I think January is a conflict. It’s an exciting time for businesses because it’s a chance to restart again – employees return to work fresh, and are raring to go because they’ve had a nice period of time off. Everywhere I’ve worked, I’ve always encouraged the business to have a bit of down time over Christmas, because it’s traditionally a difficult time to make meaningful decisions, so getting that down time really helps employees. Unfortunately, the flip side is that as January progresses, the whole concept of Blue Monday appears on the horizon and gets loads of press, both positive and negative.

The principle of Blue Monday was something that started as a positive to help identify, not just to individuals, but also to businesses, that there’s a time in that month of January where employees could be under increased stress and pressure, and genuinely just feel rubbish. The post-Christmas blues, cold dark nights, and the fact that their latest credit card bill has just arrived with all their Christmas food shopping, with the realisation that, “oh, I got through it all, but now I’ve got to pay for it all.” It can be stressful.

I think this year also, added into that, the fact that people are already feeling the pinch, people are already stretched, there’s already a cost-of-living crisis. So, I don’t quite know how Blue Monday will be perceived. It could almost be bigger and louder than ever, or it could also be just another blow to the UK economy or the UK employees that says “do you know what life’s hard, life’s difficult.” Another thing to bear in mind is the sheer amount of workers that have been striking as well in December, whose pay will be adversely affected by those number of working days, they’ve nobly given up to make the stand they’re standing. So, finances will be tight for millions of people this month.

The Blue Monday movement to encourage conversation, rather than just sitting there reflecting on how we feel, has turned this time of year into an opportunity as an employer to try and create a conversation, a debate, a safe environment, a forum, where people can go to get some advice, get some help, realise they’re not on their own. I think it was the Samaritans who started to take a slightly different approach, and again, I would certainly advocate for that. But again, the biggest challenges businesses have is that financial pressures are probably still the biggest or second biggest taboo that people don’t want to talk about. According to Lloyds Banking Group survey in 2019, 50% of UK adults believe discussing personal money matters is taboo. Another study by OnePoll in December 2021 revealed that over a third of British people struggle to discuss money, and one in ten people are not willing to discuss finances – even with their partner. So, whilst talking, sharing, and seeking help, support and guidance is the right thing to do, it’s still discussing finances is a sensitive subject area that so many people are just not prepared to visit.

So, the Samaritan’s ‘Brew Monday’ campaign is a brilliant idea, but it won’t work for everybody. What businesses have got to think about is a multi-layered strategy of what they’re trying to do. A conversation and a cup of tea is brilliant with the right people, but is there also somewhere confidential people can phone and talk to? Is it also layered up with a financial plan to try and support your employees? What have you done prior to Christmas? Had you avoided doing anything because you were waiting for the pinch after? If you haven’t done anything, January has got to be the perfect time to do something, right? If you can help employees, then do so.

In your experience of managing people and working in employee engagement, how is January in comparison to other months?

I think it’s a difficult question to answer, because if you work in employee engagement, you’re probably more attuned to having to do something to look after your employees every month anyway. So therefore, the shock of January is less of a shock, because you know it’s coming, you’ve tried to take that into account as part of your employee engagement strategy for the full year.

I think what you do see is an influx of people, clients, being more interested in coming up with engagement strategies at the beginning of the year. That could be due to spotting that there are some challenges and fixes that need to be made, or it could be just one of those New Year’s resolutions of “we need to do more of this”. Unfortunately, so many of these resolutions then fall away as the year unfolds, and you’re left with just activity at the beginning of the year. So I think there is a little more focus around employee engagement in the first part of the year, for those reasons. But again, it comes down to the strategy you start at the beginning of the year, needing to be planned out for the whole year. Not just “right, this is what we’re going to do this month” because it’s then very easy to forget that February and March are just as important for supporting employees.

I always remembered that February and March were almost the best months of the year financially, bizarrely. One is the time between paydays between January and February (or February and March dependent on pay date), which always feels shorter because it’s such a short month. The other is the fact that you don’t have to pay your council tax payment in February and March which always means there’s that little extra money in the pot, to think “what bill can I pay now with that money that would normally pay the council tax?” Obviously counterbalanced that council tax normally goes up again in April, but you know in reality there are little things like that which you still need to think about strategy wise, what you’re going to do to follow on from it.

To sit down and have a conversation in January is brilliant, or highlighting the levels of support is brilliant, but that needs to continue throughout the year. I think there’s never been a more relevant time to have a conversation than the current cost of living crisis, and I don’t see that that’s changing anytime soon. The Bank of England hiked UK interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to 3.5% in December, its ninth consecutive rate increase, and I suspect they could go up again, it wouldn’t surprise me at all.

What are the key signs to look out for when it comes to helping employees in January? 

If we’re talking about, as a result of the financial pressures, this definitely isn’t just about January. I think they’re the same signs throughout the year. People becoming reserved, people being distracted with other things, people not looking like they’re focused or able to concentrate and their mind is elsewhere, could well be because it is. And I think you’ve got to try and find time to sit and talk to people. That’s what your line managers are for. Are you gearing your line managers up with the right skillset and knowledge to be able to go and have those conversations? I imagine every organisation will be setting objectives for the beginning of the year. How many of those conversations are you asking about “how are you personally, how are you coping, what are your challenges away from work?” Not that you can necessarily create a bespoke plan for every individual, because each person’s circumstances are different, but it’s worth considering that kind of wellbeing check.  Again, it will really grate if businesses haven’t had any previous conversations and haven’t done anything to support their employees through the cost-of-living crisis. For those businesses that have tried to show their support and that they understand the impact, I think, and I would hope that that would earn them the right to be able to ask the question of “how are you coping?” Now, whether you get the truthful answer or not, nobody can ever tell. But I think if you’ve earned the right to ask how people are coping, the feedback and the anecdotal stuff that you get back should help you as a business shape what to do next.

What could businesses reading this do to address issues around wellbeing and morale?

I’m going to sound like a broken record but I think businesses have to have a strategy when it comes to addressing issues around wellbeing and morale. They have to think about the three key elements of wellbeing, four if you want to open it up into social wellbeing as well. They have to have a clearly defined strategy as to what they’re doing, where the employees understand the different strands of that strategy, what they’re trying to achieve, and why they’re trying to achieve it. I think then, you get an idea as to whether what you’re doing is enough.

I think when it comes to the moral side of it, it’s interesting. Sometimes you get a much more positive morale at a time where things are really dark and difficult. So just because you’ve got a brilliant morale doesn’t mean everything is fine from a wellbeing point of view. If I look at our team at the minute, it feels like we have a really good morale in the building, but I wouldn’t say everyone’s wellbeing is perfect, so I think they are two distinctly different things. And again, it’s about having an understanding of why the two are different. Some people might not be partaking in the morale because they’re struggling with their wellbeing, in terms of financial or emotional wellbeing, they could be stressed, and that could be a sign as to why they’re not getting involved in the morale element or the engagement element of the business. Conversely, you could have someone who’s the heart and soul of the office from a morale point of view, because it’s the best distraction from the turmoil that’s going on at home or in their own life. It’s not the same for everybody. You need to be focussed and care about everyone and try and come up with a plan for everyone, but the ones that are the biggest problems if you misidentify it, are the ones where they withdraw from work because of all financial pressures and it becomes a spiral, especially when there is no form of understanding or communication. Because they withdraw from work, their performance suffers. As a business then you’re under pressure, or there is a temptation to performance manage, which can put their job at risk, which then ironically means that their financial situation is more unstable than it was before.

If there was a book called “these are the signs to look out for”, it would be lovely, unfortunately there’s not, everyone’s different. Those behaviour models, you’ll have some people who want to talk about everything and will come in and tell you about everything, and other people who will just sit there being the best friend and support to that person, but actually be in a bigger hole themselves. And unfortunately, that’s just the nature of human beings, everyone’s different and you need to be aware and prepare for that.

Scott Read, CEO of Employee Services at Growth Partners

Scott Read is a results-driven business leader with a proven track record in helping employers strategise key business growth through employee engagement.

Want to know more?

You can read more about Scott’s thoughts on employee engagement and the key to retaining staff or download Scott’s five-point-plan to drive employee engagement.

If you would like help creating an employee engagement strategy, or to discuss financial wellbeing services for your employees speak to our business growth experts who will be happy to help. You can also read more about our SMART Employment model or book a demo of our all-in-one solution to help make employers’ and employees’ lives easier, happier and healthier here

Over the past few months, there has been significant attention on the current cost of living crisis, with the Bank of England predicting that Britain is facing its longest recession since records began. It is clear the financial pressures people are facing will have a direct impact on their emotional wellbeing.

The impact is already evident. The number of people seeking help from our Employee Assistance Programme has doubled and the number of people downloading our self-help documents has increased month on month since the summer. Because of the confidentiality, it’s impossible to say that that’s all about finances, but that increase has absolutely aligned with the cost-of-living crisis, and the more publicity it’s getting in the media, the more attention it’s getting on our app. So, it is impossible to say that there isn’t a link. There is an underlying emergency in the background that isn’t even close to scratching the surface yet.

In August Mind reported its Infoline saw a 30% rise compared to the year previous in calls related to finance, and in July alone, Samaritans received 12,000 emotional support contacts mentioning finance concerns. YoungMinds also tracks young people’s experiences of mental health, and, for the first time, ‘worries about money’ was found to be the top concern and negative influence on their mental health. In a recent survey Newsround reported that of the 2,081 children they surveyed 72% were worried about the cost-of-living crisis.  A much bigger concern highlighted in the report is that 12% of children reported that they weren’t eating three meals each day, as often as they were three months ago. One in seven of those who skipped meals said it was because there wasn’t enough food at home, and just under one in 10 said it was because they couldn’t afford to buy food at school.

As business leaders and people who run businesses, it’s important to understand the financial pressures your employees face with the rising costs of everyday goods, such as food, energy, and petrol, and how this may impact their mental wellbeing. What can you do to show that you understand their financial pressures and how can you support them to ease that pressure through the ongoing cost of living crisis?

What is the link between financial wellbeing and emotional wellbeing?  

It is impossible not to connect the two. People who are under financial stress behave differently, that different behaviour might be stress related. It might be drinking or dependence on substances. It might just mean that they go quiet and introverted. The 2008 global financial crisis is an example of the intrinsic link between financial wellbeing and emotional wellbeing. The financial crisis was associated with a reversal in previously falling suicide rates in England and increases in suicide attempts and depression, particularly in males. And now, 14 years later, the ongoing cost of living crisis is similarly affecting people. Mental Health Concern recently reported a 90% increase in overall referrals over the past six months, with one in five people experiencing suicidal thoughts – a 196% increase on the previous six months, with many of those cases directly linked to the rising cost of living. One case worker from Mental Health Concern reported that out of 28 clients she was working with, 25 were facing financial challenges, with 11 having tried to take their own life at some point.

Understanding your employees’ financial wellbeing

It sounds churlish for a manager or leader to say, I understand; we’re all suffering, we’re all struggling. Technically yes, we’re all impacted, but not everyone is struggling. Even if you can relate to it – because there are a lot of people who earn a lot of money who also struggle financially for a variety of reasons – the general worker won’t believe that members of the leadership team are struggling because it is a perception that is created. So even if you can relate, it doesn’t come across in the most relatable way if you’re trying to have the conversation. The key is showing your employees that you understand the impact the cost-of-living crisis is having on them and them feeling that you understand this.

Showing your employees you understand

You have to have an ongoing long-term strategy of what you’re going to do, and not all of that strategy is around measures that are necessarily going to impact the financial situation of your employees. So yes, you can invest in discount schemes where in theory, your employees can stretch their money and make it go further or Employee Assistance Programmes, and yes, in isolation, both those things are great, but they become one facet of the strategy.

So, what can you do in the short term that says “I understand that this is impacting you, and I want to help?

• Subsidise lunches
  Is there a local business that sells sandwiches that people go to at lunchtime? Ca you negotiate something that makes those sandwiches half-price because you are going to subsidise it for anyone that goes in with your lanyard on? This might be extremely niche and nuanced, but it might make a massive difference because suddenly, you are subsiding people’s lunches. It might not be a long-term thing, but it is a short-term difference that says I understand that this impacts you. 
• Provide snacks in the office
  Put snacks in the office, where half has to be subsidised by the business so you can control the flow, and people still have to contribute to it, but it’s a contribution you’re making.
• Pay for parking
  One of the things we’ve just done is looked at our parking policy and found that there were a number of people who weren’t eligible for a parking space or didn’t get a parking space as often as they needed to. So, we looked at it and said for those who aren’t issued a parking space when they are in the office, bring in a receipt, and we’ll cover the costs. 
• Turn your Christmas hamper into a Christmas voucher
  Hampers are great, but let’s be honest – half of the cost is the hamper itself. So instead of a Christmas hamper, can you buy a Christmas voucher instead?

All these things are little things that can be done to make sure that what you’re trying to do has as much relevance as possible in the current climate. It will show an element of empathy and understanding with your workforce. They might only have a short-term impact, but the long-term impact is that your employees believe you understand the challenges they’re going through.

There are, of course, grand gestures you can do, whether that be bringing planned pay increases forward or providing a no strings attached bonus. Often the grand gestures are unviable for all businesses so each business needs to think about what’s achievable. Even if those grand gestures are achievable for your business, it’s still important to make the smaller gestures too, because those grand gestures often get forgotten a few months down the line. It’s about the perception that people understand that you genuinely understand the challenges that they’re going through.

There absolutely is a link between financial wellbeing and mental health, and the more that employers can put in place to support people’s mental health, the better but it isn’t quite as simple as saying “I know that there is a cost of living crisis out there that’s going to be impacting peoples mental health, therefore here you go here’s a counselling service that you can contact”. It’s actually about creating a framework whereby people know that you understand what’s going on and the impact it’s having on people in the wider society and your employees and the impact it has on them. They need to feel that you understand.

For more information about how we can help you and support your employees navigate through the cost of living crisis, visit our SMART Employment page and read more about supporting your employees’ financial wellbeing, emotional wellbeing and physical wellbeing.

Scott Read, CEO of Employee Services at Growth Partners

Scott Read is a results-driven business leader with a proven track record in helping employers strategise key business growth through employee engagement.