Blue Monday, supposedly the most depressing day of the year, has taken on greater significance this year as recruiters grapple with prolonged home working due to the pandemic.

Recruiter spoke to agency leaders about how they are meeting this challenge head on.

Albert Ellis, CEO at Staffline, told Recruiter the agency has taken a number of measures to improve mental health among its workforce.

This has included a benefits platform featuring a well-being centre, which provides employees support and advice on physical, financial and mental wellbeing.

The firm has also partnered with insurance and benefits provider Aviva to provide stress and resilience sessions for staff; access to a mental health app known as Thrive, in addition to an employee assistance programme; a new benefit called Parent Cloud which provides advice and help for parents from pregnancy through to teenage years created by a team of therapists, coaches, nutritionists, child behaviour experts, health visitors and midwives, and provides resources, guides, live webinars and classes for the firm’s working parents.

Staffline has also has just over 100 colleagues in the business who are trained mental health first aiders, while furloughed workers receive a weekly newsletter keeping them updated on business news and wellbeing resources.

Ellis further revealed that the firm promotes Mental Health week, providing a variety of workshops for employees to attend, including virtual coaching sessions.

Staff can also access director and MD weekly blogs, encouraging all employees to take time out, rest and to re-energise. This includes a personal blog from the HR director about her own experiences of mental wellbeing.

Meanwhile Olivia Spruce, CEO at healthcare recruitment agency Positive Healthcare, told Recruiter she is acutely aware of the impact of both good and bad mental health due to enforced lockdowns. 

“We find that generally speaking, our staff have appreciated the structure to keep themselves active during lockdown, alongside the albeit remote, camaraderie via silly Zoom calls. We regularly, ‘check-in’ with our staff, not just from a work/task completion perspective, but also from a holistic, ‘How are you?’, ‘Are you coping?’. 

“We also developed a branded app, which was free for consultants to use and guided them through mindfulness and meditation.”

But Melanie Stancliffe, partner at law firm Cripps Pemberton Greenish, adds a note of caution. She told Recruiter a good policy is redundant if employees cannot easily access the help they need.

“Employees need to understand where they can get help and that their employer is supportive and has a zero tolerance approach to discriminating against a person as much for their mental as for their physical health. Leaders need to be trained to support and remove any stigma surrounding mental health, ensuring they can support employees when needed.”

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