Mental health and wellbeing policies are taking priority place in HR departments across all industries.  With the ongoing cost of living crisis, the mental and emotional wellbeing of employees is key to keeping sick days at a low, retaining staff and enhancing performance.

So, as employers in the nursery sector, how can we bring the wellbeing of our staff to the top of the agenda in a cost effective way?  

In this article, we speak to leading online mental health platform, Govox. Founded in 2018, to support local sports clubs following the sad loss of a number of grassroots rugby players to suicide, Govox is now available across a range of industry sectors, to ensure those struggling with their mental health are given the forum to be heard – by their peers, employers, wellbeing leaders and anybody in a position of trust.

With its roots steeped in innovative technology, Govox provides businesses with data and insights to pinpoint at-risk individuals. Working in collaboration with a network of specialist mental health partners, it upskills organisations to spot poor mental health and negotiate sometimes-difficult conversations. We caught up with founder, Richard Lucas, to find out more.

Who is Govox designed for and how and why does it help businesses?

“We turn difficult situations into positive outcomes. Understanding mental health isn’t easy. By combining technology with an effective proactive approach, we aim to improve happiness and save lives in the workplace, education sector and sports organisations.

We have developed a simple 3-stage process: 

Connect

People are invited to check in on a digital device and answer a series of short, friendly questions. This takes less than two minutes and is simple to engage with.

Identify

Check-in results on the Govox wellbeing dashboard instantly highlight those who may benefit from some support, enabling organisations to have the conversations that matter.

Support

After each check-in, the participant will receive their own personal wellbeing report, which offers proven wellbeing techniques tailored to their specific answers.  If any employees are particularly struggling, we can signpost them to professional counselling support and to their employer’s own medical insurance provider, often referred to as their Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).”

With more people now working from home, isolation has contributed to more cases of mental distress. How can Govox support those not in a shared working environment? 

“Yes, more people are now working from home or adopting a hybrid return to work.  Employees only see their colleagues online and miss the social interactions, commonplace in the office.  That sense of isolation will contribute to anxiety and distress.  Govox’s own data is showing that 1 in 5 employees would like to speak to a senior colleague with regards to their mental health, an increase from 1 in 7 pre-pandemic.”

How can Govox support nursery retailers, brands or services – especially those with just a few staff members?

“We support dozens of small businesses, especially those that have “Care” at the core of their values.  As a small tech business ourselves, we need to ensure that our platform and services are available to all sizes of businesses.  Typically, we charge our services based on the equivalent price of a cup of good coffee per person per month.  After all, we would always buy a colleague a coffee and have that “how are you doing?” chat.”

Staff are often concerned about sharing their mental health concerns with employers. How confidential is the service? 

“We have very high engagement rates, with over 45% of our client’s employees checking in every month.  With some of clients, we are now seeing engagement rates of over 70%.  The majority of our clients run non-anonymised check-ins with only a handful opting for fully anonymous.  We strongly believe that people want to be heard and valued, that the stigma around mental health and wellbeing is reduced through more open conversations.  Confidentiality of employee data is a critical part of the process and Govox adhere to data privacy and GDPR guidelines.”

How do you measure success?

“We like to see high engagement rates with the Govox platform, as colleagues check in on a monthly basis.  This ultimately shows business owners that they are running a happy and well business.  Our platform assigns a happiness score to each employee and we use that key metric alongside other data, to give business owners timely employee feedback and critically, the actionable insights.”

What are the costs for a business to incorporate Govox into their health & wellbeing offering?

“According to a recent Deloitte report, poor employee mental health is costing UK businesses on average, nearly 7% of their wage bill.  Wellbeing is crucial to the success of any business. Its people are at the heart of it all and it pays dividends when they feel valued and supported. Whatever the size of your organisation, Govox offers a tailored solution to help you measure happiness and manage wellbeing.  Prices start from £110 per month supporting up to 50 employees.  You can book a no obligation 15 minute online demo here.”

What plans do you have in store for Govox for the year ahead? 

“2023 will be a huge year for Govox.  We currently support over 200 organisations and have 60,000 active users on the platform.  We will see these numbers grow significantly, as more and more businesses see the need and the benefits of supporting their employees.

We will be enhancing the platform with more reporting features, providing more clinical support services and growing our resource base so that our users can access more relevant self-help support.

For businesses interested in seeing how the platform can benefit your employees, book a 15 minute online demo here.”