Cost of Living Crisis – with inflation at a 40-year high and household bills continuing to rise, many employees are worried about their finances and are looking to you, their employers, for support.
There may be some members of your team who will be forced to choose between eating and heating this coming winter. It may be hard to imagine this, but it is becoming a reality with the huge increases in heating and fuel costs. Undernourished and stressed people are not happy and productive people, so whilst you may feel that the burden of your employee’s financial health shouldn’t fall on you, you may want to consider the negative impact of unhappy and stressed out people on your business.
A recent poll conducted by the CIPD found that financial insecurity is having a negative impact on peoples’ performance at work, with more than a quarter of respondents saying that money worries are affecting their job performance and a fifth saying that these worries were affecting their sleep. This is bad news for employers who may also be feeling the pinch on business resources.
Now, combine that with a turbulent few years of the pandemic, and I’m sure business owners are wondering whether they have the funds to be able to offer their employees a big enough rise in pay to make an impact. The likelihood is that you can’t, BUT there are plenty of other things that you can do to help your people. I’ve compiled a list of things that you can do to help your people through, as well as winning hearts and minds along the way.
Here are some practical things that you can do to help your staff through the cost of living crisis:
- Provide breakfast cereals, lunch items and snacks in the office
- Have common household items available for staff who are struggling to use discretely e.g. tinned/dried foods, cleaning products, hygiene product etc.
- Consider whether you can offer a pay rise or one-off payment to help towards rising costs
- Negotiate discounts with local retailers
- Negotiate discounts on days out and eating out
- Help towards travel/commuting costs
- Provide financial support/education to help people manage their finances more effectively
- Consider signing the business up to an Employee Assistance Programme
- Sign up to an ‘income streaming services’ which allows employees to draw down some of their already earned wages throughout the month
- Give loaded gift cards as rewards
- Allow people to reduce their commute by working from home
- Signpost your people to resources for help with mental health and finances
(Get advice from your accountant on how to do this in the most tax efficient way for both parties).
These initiatives don’t need to cost the earth but even letting your staff know that you care and will help where you can will be a relief to some.
Signposting for those needing support with their Mental Health and/or Financial Difficulties
Recently, I’ve had more and more clients contact me asking for help with employees off-sick with stress and poor mental health. I have been advising on the best way to help manage people gently back into the workplace, but in addition, I compiled a list of resources for all employees, should they need additional support.
Mental Health Resources for employees:
NHS Mental Health Helplines:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mental-health-helplines/
https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/
Mental Health UK
https://mentalhealth-uk.org/help-and-information/downloadable-resources/
Samaritans:
You can call the Samaritans helpline 24/7 for confidential support: 116 123
Monday to Sunday at any time, calls are free from mobiles and landlines.
Shout:
The UK’s first 24/7 text service, free on all major mobile networks, for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere. It’s a place to go if you’re struggling to cope and you need immediate help. Text: 85258
Website: https://www.giveusashout.org/
Mind:
Telephone: 0300 123 3393 (9am-6pm Monday to Friday) or text 86463
Email: info@mind.org.uk
www.mind.org.uk / www.mind.org.uk/information-support/helplines
https://sidebyside.mind.org.uk/about
Rethink Mental Illness Advice Line:
Telephone: 0300 5000 927 (9.30am – 4pm Monday to Friday)
Email: advice@rethink.org
Website: http://www.rethink.org/about-us/our-mental-health-advice
Saneline:
Telephone: 0300 304 7000 (4:30pm-10:30pm)
Website: www.sane.org.uk/what_we_do/support/helpline
Online CBT courses:
https://www.iesohealth.com/en-gb
Financial Resources for employees
Turn2us is a national charity which tackles financial insecurity. It offers services to calculate what benefits you may be entitled to and runs a helpline to give support and information to people who don’t have access to the internet or find it hard to go online.
Their helpline: 0808 802 2000
StepChange provides free, expert debt advice either online or via the phone. You can speak to them about your debts, and they will take a look at your financial situation and advise you on what you can do next.
Their debt advice helpline: 0800 138 1111
Citizens Advice assists people with legal, debt, consumer, housing and other problems. It provides information on what help you may be able to get from the government or your local council to afford essentials like food and bills.
You can either go to a local Citizens Advice office or talk to advisers online, Monday to Friday. The national phone service open 9-5pm Monday to Friday: 0800 144 8848.
The National Debt Line is a charity. They give free and independent debt advice over the phone and online. Their website is https://nationaldebtline.org/ Their phone line is 0808 808 4000, Monday to Friday 9am – 8pm and Saturday 9:30am – 1pm.
Money Helper is run by the Government. You can access a wealth of information on this website, including a live chat. https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en
(There are plenty of other resources out there, of which can be found with a quick online search. These links are just to get you started and to give you immediate access to some of most commonly used webpages. I have no affiliation with any of these sites and you should vet them before acting on any information or advice).
There’s no magic wand to make this cost of living crisis go away but every little helps! If you need further advice on how to help your employees during the cost of living crisis, pop me a message or call on 020 8798 3470.