Kyocera Document Solutions employs around 500 people across its eight offices throughout the UK. As well as office-based staff, it also has a team of field-based engineers, in addition to sales people who support clients around the country.
As part of its commitment to look after the health and wellbeing of its employees, Kyocera Document Solutions offers an occupational health scheme and an employee assistance programme (EAP).
Amanda Childs, HR group director at Kyocera Document Solutions UK, says: “We receive online reports from our occupational health provider, which highlight any issues our employees are having. In addition, our EAP provider shares high-level data around usage. This shows us the type of concerns that have led employees to contact the service.”
Another valuable source of information regarding employee health comes from the HR department itself. “We collect data on sickness absence and from return-to-work discussions,” says Childs. “We’re also alive to any health issues that might come up during our daily interactions with employees. We want to provide support that really addresses the health issues that they are facing.”
It was this insight into employee health that led to the employer's recent decision to introduce a mental health first aid course through Mental Health First Aid England. Across the organisation, 17 members of staff took part in the two-day course in February 2020, learning how to identify the warning signs of mental ill-health as well as the skills to enable them to support a colleague dealing with a problem.
“We’re rolling out an awareness programme for line managers so they can identify any mental health problems in their teams as early as possible,” adds Childs. “A mental health problem can affect anyone, at any time. The data we receive from our EAP provider shows it’s one of the issues that employees contact the service about: we want them to know it’s something we take very seriously.”
