In business, your employees are the backbone of the company. Without them, your business wouldn’t be able to operate at all. Similarly, how they perform in their role will also determine how successful the business is.
If your employees are going through big life changes, it can have a significant impact on how well they perform at work. Here, we’ll look at how big life changes can impact employee wellbeing and the things you can do to support them.
How might big life changes impact employee wellbeing?
When your employees are going through a big life change, it’s going to affect their performance on the job. Whether it’s a breakup, a death of a loved one, or financial troubles – it can be hard for employees to leave their personal issues at home, particularly if they are having a significantly negative impact on their wellbeing.
Big life changes can cause a range of issues, including sleep troubles, anxiety and depression. All of these things can impair your employee’s performance.
The trouble with ignoring personal issues
At one time, employers had no interest in their employee’s personal issues. Work and homelife were expected to be kept fully separate. However, these days there is an expectation placed onto businesses to help support their workers.
It isn’t just the compassionate thing to do. Helping your employees through difficult personal times can also greatly benefit your company. The more supportive you are as an employer, the more loyal your employees will be. With the right support, their performance will also improve.
Failing to help on the other hand, will lead to serious issues with productivity, increased sick days and your business could be significantly impacted.
How can you help?
There are a lot of ways you can help employees who are going through difficult times. In cases of bereavement and break-ups, counselling could be provided, along with compassionate leave. Or, at the very least, flexible working hours could be introduced, and you could aim to reduce their workload temporarily.
In the case of financial difficulties, offering employee benefits like early access to salaries, or providing financial advice can help. The key is to ensure your employees know they can come to you no matter what issue they are dealing with. Often just offering a supportive ear and letting them know you’ll help in whatever way you can is enough to help them feel supported.
While it may seem like personal issues should be dealt with outside of work, unfortunately it’s not always possible to leave big issues at home. Offering support to your employees will ensure that any disruption to the business is minimal and it will also help you to retain your employees.
