Improving health and engagement in the workplace tops companies’ 2016 priorities.
Improving health and engagement in the workplace
The top priority for 66% of people who participated in the Human Resources Trends survey by Morneau Shepell will primarily be to improve health and engagement in the workplace. For this, employers can take action on environmental stress factors by the effectiveness of their managers, such as reduction of red tape and reduction of psychological risk factors in the workplace. But employees also have their own role to play, mainly by developing their ability to adapt in order to survive changes.
Improving training and development programs
It’s no wonder then that the second priority is improving training and development programs (cited by 60% of respondents), since they can especially help managers to progress and also teach employees to manage their stress, define their priorities and become more effective both from a technical point of view and in terms of personal development.
Promoting mental health at work
The third place goes to mental health, a priority for 45% of respondents. Employees especially plan more promotion of their EFAP (Employee and Family Assistance Program) and to set up training to improve the ability for adaptation and resilience, which is the main point of the study. They also intend to train managers in mental health, and finally to conduct surveys to assess mental health risks.
Improve communication on overall pay
To be effective, a pay system must not only be fair and consistent, it must be understood by all. This is why 45% of those interviewed plan to make communication on this subject a priority in 2016. It should be noted that Canadian employers believe that salaries should increase 2.5% on average this year, a reduction compared to 2015, where the average raise was 2.8%. This prudence is due to the falling price of oil as well as the current slight recession.
Reducing the costs of short term disability
Finally, costs incurred by absenteeism and disability are a major concern for employers, and especially for 44% of them. For this problem, they again count on their managers to help them cope, with17% of them in the process of training them and 36% planning to train them in the next 12 to 18 months. They also intend to set up resources resources for mental health, update their policies and procedures in this area, and improve back to work procedures to facilitate the transition.