Anxiety, it is a condition affecting over 10 per cent of Britons and the theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, which runs from 15th-20th May.
While generalised anxiety disorder needs medical diagnosis by a doctor, many UK adults experience low-level feelings of anxiety that can be exacerbated by life’s challenges, such as work and finances.
A recent poll from YouGov and Lattice found that 85 per cent of UK workers want their employers to play an active role in their mental health and wellbeing. Over four in ten stated they do not have access to mental health resources at work, an area in which Europa Worldwide Group continuously invests.
The industry-leading logistics operator is expanding on its current mental health support package, addressing a sector-wide issue. As Mind has reported that 30 per cent of self-reported work-related illnesses in the transport and logistics industry are due to stress, depression and anxiety.
In its consistent pursuit of innovation and employee well-being, Europa issued a Thrive at Work survey to everyone across the business. As a direct result of analysing the results, Europa’s specialist HR & Recruitment team have devised a tailored offering in time for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week.
The business already provides all team members access to the Health Assured app, an award-winning employee assistance programme (EAP) provider that offers help from qualified and experienced counsellors and a 24-hour confidential helpline. Now, as part of ongoing investment in its HR and recruitment services, Europa’s locally based Human Resources Business Partners (HRBPs) are all trained mental health first aiders.
Vanita Dass-Puri, Head of HR & Recruitment at Europa, commented: “Building positive teams is a core value in the business. Having all our HRPBs trained as mental health first aiders will ensure that everyone across our UK sites has face-to-face support while at work. This reinforces the current all-hour service delivered by Health Assured. We hope these steps will make our sites an even safer and happier space for all.”
To coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week, Europa has also organised a series of live, interactive webinars for everyone across the business to attend. The Changing Perspectives webinar, run by Everymind at Work, will explore how team members can support the mental health of themselves and their colleagues.
Tom Jenkins, Central Services Director, commented: “Our team are at the heart of what we do. Without them, we wouldn’t set the pace in our market or be able to deliver expert services to our customers. We have worked extensively to create a well-equipped, made-for-purpose HR & Recruitment team. Re-enforcing our mental health support offering is another step in our continuous expansion and development as a business.”
