Another year, another myriad of challenges and pressure points facing organisations all over the UK. No matter the industry or size of the business, it looks like everyone is struggling to stay afloat, balance the books and thrive in a saturated marketplace. And where does it all stem from? Pick a card, any card: cost of living crisis, the ongoing war in Ukraine, after effects of COVID-19, Brexit, energy shortages, NHS overflow, sandwich carers, you could go on and on.
With such a volatile state of play, how are businesses expected to succeed or even survive? We must start by looking at the main challenges we are up against. Even though there are many nuances, tackling these three biggest challenges will go a long way to help workplaces thrive and grow in 2023.
Burnout
It doesn’t make sense. We have less resources than ever before, but are expected to put out twice the output. This is a surefire way to lead to workplace burnout on a mass scale. We are almost a month into the calendar year and some employees are stating they are already feeling the strain of expectation and pressure to match their KPIs for Q1. This burnout doesn’t just generate lethargy and apathy, but to sudden absenteeism, meaning less resource and low-productivity. The wellbeing of employees has never been more important and is one of the greatest challenges of 2023.
Cost of living crisis
The cost of living crisis is putting a financial strain on everyone. No one (aside for the minority of elite wealthy %) is exempt. On a grand scale this can cause mass lay-offs. We have already witnessed this from such huge corporations like Google, Microsoft and Amazon. On a more minute level, it is affecting every employee at home. How are they going to pay the bills? Do they need to find a higher paying job? WIll their mortgages climb ever-higher? This resulting financial stress has a massive effect on productivity levels at work. According to Yulife, 80% of employees say that financial stress can directly impact their performance at work. And since financial burden has such a close connection with a decline in mental and physical wellbeing, this is surely one of the broadest challenges HR teams will face in 2023.
Recruitment and retention
This is a challenge HR and talent teams encounter on both sides of the coin. On one side the pool of available talent is seemingly so low, and on the other side it is getting increasingly hard to hang onto that talent. Due to a range of contributing factors: Brexit, an ageing workforce and rising business costs, it has never been harder to recruit. Then there’s retention. Thanks to burnout and strict costs of living, employees are taking part in the great resignation to either find higher paid jobs or leave the workforce altogether. Poor recruitment and retention have enormous consequences on businesses. Without the sufficient talent you have lower productivity and resources, leaving your goals to stagnate and plateau in limbo.
What can we do?
There is no quick fix or ready-made solution to avoid burnout, financial woes or boost your workforce. Employers are under as much pressure to match goals as their employees. So what else can you do to alleviate the burden? You may not be able to raise salaries on a whim, but reviewing your benefits is a simple and effective way to give employees that extra helping hand in a cost effective way. Begin by starting a dialogue with your staff and learn exactly what they need the most to work effectively. Whether it’s flexible working, financial, mental, physical or care based benefits, you can improve culture and productivity overnight.
However, finding benefits to help with all these challenges can be time-consuming. How do you know which is the right one to go for? Is there a way you can deal with financial and mental obstacles, whilst boosting recruitment and retention? Adding in a single care based benefit is a great way to help deal with all these challenges. Seniorcare by Lottie, is the UKs leading eldercare employee benefit solution. It helps staff understand, find and fund care for their elderly loved one.
But how is an eldercare solution relevant? Here are just a few examples:
Just by glancing at the above, an eldercare solution is a perfect way to alleviate burnout by helping employees juggling their work and care responsibilities. It also saves staff the time and money to find the very best solution of care. And finally, having a benefit such as Seniorcare by Lottie, creates an empathetic, compassionate and family-centric culture. This is integral because being an organisation that looks after its employees, empowers recruitment and retention.