All articles by Sam Barrett – Page 4
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AnalysisSupporting staff following a relationship breakdown
Need to know:A relationship breakdown can be traumatic, adversely affecting an employee’s mental health and performance.A wide range of support tools are available including employee assistance programmes (EAPs), concierge services, legal advice and flexible working.Making separation a life event can make it easier for employees to make changes to benefits ...
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Case StudiesBirmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Trust offers valuable parental support
More than 8,200 babies are born each year at Birmingham Women’s Hospital, making it one of the busiest single site maternity units in the UK. Raffaela Goodby, chief people officer at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Trust, explains: “We wanted to ensure that our staff felt as supported as the ...
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AnalysisHow can employers support parents with babies that need neonatal care?
Need to know:The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill will allow parents with babies needing neonatal care to take up to 12 weeks paid leave.The Employer with Heart charter is awarded to organisations that have extra provisions in place for employees with babies who are born prematurely.Support such as an ...
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Case StudiesKingsley Napley offers parental coaching as part of wellbeing focus
Kingsley Napley is a law firm based in London. Founded in 1937, today it has 481 members of staff, of which 70% are female, including 56% of its 75 partners.Charlotte White, HR officer at Kingsley Napley, says: “We want to be a family-friendly workplace, where everyone feels supported both at ...
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AnalysisWhat role does maternity coaching play in a carer support strategy?
Need to know:Maternity coaching can provide emotional and practical support to make it easier to balance work and parental commitments.Support around return to work is important, especially as 17% of women leave employment completely in the five years after childbirth.Online services, mentoring and buddying can provide coaching support where budgets ...
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AnalysisHow is the current state of play in the NHS impacting the group risk market?
Need to know:Non-core benefits, such as virtual GP services and employee assistance programmes, can help employees access healthcare.Interest in health insurance products, such as private medical insurance and health cash plans, has increased.More cancer claims may materialise as a result of difficulties accessing NHS services.Pressure on the NHS during the ...
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Case StudiesGroup risk benefits provide critical support for Ciphr's staff
Ciphr has always offered an extensive range of health benefits including life insurance, employer-paid private medical insurance and annual health assessments for its 230 employees. However, until a couple of years ago, it had not promoted these benefits fully.Claire Williams, chief people officer at Ciphr, says: “The pandemic made us ...
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AnalysisHow can employers support staff who need an abortion?
Need to know….Pregnancy loss policies must be flexible, especially around paid leave, as employees’ experiences will vary significantly.Widening support to partners makes the benefit more inclusive by recognising they may also be experiencing loss.Support for employees needing an abortion can often be delivered through existing benefits supplemented with a pregnancy ...
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Case StudiesCo-op supports staff during all forms of pregnancy loss
Co-op employs almost 60,000 people in a wide range of customer facing and support centre roles across divisions that span from food to funeral care and insurance. It introduced its pregnancy loss policy in June 2021. This covers all types of pregnancy loss including miscarriage, molar pregnancy, embryo transfer loss ...
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Case StudiesPhoenix Group ingrains support for carers in its corporate culture
Long-term savings and retirement organisation Phoenix Group, which employs around 8,000 people, was recognised as a Carer Positive Exemplary Employer in 2020 for the support it provides to its working carers.Ensuring that employees are supported is important to the organisation. Claire Hawkins, director of corporate affairs and investor relations at ...
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AnalysisHow can employers compensate for the government’s lack of support for working carers?
Need to know:Implementing a working carers’ policy that details all the support relevant to employees with caring responsibilities can encourage staff to speak openly about their needs.Flexibility is essential, with options including paid and unpaid leave, flexible and part-time hours, sabbaticals and even allowing carers to take their annual leave ...
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Case StudiesIRIS promotes benefits to support mental and financial wellbeing
IRIS provides software and services to the UK accountancy, payroll, HR and education sectors. It employs 2,600 people globally, of which more than 2,000 are based in the UK.Three years ago, the organisation set itself a target of achieving Great Place to Work certification, introducing the real living wage as ...
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AnalysisHow are cost-of-living increases affecting employee health?
Need to know:Money worries can affect employees’ physical and mental health and wellbeing, with research finding that financial concerns are leading to anxiety, sleep problems and cancelled gym memberships.Training line managers and promoting an organisation's employee assistance programme (EAP) can help employees access support for financial and mental health issues ...
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AnalysisWhat role does a reward strategy hold in a battle for talent?
Need to know:Benefits such as financial education, salary sacrifice, health cash plans and discount platforms can help to support employees during the cost of living squeeze.Higher inflation may help address existing pay inequalities but organisations must also guard against creating new ones with jobseekers demanding higher starting salaries.Paying attention to ...
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Case StudiesCare provider Elder uses reward package to attract talent to the sector
Attracting and retaining talent is a key part of care provider Elder’s strategy, both for its own employees and the 5,000 self-employed carers who find work through its platform. It set out to disrupt the market when it launched in 2015.Pete Dowds, CEO of Elder, says: “Care isn’t well incentivised ...
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Case StudiesSalesforce puts health at the heart of hybrid working
Customer relationship management organisation Salesforce employs 75,000 people globally including several thousand in the UK and Ireland across a variety of customer-facing and global shared-services roles.Looking after all aspects of their health has always been important. Terri Moloney, senior director, employee success, at Salesforce, says: “We have a very diverse ...
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AnalysisHow has the pandemic has affected employees’ physical health?
Need to know:Musculoskeletal problems, weight gain and long Covid are among the physical health issues affecting employees, with missed cancer diagnoses also causing concern.Encouraging healthy habits such as regular screen breaks, walking meetings and ‘fake commutes’ will help to replicate office working conditions and encourage more physical activity.Digital delivery of ...
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Case StudiesTall Group of Companies ensures staff feel valued and recognised for their efforts
The Tall Group of Companies specialises in secure print and payments solutions including cheques, electronic payment processing and election ballot papers. It employs 135 people across its three sites in Runcorn, Hinkley and Lisburn, in roles ranging from manufacturing to IT systems development and software creation.The pandemic significantly affected the ...
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AnalysisHow can employers ensure reward and benefits enhance the employee experience?
Need to know:More flexible working hours, agile/home working and better support for mental health are the top employee expectations.Organisations should consider more flexible options including part-time hours term-time work, career breaks and four day working weeks to support their talent management strategy.Reward and benefits can be used to demonstrate an ...
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AnalysisHow can employers improve their health and wellbeing offering to expatriate staff?
Need to know:Expat health and wellbeing benefits include initiatives such as maternity and chronic conditions cover, as well as more traditional medical treatment.More digital health and wellbeing services have evolved as a result of the pandemic and these are likely to remain a key part of support.Health awareness has ...