Blue Monday in the Workplace

It’s Blue Monday…whether or not you believe it is ‘real’ or a PR stunt, any reminder to prioritise wellbeing can be impactful. Even if there is no ‘saddest Monday of the year’, January tends to be a difficult time for a lot of people. There’s no looking forward to Christmas and other Holidays, the weather is cold and dark, budgets are often strained from early pay and a high-spend December.

Even if Blue Monday lacks scientific evidence, there is no doubt an underlying issue of wellbeing for the workforce. 15% of UK workers have an existing mental health condition, so clearly employee mental health is a poignant topic.

So, what can be done to support staff wellbeing? Here are three ways to transform Employee Wellbeing in the workplace:

Compassion & Flexibility

This may sound obvious, but often the workplace can be rigid and strictly follow rules, where sometimes a bit of empathy and adaptability is needed. If an employee is having a bad mental health day, are they able to work from home? If workplace morale is low, could you be providing more wellbeing support? Is a quiet employee just in need of a cup of tea and a chat?

While employees are workers, they are human first. Taking a beat to remember this before before addressing others can be key to coming up with constructive, productive solutions, rather than escalating a situation.

Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs)

Support for employee stress can come in a variety of forms, be it wellbeing counselling, financial wellbeing guidance, or even legal advice. Having an EAP in place can encompass all of these issues and provide a place for staff to go, without feeling the need for an uncomfortable HR conversation and struggle for solutions.

Consider investing in an EAP for your workplace to give your team a place to go for a bit of extra help during difficult times.

Health Discounts

From vitamin and supplement discounts to savings on the most popular gyms in the country, helping employees to help themselves can be all you need to do to boost staff wellbeing. It could be exercise that helps people to feel physically and mentally better, they could be deficient in a key vitamin, or they could be struggling to pay for health-related expenses that could aid in feeling good.

Access to such platforms as Headspace can even be valuable in easing symptoms of anxiety. Offering your team discounts and savings on health and wellbeing is a great start to boosting workplace morale.

To take control of Workplace Wellbeing, get in contact today for a free demo of the My Staff Shop Platform.