“To get Britain growing again, we’ve got to get Britain working again,” Liz Kendall, the secretary of state for Work and Pensions, said on the announcement of the government’s Get Britain Working white paper.
The document, which was published in November last year, opens with a barrage of numbers which outline the scale of the problem. The UK has 2.8 million people locked out of work due to long-term sickness, one in eight young people are not in education, employment or training and 9 million adults have low basic skills.
These are all fundamental challenges confronting the government and, by extension, every employer.
Psychological safety in the post-pandemic era
The pandemic had a seismic impact on the workforce. Not only did it directly affect workers and businesses, it prompted a shift in expectations around working from home and the levels of flexibility afforded to workers.
While this flexibility was a positive for many, it also contributed to an increase in mental-health challenges as people had less interaction and connection with co-workers.
Mental health remains a major cause of absenteeism. According to the white paper, it accounted for a quarter of the increase in incidents of long-term sickness among 16- to 49-year-olds between 2019 and 2022.
Helping these people get back to work requires businesses to create workplaces that are supportive. Psychological safety at work requires each individual to feel confident and comfortable being themselves. This enables every employee to feel free to ask questions, make mistakes and be honest and open about who they are.
Every person should feel confident and comfortable being themselves at work
Businesses can also support more people into the workplace by embracing neurodiversity. Diagnoses of neurodiversity, particularly conditions like autism and ADHD, are increasing. According to the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, the number of autism diagnoses increased from 3,072 in 1998 to 65,665 in 2018, with the majority of people diagnosed aged between zero and 19 years.
People with neurodiverse conditions face multiple barriers to employment but many of these can be tackled through simple adjustments to the hiring process, such as sharing interview questions ahead of time or offering transcript-based interviews, which are proven to provide a more level playing field.
Currently, only 55% of employers consider their culture to be ‘neuroinclusive’, according to a survey of businesses by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development.
By investing in training for managers, we can improve their understanding and businesses can better harness their people’s diverse strengths, skills and abilities.
Support for physical wellbeing
For many of the 2.8 million locked out of employment because of long-term disability and sickness, work can look like a scary place.
Education is key to encouraging these people back to work and many companies are well equipped to support those with long-term conditions.
Benefits, such as private medical insurance, cash plans and access to online GPs and physios can help reduce the cost of treatment for employees and allow them to access medical advice with minimal disruption to the working day.
HR needs to do more
For those with pre-existing diagnoses, engagement with occupational health support can enable the adaptations needed for these employees to work successfully at home and in the office.
These might include hardware fixes such as standing desks, software solutions like dictation apps or flexibility around the working day such as compressed hours, part-time work or dispersed hours to allow for more breaks.
For those needing psychological support, many companies can now provide access to one-to-one counselling, group therapy and a raft of financial advice and support via an employee assistance programme.
HR needs to do more to raise awareness of these supplementary benefits as part of the total employee value proposition.
Skills to thrive
With the apprenticeship levy and access to a wealth of training providers across all professions, tackling the country’s skills shortage should be a simpler task. However, companies will sometimes need to look beyond what is required.
The minimum hourly wage for an apprentice in their first year is set to increase to £7.55 in April, irrespective of age. Given that a modern apprentice could now be a school leaver in search of skills and a degree, or an experienced 50-something wanting a career change, businesses should strongly consider going beyond the minimum requirement to attract a stronger and more diverse workforce at different stages of life.
By making this investment in skills and development, companies can also improve loyalty and retention, increase job satisfaction and become more attractive employers.
Flexibility remains key
It is also important to re-emphasise the role that flexibility plays in all of this. For many people, the mental barrier of returning to work may seem insurmountable given the norms and limitations they faced in the past.
Now, the flexibility and support they once craved around location, hours, adaptability and acceptance might be entirely possible, even encouraged.
Employers need to be open-minded and flexible if they are to encourage more people back to the workplace. The loyalty they receive in return can pay back handsomely. Absenteeism will fall and productivity will prosper as a happier and safer workforce rises to the challenge.
Paula Wynn is people director at Personal Group
“To get Britain growing again, we’ve got to get Britain working again,” Liz Kendall, the secretary of state for Work and Pensions, said on the announcement of the government’s Get Britain Working white paper.
The document, which was published in November last year, opens with a barrage of numbers which outline the scale of the problem. The UK has 2.8 million people locked out of work due to long-term sickness, one in eight young people are not in education, employment or training and 9 million adults have low basic skills.
These are all fundamental challenges confronting the government and, by extension, every employer.
