Travel businesses which focus on the mental health and wellbeing of employees will see a rise in productivity levels and avoid potentially costly tribunals.
Speaking at C&M Travel Recruitment’s latest employment webinar Travel Employers in 2023, experts encouraged travel businesses to look after staff.
Barbara Kolosinska, managing director, C&M Travel Recruitment, said: “Well being has a huge impact on productivity.”
She said gestures like giving staff their birthdays off, well being days, and charity days for voluntary work, could also boost staff morale, self esteem and mental health.
Claire Steiner, co-founder of the Future You Foundation, agreed. “Volunteer days give people a sense of purpose,” she said, but conceded: “Not all companies can afford to do these things. There is no one size fits all.”
She stressed the importance of firms helping employees to manage their “financial well being” during the cost of living crisis.
She said: “It’s great to hear salaries are increasing but a lot of people are struggling. You need to be there to help them. It could be helping them with budgeting or financial advisors.
“Rents and mortgages are going up and they will have a massive impact on their mental health and their productivity.”
Ami Naru, head of employment at travel law firm Travlaw, said companies often failed to consider the downsides of not looking after employees’ mental health.
She said: “They [employers] have got their eye on the business and they don’t think about the effect of people going on sick leave. You can do things like salary sacrifice schemes.
“Aside from the niceties and moral obligations, it helps productivity if you have a focus on mental health in the workplace. Mental health issues are increasing and the number of employment tribunals related to this is on the increase.”
She urged firms to ask staff what they would like to improve the workplace in order to avoid costly tribunals. “If you get staff buy-in, you will get a lot more co-operation,” she said.